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Meet the NAFI Board of Directors
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Email: rmeder@nafinet.org |
Robert Meder, Chairman
Robert Meder is a CFI with single- and multi-engine and instrument privileges. He was recently named the St. Louis FSDO 2009 CFI of the year, the Lincoln 2010 FSDO CFI of the year, and the 2010 Central Region CFI of the Year. He has been a check airman for a 141 operation, an active FAASTeam Lead Rep. He is active in volunteer activities at EAA AirVenture each year. Robert serves on the board of the National Association of Flight Instructors and is also an operating department manager with one of the largest railroads in the United States.
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Email: Kenh@kensair.com |
Ken Hoffman
Ken’s first job as a CFI was in 1962 for Kensair Corporation at Jeffco Airport near Denver. In 1963, he became an instructor and then Flight Training Clinic Director for the AOPA and wrote the original AOPA Mountain Flying Course. He was a part of the group who conceived the idea of forming a professional organization representing flight instructors that became the birth of NAFI. Ken has over 19,000 hours flight time and his ATPshows eight type ratings (Fairchild FA-27, Learjet, Gulfstream G159, Cessna Citation CE 500, Westwind IA-JET, Hawker HS-125, Gulfstream G-1159, and Beechcraft 1900). His Commercial Privileges include ASEL,ASES, Rotorcraft-Helicopter, L-B34 type rating |
(Howard Super Ventura), and Glider. In his 49th year as a CFI with over 6,000 instruction hours given, his certificate shows Gold Seal, ASME, Instrument-Airplane, Rotorcraft-Helicopter, and Glider. Ken served as a Designated Pilot Examiner for over 25 years, which included approvals for Private, Commercial, ATP, CFI, ASEL, AMEL (with as many as 5 LOAs for different models), Helicopter, and Learjet. He has owned or operated flight schools under FAR Part 61, 141, and 142 and served as Evaluator in the Beechcraft 1900 for the 142 training center he founded.
Ken enjoys sailing his 22 foot Catalina (vintage 1976) at his home in Horseshoe Bend, Arkansas and his 29 foot Ericson sailboat (1974 vintage) that he keeps at NAFI’s founder Jack Eggspuehler’s home in Cape Coral, Florida. Ken says, “I find that I now spend almost as much time reading sailing magazines as I do aviation magazines.”
“NAFI has a proud past and we have a very talented and dedicated board of directors and staff who are working hard to take our organization to the next level. I am proud to be a part of that effort.”
Photo: Ken Hoffman and favorite student Kristin Nicole Hoffman flying Harry Mertz's Varga. |
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Email: frycb@aol.com |
Carl Fry
Biography Coming Soon! |
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Craig O’Mara
Craig O'Mara currently is a B747-400 Captain/Check Airman for United Air Lines, flies Citations and King Airs part-time for a St. Louis charter company and teaches in light airplanes for a local FBO. He also flies a B-25 and L-3 for the Commemorative Air Force as well as an AC-47 gunship for the American Flight Museum. He spent 26 years in the U.S. Air Force and Reserves where he retired as a C-9A (DC-9-32F) Flight Examiner/Instructor Pilot. He said the most enjoyable time that he has spent in aviation is his time as a CFI, making his 747 Check Airman position a dream come true. "I still get to flight instruct for a living," he said. O'Mara said he hopes to use the background he has gained in his 36 years as a CFI to help other CFIs, through NAFI, realize that they hold the future of piloting in their hands. |
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Email: eradtke@sportys.com |
Eric Radtke
Radtke was first exposed to aviation as a part of a family vacation at age seven. Today he manages Sporty’s Academy, a Part 141 school that employs 20 flight instructors and produces a complete line of aviation educational products. He learned to fly at Sporty’s in 1996 as part of the University of Cincinnati’s Professional Pilot Program, an initiative he now directs. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and went on to an airline career.
Radtke is an Airline Transport Pilot, with a CE-500 type rating and a B727 SIC qualification. In addition, he is a Master Flight Instructor and Advanced Ground Instructor.
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| He credits his decision to become a pilot to an experience he had while boarding a flight when he was young. While doing so, a flight attendant noticed his interest in the cockpit and urged him to go talk to the pilot. “He took the time to talk to me for five minutes, pointing things out," Radtke said, and credits that pilot with his career choice. He added: “I’ll always remember that. We never know when we can make that same impression on someone else.” There is no doubt that Radtke's role as an instructor and his new role with NAFI offer him a continued opportunity to make impressions of his own on those he introduces to aviation. |
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Rick Todd
Biography Coming Soon! |
Email: cfibob@atlanticbb.net |
Robert Snyder
Biography Coming Soon! |
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Email: tlsanders48@yahoo.com |
Ted Sanders
Ted’s friends say he wanted to fly before he was born. In first grade Ted started building and flying U-Line controlled gas powered model airplanes. He was competing in combat and rat race competitions through 4th grade. Ted joined the United States Marine Corps in 1969 and became a CH-53D Crew Chief flying in excess of 1200 hrs. Upon return to the states in 1972 Ted took flying lessons at the base flying club earning his Private License on July 4, 1973. He returned home and used his GI benefits to earn his Instrument Rating and Commercial License. Fast forward to January 2002. Ted returned to flying and since then he has gone from an 800hr. pilot with those ratings to a Commercial Pilot with ASEL, ASES, AMEL and, Glider. He also is a CFI, |
CFII, MEI, CFI-G, Gold Seal Instructor, NAFI Master Instructor and FAAST team Representative. For three years Ted flew freight for Northeast Aviation as a Captain and Training Airman. Ted has logged in excess of 5000+ hrs.
In addition to joining the NAFI Board, Ted chairs the Learn to Fly Center for NAFI and EAA at AirVenture and participated on several NAFI Committees. Ted enjoys his obligations as a member of the NAFI Board of Directors.
Photo: Ted Sanders and his dog Snaproll in a Switzer S-233. |
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Email: bradyt@erau.edu |
Tim Brady
Brady has a long history in aviation and aviation education. He currently is Professor and Dean of the College of Aviation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. Before that was the Chairman of the Power and Transportation Department (Aviation Department) at Central Missouri State University (1991-1998) and prior to that was at Parks College of St. Louis University for 11 years as Dean of Institutional Advancement and External Programs.
Brady has served as the President of the Council on Aviation Accreditation (now AABI, Aviation Accreditation Board International). He also served as President of the University Aviation Association (1993-94). His other experience
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includes active duty with the U.S. Air Force (1958-1980) and was dual rated as a pilot and navigator. He flew the C-130 aircraft for 20 years and was twice decorated in combat (Vietnam) with the Distinguished Flying Cross. He currently holds the Air Trans¬port Pilot (ATP) rating (multi and single engine with com¬mercial privileges). He also holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administra¬tion from Saint Louis University; Master of Science Degree in Management from Abilene Christian Univer¬sity in Texas; and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Social Science from Troy State University in Alabama.
Brady recently served on the FAA Administrator’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Air Traffic Control Training and just prior to that served on the FAA Aviation Rulemaking Committee on Airline Pilot First Officer requirements. He is a published author of more than 30 articles related to aviation. He is the lead author of the college textbook "The American Aviation Experience: A History," Southern Illinois University Press, and has written more than 40 externally funded grants or contracts totaling nearly $4 million.
Brady's extensive involvement in professional aviation education makes him a strong addition to the NAFI board, helping to include input from this area of aviation education to NAFI's overall mission. |
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