About

Bob Nardiello

DPE, CFI of the Year

Bob Nardiello was the “Flight Instructor of the Year” in 2004 and “FAA Safety Counselor of the Year” in 2006 for the Windsor Locks Flight Standards District Office. He has over 14,000 hours of total flight experience, with more than 7,500 hours as a Flight Instructor. He currently holds CFI, CFII, MEI, and ATP ratings and serves as a Designated Pilot Examiner. Bob was the Chief Flight Instructor at a Part 141 Flight School and is also a seasoned charter pilot flying a Cessna 421, Citation Ultra and Citation Excel.

Wally Moran

DPE, NAFI Flight Instructor Hall of Fame

Wally Moran is a retired airline captain and spent much of his career as a training instructor and check airman on aircraft including the Boeing 747 and 767. He has held a flight instructor certificate for over 50 years. He is a former FAA DPE for airplanes from single engine to Multi-Engine ATP and gliders. Wally has been awarded the FAA Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award and is designated a Master CFI by the National Association of Flight Instructors. In 2017 Wally was elected to the NAFI Flight Instructor’s Hall of Fame.

John Krug

CFII, FAA ATC Instructor & QA Specialist

John Krug’s 27 years of experience as an Air Traffic Controller combined with his experience as an active flight instructor and charter pilot, allow him to assist pilots in gaining a better understanding of the ATC system and how to best operate in it. While with the FAA, he was an On-the-Job-Training Instructor for new controllers and worked as a Quality Assurance Specialist, responsible for conducting in-flight evaluations of the Air Traffic System and investigating accidents and incidents.

Bob Martens

USAF (ret) Safety Officer, FAA Safety Program Manager

Bob Martens is a nationally known speaker, consultant and aviation safety expert. He retired from the FAA after spending 17 years as a Safety Program Manager. In this role, he delivered hundreds of live seminars devoted to General Aviation safety. Bob retired from the USAF (rank of Colonel) in 2000 after 30 years of active and reserve duty. He was an Aircraft Commander in a C-5A and also served as Flying Safety Officer and Chief of Safety with the 439th AirWing. Bob has logged thousands of flight hours in both military and GA aircraft.

Tom Turner

NAFI Flight Instructor Hall of Fame

Master CFI Tom Turner holds an ATP certificate with instructor, CFII and MEI ratings and has a Masters Degree in Aviation Safety. He was the 2010 National FAA Safety Team Representative of the Year and the 2008 FAA Central Region CFI of the Year and has logged over 2,500 hours instructing. In 2015 Tom was inducted into the NAFI Flight Instructor’s Hall of Fame.

Tom was a Captain in the United States Air Force and has been Lead Instructor for the Bonanza pilot training program at the Beechcraft factory. He now directs the education and safety arm of a 9000-member pilots’ organization.

Doug Stewart

National CFI of the Year, NAFI Flight Instructor Hall of Fame, DPE

Doug Stewart was the “National Certificated Flight Instructor of the Year” in 2004 and NAFI Flight Instructor Hall of Fame in 2023. A Master Certified Flight Instructor, Gold Seal Instructor and Designated Pilot Examiner – he is based at the Columbia County Airport (1B1) in Hudson, NY.

Doug owns and operates his own flight school specializing in instrument training and has logged over 12,500 hours of dual instruction given, with over 5,700 hours of that being instrument instruction. He regularly gives instruction in aircraft as simple as the J-3 Cub, and as complex as the Piper Malibu / Mirage.

Rod Machado

CFII, ATP, Author and Aviation Speaker

Rod Machado has taught millions the basics of flying through flight lessons, simulation and training materials. Teaching and speaking to pilots in the 50 states and Europe since 1973, he simplifies the complex, makes bland topics interesting and educates with humor.

Flying since age 16, he is a rated ATP with all fixed wing Flight Instructor ratings, he was AOPA’s National Flight Instructor Spokesman and a columnist for AOPA Pilot and Flight Training magazines for many years. He has given over 10,000 hours of dual instruction given.

Rod Machado’s Private Pilot Handbook and Instrument Pilot’s Handbook are used to train pilots in respected Universities, Flight Schools, FBOs and High Schools throughout the country.

Keith Smith

Founder, PilotEdge

Keith Smith is a highly accomplished instrument pilot and founder and developer of PilotEdge, the award-winning network that provides real (human) ATC interactions for pilots flying and training on flight simulators. This experience gives Keith a unique perspective on what pilots struggle with when communicating. Keith also has deep experience with flight simulators, from the desktop to full-motion sims used in commercial applications.

Keith flys his own Lancair 360 in the Real World IFR and Real World Coast to Coast products and he flies a 172 in Real World VFR. He has logged over 600 hours in his Lancair and routinely flies it in a wide range of weather conditions at airports ranging from 1800 ft non-towered strips to JFK, Atlanta Hartsfield, DFW and everything in between.

