Meet Our NAFI Master Instructors

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Orhan Baser, MCFI 10/2024-10/2026:

The National Association of Flight Instructors is proud to announce that NAFI member Orhan Baser has earned accreditation as a NAFI Master Flight Instructor.

Baser took to the skies in 1979 as a paratrooper and later conducted operations from fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters as a military officer. Baser developed a passion for teaching in the military where he instructed mountain climbing, parachute jumping, skiing, and scuba diving.

In 2012, Baser pursued his long-time ambition of becoming a pilot and earned his CFI and CFII ASEL and AMEL certifications. He instructs primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area. Baser is active with the Civil Air Patrol, Angel Flight West, and the Bay Area Urban Eagles. His goal as a CFI is to train both hobby and career pilots, with an emphasis on keeping the skies safe for everyone. 

Kevin Sakson, MCFI 11/2024-11/2026:

The National Association of Flight Instructors is proud to announce that NAFI member Kevin Sakson has earned accreditation as a NAFI Master Flight Instructor.

Sakson decided to pursue a hands-on career in the aviation industry while writing his undergraduate capstone paper on aeronautics in the Civil War. Sakson graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2016 and began flight training and working in aircraft maintenance. He completed his commercial and CFI certificates in 2020 and has been an active flight instructor at the Orlando Executive Airport since. In addition to teaching, Sakson is an active seaplane and glider pilot. He is member of the Seaplane Pilots Association and Soaring Society of America. 

Brandon Gardner, MCFI 9/2024-9/2026:

The National Association of Flight Instructors is proud to announce that NAFI member Brandon Gardner has earned accreditation as a NAFI Master Flight Instructor. This is Gardner’s second NAFI Master Flight Instructor accreditation.

Gardner developed a passion for aviation at the age of 12 after a flight in a Mooney as part of a program between the Boy Scouts of America and the EAA Young Eagles. Since then, his dream has been to become a professional pilot.

Gardner graduated from the University of Central Florida College of Business Administration with a bachelor’s degree in business management. He lives in Orlando and began flying at Orlando Executive Airport, where he obtained his pilot certificates and ratings. In 2019, he founded Premier Flight Solutions, which quickly developed into one of Orlando’s top flight training institutions and aircraft management companies.

Gardner is a three-time AOPA Distinguished Flight Instructor award winner, FAA Gold Seal flight instructor, and Bahamas Flying Ambassador. He is an active member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), Seaplane Pilots Association, National Association of Flight Instructors, American Bonanza Society, Cirrus Owners & Pilots Association, Experimental Aircraft Association, Malibu M-Class Owners & Pilots Association, Mercy Flight Southeast (part of the Air Charity Network), and the Central Florida Business Aviation Association.

Bryan Zar, MCFI 8/2024-8/2026:

The National Association of Flight Instructors is proud to announce that NAFI member Bryan Zar has earned accreditation as a NAFI Master Flight Instructor.

From early childhood, Zar remembers attending the Belle Chasse Joint Reserve Base (NBG) annual air shows and watching the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds perform. His father, who served in the Air Force and National Guard, decorated Zar’s bedroom with framed military aircraft photos. Aviation was destined to play a role in his life.

Zar began flight lessons in July 2021 at age 41 to fulfill his lifelong interest in aviation. What started as what he called a mid-life crisis pursuit quickly turned into a second career. Zar proudly accepts NAFI Master Flight Instructor accreditation only three years after becoming a student pilot and having earned his CFI, CFII, and MEI instructor certifications.

Zar is a King Air Captain for Apex Aero located in Houma, Louisiana (KHUM), as well as an assistant chief instructor for Gulf Coast Aviation Flight School in New Orleans, Louisiana (KNEW). Apex is a Part 135 charter flight operator specializing in life-extending medical flights, which Zar finds very rewarding, and Gulf Coast Aviation is the largest Part 141 flight school in Louisiana. He enjoys flight instructing and assisting the next generation of pilots achieve their aviation goals. 

Zar is working towards a Master of Science degree in aeronautics at Embry-Riddle University, proving it is never too late to pursue your dreams. He believes continuing education is a vital part of his ability to provide significant flight instruction. Zar and his wife of 17 years, Brooke, have owned and operated Restaurant des Familles in Crown Point, Louisiana since July 2009. When not in the air or restaurant, Zar and his wife enjoy traveling with family and friends, playing tour guides to guests visiting New Orleans, and taking the occasional motorcycle ride. 

Erik Swanberg, MCFI 8/2024-8/2026:

The National Association of Flight Instructors is proud to announce that NAFI member Erik Swanberg has earned accreditation as a NAFI Master Flight Instructor.

