The National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI) takes pride in announcing a significant aviation accomplishment on the part of these very special aviation educators. Recently, they were all designated Master Instructors by NAFI, their professional aviation organization.

To help put this achievement in its proper perspective, there are approximately 90,000 CFIs in the United States. Fewer than 500 of them have earned Master accreditation thus far. As a measure of the prestige conferred by this title, the last eleven FAA National Flight Instructors of the Year were Master CFIs. In addition, the FAA has approved the designation as an alternate means for CFIs to renew their flight instructor certificates.

The Master Instructor designation is a national accreditation recognized by the FAA that is earned by a candidate through a rigorous process of continuing education and peer review. Much like a flight instructor's certificate, it must be renewed biennially. This process parallels continuing education regimens used by other professionals to enhance their knowledge base while increasing their professionalism. Simply put, the Master Instructor designation is a means by which to identify those outstanding aviation educators, those "Teachers of Flight," who are demonstrating an ongoing commitment to excellence, professional growth, and service to the aviation community. 

Aviation educators who earned the "Master" title during May are:

RENEWALS

Michael Bruce "Mike" TRAUD, Master CFI   
Gold River CA
E-mail: Traud@hotmail.com
Michael Traud recently renewed his Master CFI accreditation. Mike the director of operations and training for I.C. Jet and is the safety officer for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Air Squadron. He is also an independent flight instructor and designated pilot examiner in the Sacramento area.

Ernest Paul "Rusty" SACHS, Master CFI  
Oshkosh WI & Norwich VT
E-mail: RSachs@eaa.org
Rusty Sachs recently earned his Master CFI accreditation for the 6th time. Rusty is NAFI's executive director and serves as a pilot examiner as well as a safety counselor for FAA FSDOs in Milwaukee and Portland, Maine. He was one of the first aviation educators to earn this designation and has held it continuously since 1997.

Timothy Alan "Tim" MC CLEARY, Master CFI  
Navarre OH
E-mail: TMCBJJ@aol.com
Timothy McCleary recently renewed his Master CFI accreditation. Tim is an independent flight and ground instructor in the Wayne County Airport (BJJ) area as well as southeastern Ohio. He specializes in advanced and instrument training and serves as an Aviation Safety Counselor for the Cleveland FSDO.

Ronald Lee "Ron" GALBRAITH, Master CFI   
Longmont CO
E-mail: CFI@Instructor.net
Ron Galbraith recently renewed his Master CFI accreditation. Ron is an independent flight instructor (www.RGAviation.net) based at Longmont's Vance Brand Airport (2V2). Since retiring as an air traffic controller from Denver ARTCC, he spends much of his time building a Lancair Turbo ES and serving as a safety counselor for the FAA's Denver FSDO.

Michael Christopher "Mike" DEMULLING, Master CFI 
New Richmond WI
E-mail: Mike@NRAirport.com
Michael Demulling recently renewed his Master CFI accreditation. Mike is the manager of New Richmond Regional Airport (www.NRAirport.com). He also owns and operates Mike Demulling Flight Instruction where he specializes in Aerostar and Malibu recurrent training.

David DEMPSEY, Master CFI 
New York City NY
E-mail: DavidDempsey@compuserve.com
David Dempsey recently renewed his Master CFI accreditation. David is an independent flight instructor specializing in glass cockpit transitions at New Jersey's Teterboro (TEB) and Essex County (CDW) airports. He is the owner of NYCPilot (www.NYCPilot.net) and serves as a Civil Air Patrol checkpilot as well as an Angel Flight pilot.

Philip Terry "Phil" CORBELL, Master CFI  
Sun City West AZ
E-mail: USPilot@aol.com
Philip Corbell recently renewed his Master CFI accreditation. Phil is an independent glider CFI specializing in youth glider training at Peoria's Pleasant Valley Airport (P48). He also serves as an Aviation Safety Counselor for the FAA's Scottsdale FSDO and is a citizen activist working for the betterment of aviation in Arizona.

INITIALS

Vicki Lynn SHERMAN, Master CFI 
DeLand FL
E-mail: AeroSupplies@msn.com
Vicki Sherman recently earned her Master CFI accreditation. Vicki is a flight and ground instructor with Falcon Flight specializing in primary and instrument training at Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB). She is active in the 99s, serves with the Florida Aviation Safety Foundation and is a safety counselor with the FAA's Orlando FSDO.

Ronald Lee "Ron" GALBRAITH, Master GI   
Longmont CO
E-mail: CFI@Instructor.net
Ron Galbraith recently earned his Master Ground Instructor designation. Ron is an independent flight instructor (www.RGAviation.net) based at Longmont's Vance Brand Airport (2V2). Since retiring as an air traffic controller from Denver ARTCC, he spends much of his time building a Lancair Turbo ES and serving as a safety counselor for the FAA's Denver FSDO.

Peter Anthony "Pete" CONFORTI, Master CFI 
San Antonio TX
E-mail: Pete@satx.rr.com
Peter Conforti recently earned his Master CFI accreditation. Pete, a retired Air Force officer, is a flight instructor with Palo Alto College at Stinson Municipal Airport (SSF) in San Antonio. He also serves as president of San Antonio's General Aviation Pilots Association and is a safety counselor for the FAA's San Antonio FSDO.

Bruce Norman BRESLAU, Master CFI  
Northridge CA
E-mail: Brez9@verizon.net
Bruce Breslau recently earned his Master CFI accreditation. Bruce works as an independent flight and ground instructor as well as an aviation consultant in the Van Nuys area. He also serves as an Aviation Safety Counselor for the FAA's Van Nuys FSDO.

FMI: www.nafinet.org