COPA Safety and Education Foundation / COPA University
The COPA Safety and Education Foundation is a non-profit foundation whose main objective is to provide continuing education and to increase safety for general aviation pilots. The foundation and its activities are aimed at all general aviation pilots and aircraft, especially pilots flying so-called "Technically Advanced Aircraft (TAA) - i.e. aircraft equipped with at least a combination of GPS navigators and autopilots.
COPA University currently addresses important safety-related topics in 6 Colleges:
Aviation Safety - Investigating accidents and incidents of TAA aircraft to draw conclusions on better handling of advanced TAA systems.
Advanced Avionics - Dealing with advanced cockpits and navigators - from GNS430 to IFD440, GTN650, Aspen Evolution, Sandel EHSI to integrated cockpits with Garmin 1000, Avidyne Entegra, Cirrus Perspective/+ or Avidyne R9.
Flight Operations - Everything about weather, including satellite weather in the cockpit, normal, abnormal and emergency procedures, IFR procedures, pre-flight and in-flight aeronautical decision making (ADM), and the legal aspects of our flying.
Aircraft Technology - Everything from engines, propellers, airframes, systems, proper leaning, typical failure modes in our aircraft, to inspections and borescope interpretation.
Flight Simulation - in several modern procedure trainers, as well as in a full-motion simulator (the latter only at courses in Poznan), pilots train with flight instructors in critical and demanding scenarios, including those that we do not want or are not allowed to do in the cockpit.
Practical Flight - this is where it all comes together, where we apply in the aircraft what was learned and practiced on the ground.
These 6 colleges form the backbone of COPA University, whose instructors have collectively taught nearly 150,000 hours in the aircraft, and whose seminar program now includes well over 60 classes. (Note: Not all classes can be given at all locations). Classes are offered by the COPA Training Foundation, LLC, and the necessary funds for program development are provided by the COPA Safety and Education Foundation. Participant fees cover actual expenses for an event only.
The COPA University Simulator Laboratory
The COPA University laboratory workshop uses the latest versions of the RealSimGear Procedure Trainers. The simulated aircraft can be configured with various avionics, including the Avidyne Entegra cockpit with Garmin GNS430 and GTN650 navigators, or the Garmin Perspective and Perspective+ systems. Expect much improved simulation over the previous trainers !
Partner in Command Course
The CPPP offers a Partner-in-Command course on Saturday morning for right-seat flyers. The PIC course has received rave reviews from partners who leave better prepared to survive an emergency and help their flying partner. Many CPPP participants wish they had invited their partners because of the positive impact on their partners. Partners will also receive a sim session for hands-on practice of what they learned in the PIC course.
