Special Emphasis Areas – Dave Klopfleisch – CEPA Safety Meeting – September 2026

Special Emphasis Areas are areas proven to be fundamentally critical to the safety of flight. At a checkride, the examiner will evaluate you on all of these areas throughout the practical exam, and they will be incorporated into the various scenarios. The examiner will ensure that your actions are consistent with best practices for each special emphasis area.  Subsequently, as certificated pilots, we must continue using this knowledge to identify and mitigate the risks associated with them. Let’s dust them off and get them back into our routines.

Speaker: Dave Klopfleisch, CFII

For more than 40 years as a flight instructor and 30 years at Chicago Executive Flight School, Dave Klopfleisch has helped hundreds of students learn the art of flying. Dave earned his pilot license while in high school. 

Dave served in the Navy and flew in the TA-4 single-engine attack jet. After the Navy, he was an auto mechanic and race car driver. Luckily for us, he found his way back to aviation! 

For his dedication and experience in aviation, Dave was awarded the “Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award” in 2022 to mark 50 years of safe flying. “The most rewarding part of my career has been using my experience to teach future pilots how to not only fly a plane but how to fly safely,” he said.