Richard McSpadden

Former Executive Director of AOPA’s Air Safety Institute, USAF Thunderbird Leader

Richard McSpadden was the Executive Director of AOPA’s Air Safety Institute and an active flight instructor. He held a Commercial certificate with CFII, MEI, SEL ratings and a single-pilot Citation jet type rating. Richard began his GA flying in college and later flew F-15s, F-16s and the Super King Air 300 for the USAF.

He culminated his USAF career as the Commander and Flight Leader of the USAF Thunderbirds.

A native of Panama City, Florida, McSpadden started flying as a teenager and logged over 5,000 hours flying a variety of civilian and military aircraft. He taught his son to fly, instructed his daughter to solo in their Piper Super Cub, previously owned a 1950 Navion that was in his family for almost 40 years, and a Piper Super Cub.

Michael Goulian

Aerobatic Champion & Red Bull Air Racer

Paul Bertorelli

ATP/CFII, Aviation Writer, Editor

Paul Bertorelli is an ATP-CFII and in addition to instructing, he has been a charter pilot and sometime skydiving aircraft pilot. He’s also an experienced skydiver with more than 3,000 jumps. He’s currently editor at large for www.avweb.com and has been the editorial director and editor of Belvoir Media Group publications including IFR, Aviation Consumer, Aviation Safety and IFR Refresher. He has produced numerous aviation videos. He lives near Sarasota, Florida.

Dave Hirschman

ATP/CFII, Aviation Writer, Aerobatics Instructor

Dave Hirschman is an ATP/CFII who specializes in aerobatic and tailwheel flight instruction. He has provided more than 2,000 hours of aerobatic dual instruction in airplanes including the Decathlon, Pitts S-2B, Extra 300L, Stearman, WACO, and T-6. He has flown piston singles in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Mexico, and the Bahamas and performed air-to-air photo missions in those places.

Dave is the author of “Hijacked: The Heroes of Flight 705,” and he has been on the editorial staff of AOPA Pilot magazine since 2008. He has logged more than 8,000 flight hours in single and multi-engine land and seaplanes. He has a masters degree in journalism from the University of Michigan.

Bruce Williams

CFII, FAASTeam Rep, Aviation Author

Bruce Williams is the owner of BruceAir, LLC, an aviation consulting, training, and pilot-services company based in Seattle, WA. He has been a pilot since the early 1970s, and he is a certified flight instructor and FAASTeam representative in the Seattle area. Today, he focuses on training in technically advanced aircraft (TAA), the Beechcraft Bonanza series, and stall/spin/upset recovery courses in an Extra 300L aerobatic aircraft. He also instructs at Galvin Flying Services at Boeing Field. During a 15-year career at Microsoft, he worked on six versions of Microsoft Flight Simulator. In the 1980s, he edited the Western Flyer (now the General Aviation News). He is also the author of two books about using PC-based simulation to complement flight training, plus many features on a variety of topics for aviation-focused periodicals.  Bruce publishes an aviation blog at BruceAir.

Sarah Fritts

Army Combat Aviator

Sarah is dedicated to helping aviators get better at their craft. Sarah is a West Point graduate and Army combat aviator. She flew the OH-58D during the invasion of Iraq and C-12s in Afghanistan in 2013. She currently flies the King Air 350 out of Portland, OR and is still an active pilot in the Oregon Army National Guard. As an avid aviation blogger, she has written for IFR Refresher, Air Facts Journal and on her own website: ThinkAviation.net. Her articles are focused on providing practical explanations of complex aviation topics.

Dr. Scott Dennstaedt

CFII, author & former NWS meteorologist, founder of EZWxBrief

Dr. Scott Dennstaedt is an FAA-certificated instrument flight instructor and former NWS research meteorologist specializing in aviation weather training. He is the founder of EZWxBrief. Scott is the author of The Skew-T log (p) and Me: A primer for pilots  and co-author of Pilot Weather: From Solo to the Airlines and has written over 300 articles for various aviation magazines including IFR, Plane & Pilot, Pilot Journal, Flying, Aviation Consumer and Twin & Turbine magazines.

Dean Showalter

A&P / IA, CFI

Dean has been turning wrenches on piston-powered airplanes in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia for 25 years. He also seeks out inspiring aviation adventures whenever he can. Dean hosts the Airplane Owner Maintenance podcast, which he launched in 2015. He says it’s a great source for inspiration and motivation as he gets questions from aviators all around the country and beyond.

