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 81,000 CFIs in the United States. Fewer than three hundred of them have earned the Master designation thus far. As a measure of the prestige conferred by this title, the last seven FAA National Flight Instructors of the Year were Master CFIs. In addition, the FAA recently approved the designation as an alternate means for CFIs to renew their flight instructor certificates.

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

RENEWALS

Harry William KRAEMER, Master GI
Germantown  MD
E-mail:    HKraemer@earthlink.net
Harry Kraemer recently renewed his Master Ground Instructor designation.  Harry is an aviation writer as well as the chief CFI for FlighTek at Pennsylvania's York Airport (THV).  He also serves as an ASC for the Baltimore FSDO and is the only person who holds 3 different Master Instructor designations simultaneously.

Gregory James "Greg" PAVLISH, Master CFI 
Wichita  KS
E-mail:    IRPilotCJ@msn.com
Gregory Pavlish recently renewed his Master Instructor designation.  Greg is the manager of Cessna's Air Transportation Department Fleet Operations and instructs for the Cessna Employee's Flying Club at Mid-Continent Airport (ICT).  He also serves as an Aviation Safety Counselor for the Wichita FSDO. 

Phillip Jeffrey "Phil" POYNOR, Master CFI
Farmingdale  NY
E-mail:    MasterCFI2@aol.com
Phillip Poynor recently renewed his Master Instructor designation.  Phil is the owner and general manager of Nassau Flyers at Long Island's Republic Airport (FRG).  He was the 2001 National CFI of the Year and serves as an Aviation Safety Counselor for the Farmingdale FSDO. 

David Alan "Dave" WHEELER, Master CFI
Everett  WA
E-mail:    Dave@NorthwestSchoolOfAviation.com
David Wheeler recently renewed his Master Instructor designation.  Dave is the owner and chief flight instructor of the Northwest School of Aviation at Snohomish County-Paine Field (PAE).  He also serves as an Aviation Safety Counselor for the Seattle FSDO. 

INITIALS

Jeffery Earl "Jeff" BROWN, Master CFI  
Kensington  NH
E-mail:   Flyers12@attbi.com
Jeffery Brown recently earned his Master Instructor designation.  Jeff is an independent flight instructor who operates Dreams of Flight (www.Flightbrief.net) at Hampton Airfield (7B3).  He also serves as an advisor in the Scout's Aviation Explorer program as well as an Aviation Safety Counselor for the Portland FSDO.

Andrew Victor "Andy" DALE, Master CFI    
Winston-Salem  NC
E-mail:   AVDale@mindspring.com
Andrew Dale recently earned his Master Instructor designation.  Andy is an independent flight instructor specializing in primary flight training at Smith Reynolds Airport (INT).  He is also a representative of AOPA's Airport Support Network and is active in EAA's Young Eagles program.

Gordon Ashby EWALD, Master CFI
Hardy  VA
E-mail:    SEwald@rev.net
Gordon Ewald recently earned his Master Instructor designation.  Gordon is an independent flight instructor at Roanoke Regional Airport (ROA).  He also instructs in the FAA WINGS program as well as the Roanoke City school system and is the senior instructor at LC's Flying Service.
  
Harold Frederick "Harry" LEICHER, Master CFI
Whittier  CA
E-mail:    ItllClear@aol.com
Harold Leicher recently earned his Master Instructor designation.  Harry works as an independent CFI and air taxi pilot in the Long Beach (LGB) area.  He also serves as an Aviation Safety Counselor for the Long Beach FSDO and is a member of the US Parachute Association with over 5,200 jumps logged.

Walter Jakob "Walt" MERCER, Master CFI
Arlington  TX
E-mail:   Mercer209@sbcglobal.net
Walter Mercer recently earned his Master Instructor designation.  Walt is chief flight instructor and vice president of Katie Hawk Aviation at Arlington Municipal Airport (GKY).  He also serves as an Aviation Safety Counselor for the Fort Worth FSDO.

Christopher Paul "Chris" PARKS, Master CFI    
Gallatin  TN
E-mail:   DittoPilot@mindspring.com
Christopher Parks recently earned his Master Instructor designation.  Chris works as chief flight instructor for Wings of Eagles at Smyrna Airport (MQY).  In that capacity, he specializes in flight instructor training as well as training in advanced avionics.

Julian Nigel PRIDMORE-BROWN, Master CFI     
LaGrande  OR
E-mail:   Julian@pridmorebrown.com
Julian Pridmore-Brown recently earned his Master Instructor designation.  Julian specializes in primary through advanced training at LaGrande Union County Airport (LGD).  He also flies EMS flights and works as a PC-12 check airman for Air Methods Corporation.  

Erik Thomas RIGLER, Master CFI 
San Antonio  TX
E-mail:   GForce@gforceinc.com
Erik Rigler recently earned his Master Instructor designation.  Erik is an independent flight instructor in the San Antonio area as well as an aviation accident investigator with G Force, Inc.  He also serves as an Aviation Safety Counselor for the San Antonio FSDO. 

Quay Carlton SNYDER, Master CFI             ( 21Apr03 )
Monument  CO
E-mail:   Info@VirtualFS.com
Quay Snyder recently earned his Master Instructor designation.  Quay instructs at the US Air Force Academy where he specializes in glider spin training and unusual attitude recovery.  He is also an aviation medical examiner (AME) and serves as a pilot examiner (DPE) for the Denver FSDO.

Cathleen Moiar "Cathy" STEELE, Master CFI 
Severna Park  MD
E-mail:    C.M.Steele@juno.com
Cathleen Steele recently earned her Master Instructor designation.  Cathy is a staff flight instructor with Phoenix Aviation at Baltimore's Martin State Airport (MTN).  She also serves as an Aviation Safety Counselor for the Baltimore FSDO. 

FMI: www.nafinet.org