National Accreditation Recognized By The FAA

Seven instructors have received for the first time or renewed their Master Instructor designation in the month of September.

Master Instructors LLC said in a news release that all were accredited as Masters by Master Instructors LLC, the international Master Instructor accrediting authority.

Professional aviation educators who earned or renewed their "Master" title during October 2015 are:

Charles Arthur "Charlie" Skelton, Master CFI, Branford  CT. E-mail:  RBOCAS@comcast.net
Colonel Charles A Skelton (USMC, Ret), an 8-time Master and SAFE member, recently renewed his Master CFI accreditation. Charlie is the chief pilot for CAS Aviation and president of Yale Aviation, a flying club at Tweed-New Haven Airport (HVN), where he provides training in airplanes, helicopters, gliders, and gyroplanes. Additionally, he serves as a FAASTeam representative in the FAA's Windsor Locks FSDO area.

Robert Michael "Rob" Schapiro, Master CFI, Tampa, FL. E-mail: RMSchapiro@BootCampHelicopters.com
Robert M Schapiro, a 1st-time Master and SAFE member, recently earned his initial Master CFI accreditation. Rob is a US Army helicopter aviator and instructor pilot at Clearwater, Florida.  Additionally, he provides civilian fixed wing and rotorcraft flight training with Middle River Aviation at Maryland's Martin State Airport (MTN) along with some other airports / heliports.

David James "Dave" McVinnie, Master CFI, Albuquerque, NM. E-mail: DJM@McVinnieAviation.com
David J McVinnie, a 10-time Master and SAFE member, recently renewed his Master CFI accreditation. A retired US Air Force veteran, Dave is the president of McVinnie Aviation LLC where he specializes in technically advanced aircraft flight and ground training.  He also serves as a pilot examiner (DPE) and FAASTeam representative in the FAA's Albuquerque FSDO area.  He was only the seventh (7th) aviation educator to earn the Master designation when the accreditation program was introduced by then-FAA Administrator Barry Valentine during Oshkosh AirVenture 1997.

Helen Dalman "Pat" Knight, Master CFI, Flower Mound, TX E-mail: PKnight@earthlink.net
Pat Knight, a 10-time Master and a founding member of SAFE, recently renewed her Master CFI accreditation. A retired US Air Force officer, a longtime pilot examiner (DPE) and flight instructor, Pat is currently an Aviation Safety Inspector (ASI) with the FAA Flight Standards program at Alliance Airport (AFW) in Fort Worth where she specializes in human factors in aviation, accident prevention and investigation, and glider as well as multiengine flight training.  She was only the second (2nd) aviation educator to earn the Master designation when the accreditation program was first introduced by then-FAA Administrator Barry Valentine at Oshkosh AirVenture 1997

William Ralph "Bill" Gross, Master CFI, Salina, KS. E-mail: BGross@KSU.edu
William R Gross, a 7-time Master and SAFE member, recently renewed his Master CFI accreditation. Specializing in flight and ground training as well as classroom instruction, Bill is a professor of aviation and the chief flight instructor in Kansas State University's College of Technology and Aviation  at Salina Municipal Airport (SLN).  He also serves as a pilot examiner (DPE) and FAASTeam representative in the FAA's Wichita FSDO area.

Lara Zook Gaerte, Master CFI, Fort Wayne, IN. E-mail: LaraGaerte@gmail.com
Lara Gaerte, a 5-time Master and SAFE member, recently renewed her Master CFI accreditation. Lara is the CEO, manager, and chief pilot of Century Aviation, a full-service FBO at DeKalb County Airport (GWB).  She also serves as the president as well as airplane division director of the Air Race Classic and is a FAASTeam representative in the FAA's South Bend FSDO area.

Edgar Melville "Ed" Fink, Master CFI. Fort Myers, FL. E-mail: EdMFink@comcast.net
Edgar M Fink, a 10-time Master and a SAFE member, recently renewed his Master CFI accreditation. A retired US Army officer, Ed is an independent flight and ground instructor at Page Field Airport (FMY) in Fort Myers.  He also serves with the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, the Sundowners Search & Rescue Flying Club, and was a longtime FAASTeam representative for the FAA's Tampa FSDO area.  He was only the fifth (5th) aviation educator to earn the Master designation when the accreditation program was first introduced by then-FAA Administrator Barry Valentine at Oshkosh AirVenture 1997.

Many of the most recent National Flight Instructors of the Year or National FAASTeam Representatives of the Year were Master CFIs. In addition, the FAA has approved the accreditation as an alternate means for CFIs to renew their flight instructor certificates.

(Images provided by the individual Master instructors)

FMI: www.MasterInstructors.org