Swanberg is a Part 135 Falcon 7X captain and chief flight instructor for a Part 141 flight school with affiliations to Liberty University and Purdue University Global. Swanberg has been flying for 33 years and has seen many different roles: Part 135 director of operations and check airman, Part 91 and 135 chief pilot, training officer, line pilot, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance pilot, aircraft sales, flight instructor, and skydiver pilot. He resides in the Chicago suburbs with his wife Michelle and their two children.

Click here to download Erik's press release. 

Jerrold T. Hinshaw, A-MCFI 8/2024-8/2026:

The National Association of Flight Instructors is proud to announce that NAFI member Jerrold T. Hinshaw has earned accreditation as a NAFI Associate Master Flight Instructor.

A Marine brat who grew up around military aviation, Hinshaw has more than 3,500 hours in GA aircraft. He has owned airplanes since the 1990s, including three Mooney and two PA-46 aircraft. He currently owns and flies a Mirage JetProp.

As an instructor, Hinshaw specializes in initial and recurrent training of pilots in Mooney and Piper M-Class airplanes. He works with Archer Aircraft Instructional Services, an insurance industry accepted training center for all the Piper M-Series aircraft. At Archer Aircraft, Hinshaw specializes in the Mirage and JetProp versions. He also teaches at the Mooney Aircraft Pilots Association Safety Foundation’s weekend proficiency programs, held five times a year around the United States. Hinshaw enjoys instructing the upgraded advanced avionics and autopilot systems that are installed on most of these aircraft.

Since 2021, Hinshaw has been an adjunct instructor at the Community College of Baltimore County in the aviation department where he instructs in the college’s advanced aviation training device simulators for private, instrument, and commercial students.

Hinshaw holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from the University of Southern California in electrical engineering. He has decades of experience as a professional in the design and development of terrestrial and satellite communications and radar systems. Hinshaw helped develop FAA systems including the Parallel Runway Monitor and Microwave Landing System, with additional experience with transponder/interrogator ATC systems.

Hinshaw holds ASEL, AMEL, CFI, CFII, and AGI certifications.

Click here to download Jerrold's press release. 

Jeff Kling, MCFI 8/2024-8/2026:

The National Association of Flight Instructors is proud to announce that NAFI member Jeff Kling has earned accreditation as a NAFI Master Flight Instructor.

Kling discovered his passion for flying at the age of eight when his aunt gave him a book about flying your own airplane with stories and pictures of the possibilities of having your own airplane. After reading the book cover-to-cover many times, Kling finally got to experience his first airplane ride with his dad’s boss, and became hooked. He was lucky enough to secure a regular seat to ride in that same plane throughout his early teen years. He vowed that someday he would learn to fly and own his own personal airplane.

After Kling graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering, he could afford to learn to fly and earned his private pilot certificate in 1984. Kling holds FAA certificates for ATP (ASEL, AMEL, ASES), CFI, CFII, MEI, A&P mechanic, and UAS. A CFI for 26 years, Kling has given more than 10,000 hours of dual instruction. He is a FAASTeam Representative for the Houston FSDO and has volunteered for many organizations including Angel Flight, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Challenge Air, and NAFI’s Pilot Proficiency Center at Oshkosh.

Kling and his wife live in a private airpark in Friendswood, Texas and have owned the same Cessna 205 for almost 30 years. After eight years as a project engineer for the local power company, Kling spent 25 years in the United States space program as a Space Shuttle flight controller working in Mission Control, and in several management roles for the Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs. In 2011, he retired from the space program and turned to full time flight instruction. His former rocket scientist friends applaud him for “living the dream.” These days Kling is both the chief CFI and the chief mechanic at Kling Aviation, Inc., a small Houston, Texas area flight school that he and his wife have owned and operated since 2002. They provide training for all fixed wing certificates and ratings and specifically enjoy training and mentoring new flight instructors.

Click here to download Jeff's press release. 

Dave McCormack, A-MCFI 8/2024-8/2026:

The National Association of Flight Instructors is proud to announce that NAFI member Dave McCormack has earned accreditation as a NAFI Associate Master Flight Instructor.

McCormack became hooked on aviation at age 16 and has been actively flying since earning his ticket in San Diego (KMYF) in 2004. He holds commercial AMEL/ASEL pilot certificates, CFII, AGI, and IGI instructor certificates, along with an MBA from Arizona State University.

