Very interesting! I am just about ready to join NAFI. Why don't you guys go above and beyond and talk me out of it? I wonder, from the outside looking in it does look like a waste of time and money.
Any insights?
NAFI as an organization does very little for the flight instructing community, IMO.
The Master Instructor credential, on the other hand, can be very beneficial to an individual instructor I believe.
The Master CFI proves a person has an ongoing, serious involvement with working as an instructor. To meet all the requirements, a person pretty much has to be a full time or very busy part time instructor. They must have taught a minimum of 240 flight/classroom hours in the past 24 months and been involved with community service, material publishing, and personal involvement with the aviation community for a minimum of another 240 hours in the past two years.
It is not a "once in a lifetime" award like the Gold Seal. Each instructor has to resubmit a portfolio of their accomplishments and get revalidated as a Master CFI every two years, so you don't get a bunch of "has beens" hanging around the airport marketing themselves as experts when they only teach 5 hours/month.
A person also has to have held their CFI ticket for a minimum of at least two years, and sometimes four years (depending on how many signoffs they've given) to be eligible for a Master CFI. This requirement pretty much eliminates the "time building" CFI crowd because they've all gone to the airlines before they become eligible.
So when I hear a person is a Master CFI, they instantly get respect in my book. Not that I look down on other CFIs, but I know that if a person has gone to the trouble of becoming a Master, they're probably a pretty decent teacher.
From a professional standpoint, I see two main advantages to becoming a Master. First, networking. A lot of the big names in flight training world are Master CFIs. For a person who is really serious about making a good living as a full time instructor, nothing but good can come from associating with other CFIs who are writing books, giving seminars, owning flight schools, etc. Rich Stowell is considered an authority in the aerobatics world, Max Trescott is an expert with glass panel training, Greg Koontz runs his own flight school, Arlynn McMahon writes books and magazine articles, etc...these are all Master Instructors.
Second, when it comes to marketing yourself to prospective clients, you lend credibility to yourself by being able to say you're a Master Instructor. It doesn't matter if the person you're talking to has any clue what that means. They'll take you more seriously. I'm lucky enough to be able to say I'm one of only three Masters in the entire state of Nebraska. If I mention that to a prospective customer, it instantly elevates me to some degree over everybody else. Simply put, it's good marketing.
