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NAFI, the National Association of Flight Instructors, administers the Master Instructor Program. This program, which is recognized by the FAA, has the goal of acknowledging outstanding instructors in the field of aviation. It is based on a rigorous process of continuing development and education of the individual and sets professional standards to which all instructors can aspire. The designation of Master Instructor must be renewed every two years, and the FAA recognizes it as a renewal of the flight instructor certificate. There are fewer than 500 Master Instructors in the entire country. Minnesota now boasts a total of just seven Master Instructors. Applicants for the Master Instructor designation must demonstrate continuing work and development in four areas - Educator, Service, Media, and Participant. Much more on these categories is listed below. Explanation of categories My initial application NAFI rates applications for the Master designation in terms of CEUs, which stands for Continuing Education Units. I will simply refer to them as credits. A minimum of 32 credits is required to obtain the Master designation. A credit is roughly equal to 15 hours of work, so if you spent 60 hours training a student for a rating, that would be the equivalent of 4 credits. 16 of the 32 credits must be in the Educator category and they must be in at least two different activities. The remaining categories must have a minimum of 2 credits each in a minimum of two different activities. All activity must be thoroughly documented, and the final package of paperwork weighs about five pounds! Educator - actively working as a flight instructor. Examples include: Teaching safety seminars FAA Wings program sign-offs Flight instruction for practical test sign-off Insurance checkouts Teaching groundschools Flight reviews, IPCs, high-performance, tailwheel, and complex endorsements Service - pro bono work performed for the good of the aviation community. Examples include: CAP, Young Eagles Mentoring new CFIs Board of Directors of aviation-related organization Pro bono position of leadership or responsibility FAA Safety counselor Chairmanship or secretary of aviation-related organization Media - Creation of aviation-related material. Examples include: Publication of articles in newspaper or aviation related journals or newsletters Publication of aviation related books Creation of syllabi for aviation training Aviation related photography Creation of Power Point presentation Creation of brochures, guidebooks or manuals Creation of aviation websites Participant - the continuing education of the applicant. Examples include: FAA Wings or safety seminars (approximately 5 seminars = 1 credit) Attending an FIRC Attending a groundschool for a certificate or new rating Aviation related travel experience, such as flying a plane on a long trip Construction of homebuilt aircraft Initial or renewal of DPE Aircraft ownership If you are interested in pursuing a Master Instructor designation, the time to start on it is now. Everything must be documented. So when you endorse a student for a checkride, make a copy of the 8710 form (front and back) and make a copy of the DPE's endorsement in the student's logbook, showing the completion of the checkride. Or if not able to do that, make a copy of the student's new certificate. Figure out how many hours you spent, flight and ground, training the student and fill out an activity completion form (from NAFI). The category is Educator. File your paperwork in your new MCFI folder. Also do this for other training and endorsements. In a similar manner document your activities in the other categories. Board meetings can be used to document serving on a Board of Directors. Pro bono service in positions of responsibility can be documented with confirming letters. Copies of training materials, brochures, syllabi, published articles, and URLs of websites can also be used for the Media category. Copies of seminar attendance, logbook entries for long trips, aircraft registration, new ratings, IPCs, flight reviews can be used for the Participant category. So how was my initial application for the Master designation rated by NAFI? Educator category 6 credits for two instrument ratings 3 credits for one multi-engine rating and two MEI ratings 5 credits for two CFII ratings 10 credits for three initial CFI ratings 2 credits for two commercial ratings 3 credits for 15 FRs and IPCs Total was 29 credits in Educator category Service category 2 credits for serving on the Board of Directors of two aviation organizations 1 credit for serving as chief flight instructor at Knowlton Flight Instruction Services 1 credit for Wings of Mercy flights Total was 4 credits in Service category Media Creation category 1 credit for KFIS website (no longer on the web) 1 credit for Seize the Sky website 2 credits for private pilot and multi-engine syllabi 1 credit for customized aircraft checklist for KFIS 1 credit for KFIS brochure Total was 6 credits for Media Creation category Participant category 1 credit for initial Navajo training and FAA Wings participation 1 credit for flying to New Brunswick 1 credit for aircraft ownership Total was 3 credits for Participant category The grand sum total was 42 credits NAFI website The Master Instructor Program