|
John King, Martha King, and Greg Brown Inducted in the 2021 Flight Instructor Hall of Fame
Administered by the National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI), inductees into the Flight Instructor Hall of Fame represent individual(s) who have made significant contributions to aviation education and flight instruction while reflecting credit upon themselves and their profession. The honor highlights the important role flight instructors play as a foundation for the safety of the entire national air transportation system.
A pilot since 1972 and Flight Instructor since 1979, Brown’s awards include being named 2000 Industry/FAA National Flight Instructor of the Year, 1999 NATA Excellence in Pilot Training Award, 2013 AOPA Let's Go Flying Award, and Barnes & Noble Arizona Author of the Month. In 1997 he was designated the first-ever NAFI Master Flight Instructor. Along with thousands of flight training hours, Brown has contributed countless articles to aviation publications, and taught NATA’s Flight Training Business Success Seminars. He pioneered use of social media to support flight training with AOL pilot forums in 1997, continuing today with Greg Brown’s Student Pilot Pep Talk Facebook Group. Brown holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate with Boeing 737 type rating, and Flight Instructor certificate with all fixed-wing aircraft ratings. In addition to flight training, he has flown professionally in scheduled and corporate aviation, and currently pilots his Cessna Skylane, the Flying Carpet, extensively for personal business and pleasure. Mr. Brown noted, “Throughout my career I’ve striven to empower pilots at every level of aviation to achieve their aviation goals and dreams. The best ways to do that? Make flying fun and inspire pilots to take command of both their cockpits and their careers.” Reflecting on his proudest moment, he said, “promoting and stimulating a unified aviation community where our common passion for piloting transcends differences of race, politics, and gender, thereby broadening acceptance of diversity and aviation opportunities for all.”
After a dismal failure in a business for which they did not have a passion, John and Martha King decided to relax and indulge their love of flying for a while. In the early 1970s, they began teaching flying to mark time while looking for a "serious business." After teaching live seminars for over a decade they put their courses on video and began to revolutionize the flight training industry. Today their company, King Schools, Inc which started in a spare bedroom in the Kings´ house, operates out of a dedicated complex in San Diego, California that includes a video and software production facility. Over more than 45 years, King Schools has delivered many millions of courses to pilots in training. Through intimate video instruction John and Martha King have taught more pilots than anyone in the history of aviation—for many years providing education to more than half the pilots in the United States learning to fly. It's no surprise that pilots throughout the world know John and Martha and regard them as their personal aviation mentors. King Schools continues to transform pilot training by pioneering the development of multimedia training programs on many aviation subjects including ground-breaking programs on aviation risk management. Through the years, the Kings have retained their enthusiasm for flying. They fly their own Dassault Falcon 10 jet wherever they go, swapping captain and copilot duties on each leg. They have flown as pilots in every continent of the world except Antarctica, including a trip completely around the world via the length of Russia. The Kings have been champions for the cause of improving risk management practices of general aviation pilots speaking to thousands of pilots each year about aviation safety. They work with the FAA's National Aviation Safety Program in producing safety videos. They also volunteer their time to speak to college classes on starting a small business. To date, between both John and Martha King have received over 30 awards for these efforts. Mr. King said, “Learning to fly is an extraordinary achievement. It is a long process that encompasses an individual’s physical, mental, and emotional effort together into an extraordinary achievement. And we play a role in this – what a privilege! We are thrilled to be a part and receive this recognition.” Martha continued, “And the amazing part is to be included with so many fight instructors that came before us that were mentors to us and we’ve learned from and help other flight instructors carry on that tradition.” NAFI Director of Program Development and administrator of the Hall of Fame award program, commented, “The Hall of Fame requires a minimum of 20 years of active industry experience. We know that all our inductees have contributed much more than the minimum. Today we inducted the 32nd, 33rd, and 34th names to this list meaning, at minimum, we have a collection of over 680 years of aviation education represented in the Hall of Fame.” Mr. Niehaus added, “The incredible privilege to introduce these remarkable flight instructors and individuals is the absolute highlight of my career.” It is important to note that the Flight Instructor Hall of Fame is not a NAFI award, NAFI administers the program on behalf of the entire aviation and flight training community. To maintain the integrity of the program, the judges represent a vast array of aviation professionals.
Our Fight Instructor Hall of Fame judges include:
NAFI Chair Bob Meder said, “I am proud that Greg Brown and John and Martha King have been inducted into the Flight Instructor Hall of Fame. On a personal level, I have learned at both the basic and advanced levels about flying and teaching others about aviation from them. More importantly, Greg Brown and the Kings’ commitment to aviation safety and proficiency along with their passion for teaching is an inspiration for all pilots and instructors. Congratulations for this well-deserved honor! NAFI would also like to thank the National Business Aviation Association for providing a venue at NBAA-BACE for making the presentation to the Hall of Fame inductees.” Download Press ReleaseFor more information contact: NAFI members influence active pilots daily: students working to become pilots, current pilots training to advance their skills with new ratings or certificates and pilots who seek to improve their skills with recurrent training. NAFI also serves as an advocate with industry and government as a voice for flight instruction. NAFI helps shape the current and future direction of flight training. |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, October 13, 2021, Las Vegas, NV
Flight Instructor Hall of Fame inductee Greg Brown has over 40 years of instructional experience. His passion for piloting is obvious to anyone who have read his books, The Savvy Flight Instructor (now in it’s second edition), The Turbine Pilot's Flight Manual, Flying Carpet: The Soul of an Airplane, You Can Fly!, and Job Hunting for Pilots, listened to his Cockpit Adventures from the Flying Carpet Podcast, or followed his long-running "Flying Carpet" aviation adventure column in AOPA’s Flight Training magazine.
Flight Instructor Hall of Fame inductees John and Martha King, founders and co-chairs of King Schools are the first and only husband and wife to hold every category and class of FAA pilot and instructor certificates. Their use of technology and clear, simple, and fun teaching have made aviation knowledge more accessible to pilots throughout the world.