McCormack served 20 years active duty in the United States Navy and Air Force. He held a variety of aviation roles including EC-130H instructor and evaluator navigator, aviation safety and mishap investigating officer, instructor combat systems officer specializing in undergraduate advanced navigation in the T-1A Jayhawk (Beechcraft 400), and C-172 instructor pilot with the Naval Introductory Flight Evaluation program teaching flight fundamentals to student naval aviators.

Today he leads a team of CFIs as a senior flight instructor at a Part 61 flight school in Pensacola, Florida. McCormack volunteers with the local Civil Air Patrol as a search and rescue and cadet orientation ride qualified instructor and check pilot. If he’s not there, he’;s likely sightseeing with his family (and dog) in his PA-32R Saratoga or looking for any other excuse to get in the air.

While sunsets at altitude or approaches into Key West are fun, McCormack considers the opportunity to influence a student’s development the most thrilling experience of them all, and wouldn't trade it for anything.

Click here to download Dave's press release. 

Kyle Wensmann, A-MCFI 8/2024-8/2026:

The National Association of Flight Instructors is proud to announce that NAFI member Kyle Wensmann has earned accreditation as a NAFI Associate Master Flight Instructor.

Wensmann earned his private pilot certificate in 2011 and is a Gold Seal CFI/I and MEI located in Little Falls, Minnesota. He has logged 1,800 hours with more than 700 hours of dual given. He also works as an airline pilot and serves as president of EAA Chapter 1681. He enjoys helping with fly in events and YoungEagles rides.

Click here to download Kyle's press release. 

Nathan Ballard, MCFI 7/2024-7/2026, MGI 8/2023-8/2025:

The National Association of Flight Instructors is proud to announce that NAFI member Nathan Ballard has earned accreditation as a NAFI Master Flight Instructor.        

Ballard began flying in 1991 and earned his private, instrument, and commercial certificates and ratings by age 18. After a career in information technology, Ballard became a CFI in 2020 and has been actively teaching ever since. He specializes in training flight instructor applicants.

Ballard is an ATP, CFII, and IGI. He teaches at KLZU and KPDK, northeast of Atlanta, Georgia. He is an FAA Safety Team Lead representative and the safety officer for his flying club.

Ballard enjoys creating safety-related content for his YouTube channel, @NathanBallardSaferFlying. Ballard focuses both his teaching method and video content on "Attacking Aviation from a Critical Angle," offering thought-provoking aviation concepts and flying practices.

Ballard has presented for NAFI’s MentorLIVE program and was a guest on the More Right Rudder podcast. He was a speaker at the inaugural NAFI Summit on the topic of how CFIs may overcome a student who is locked on the flight controls.

In his spare time, Ballard enjoys backcountry hiking trips with his wife and attending college football games at their kids' universities.

Click here to download Nathan's press release. 

Alexander Crosett, MCFI 4/2022-4/2026, MGI 8/2023-8/2025:

This is Crosett’s second Master Flight Instructor accreditation. Crosett has been flight instructing since the age of 18 and enjoys working with pilots at every learning stage. Crosett is an FAA Gold Seal flight instructor and he holds airline transport pilot and flight instructor certificates in both airplanes and helicopters.

Crosett is a recipient of the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award from the FAA, awarded to those who have demonstrated professionalism, skill, and aviation expertise by maintaining safe operations for 50 years or more.

In addition to flight instructing to pay for his college education, Crosett flew for air ambulance, freight, charter organizations, and for a commuter airline in New England. Crosett is an FAASTeam volunteer representative and is active as an Angel Flight and Patient Airlift Services command pilot. 

Crosett is a Cirrus Standardized Instructor Pilot and teaches in Cirrus SR aircraft at Mike Goulian Aviation, a Cirrus Platinum Training Center in Massachusetts.

Click to Download Lex's Press Release!

Ric Blamer, MCFI 4/2024-4/2026:

Blamer is the airport manager and an independent flight instructor at Geauga County Airport in northeast Ohio. He shares his passion for aviation as the Young Eagles coordinator, IMC and VMC Club coordinator for EAA Chapter 5, as well as being a FAASTeam service provider. He takes his role as an aviation ambassador on the road to local schools, Rotary Clubs, and other organizations. His passion for teaching and flying is infectious.

Blamer holds CFI, CFII, AGI, and IGI instructor certifications; ASEL, ASES, and Part 107 pilot certificates. He started the Geauga Aviators flying club which has grown to 15 members and is looking to add one or two more aircraft. Recently he was instrumental in forming the Geauga Aviation Foundation. Its mission is to promote aviation and provide a connection to the non-flying community through educational programs.

Click to Download Ric's Press Release!