Tom Haines

Former Editor in Chief, AOPA

Tom Haines was Editor in Chief and Senior Vice President of Media, Communications, and Outreach at AOPA. He earned his pilot certificate in his late teens and has logged more than 4,000 hours in a wide variety of general aviation airplanes. He has a commercial pilot certificate with multiengine, instrument, and seaplane ratings, and holds type ratings in the Eclipse 500 and Cessna CJ business jets and has a second-in-command type rating in the North American B-25 Mitchell. He owns a Beech A36 Bonanza and uses it regularly for business and personal travel.

Kevin Plante

FAA ATC Specialist, Commercial Single/Multi Instrument

Kevin Plante has been an Air Traffic Control Specialist for 16 years and has been fully certified in several different towers and TRACONs.  His ATC experience has been in both USAF and FAA facilities.  Kevin currently works at a busy TRACON controlling a wide variety of aircraft into airports of every airspace classification.  Additionally, Kevin has worked with the design and modification of PBN procedures, implementation of new equipment/software into ATC facilities, and On-the-Job-Training of new controllers.

Kevin has been flying since 1997. He flies for personal travel as well as working as a contract pilot for corporate and charter operators.

Mark Kolber

CFII & Aviation Attorney

Like many who fly for personal business or pleasure, Mark Kolber came to aviation later in life. Mark had been interested in flying since childhood, but his first three lessons were a birthday gift from his wife, hoping to get it out of his system. She claims she hasn’t seen him since.

Thirty years later, Mark is a single-engine commercial pilot and CFI/CFII. He focused early on pilots coming to flying in mid-life as he did, and provided many hours of mountain flight instruction during his 20 years in Colorado. Now primarily involved in transition and recurrent training, Mark brings the perspective of an attorney who has represented pilots, mechanics and businesses in FAA enforcement and other aviation-related matters. He speaks to both legal and pilot groups and is a regular contributor to IFR Magazine.

Elaine Kauh

CFII, FAASTeam Lead Representative, Corporate Pilot

Elaine is a six-time Master CFI with over 3800 hours of dual given. She provides instruction in high-performance and tailwheel airplanes, flies corporate aircraft, and presents pilot seminars in collaboration with her FAASTeam colleagues in Wisconsin. She’s also a skilled instrument instructor and a contributing editor to IFR magazine. She especially enjoys teaching emergency procedures and training future CFIs, providing stall/spin endorsements in a Super Decathlon.

Catherine Cavagnaro

2020 FAA Certificated Flight Instructor of the Year, 2022 NAFI Flight Instructor Hall of Fame

Catherine Cavagnaro (CFI-I, MEI, ATP, DPE) offers spin and aerobatic instruction in addition to her position as Professor of Mathematics at Sewanee. She is a monthly contributor to AOPA Pilot Magazine and serves as a Designated Pilot Examiner for the Nashville FSDO. Catherine is the 2020 FAA Certificated Flight Instructor of the Year and the 2018 FAA Safety Representative of the Year. In 2018 she was inducted into the Tennessee Aviation Hall of Fame.

Katrina Linder

Air Traffic Controller, ATP, CFII-MEI

Katrina is an air traffic controller with 14 years of experience in tower, approach, and center on both the east and west coast. She started her career as a pilot and has logged over 5000 hours, including Part 121 and Part 135 flight experience. She returned to General Aviation when she became a controller and is an active flight instructor in a busy metropolitan area when not controlling airplanes from the scope.

JP Dice

ATP/CFII and MEI

JP Dice holds degrees in Meteorology from Mississippi State University and Broadcast News from the University of Florida. He was also one of the first AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologists in the country and was a television meteorologist for over 25 years. During that time, JP was also a pilot, airplane owner, and flight instructor. He left broadcasting to pursue aviation full-time and currently flies a Gulfstream IV as a corporate pilot as well as actively flight instructs in GA. He still owns and flies his Mooney M20J. The combination of flying and meteorology is a passion for JP.  He is particularly interested in teaching pilots aviation meteorology and how to help them safely plan trips and make “go and no go” decisions by utilizing the vast amount of weather data available today.

Steve Tupper

ATP/CFII, Air Boss (RAB/SV), Aviation Lawyer

Steve Tupper an active instructor in airplanes and gliders, an airshow performer and air boss, a demo pilot for the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum in Detroit, and a lieutenant colonel in the Civil Air Patrol (CAP). He’s the principal shareholder of Tupper Law Firm PC, specializing in aviation, information technology, privacy, and corporate transactions, and the founder of the Airspeed podcast. Steve might also be the only person ever to earn an ATP certificate in a Piper PA-38-112 Tomahawk.

David Gagliardi

Transport Canada ATPL, SMELS, Instructor, Pilot Examiner

After 10 years of recreational flying David went pro in flight instruction, charter, scheduled freight, and aerial forest fire suppression. After 17 years of fire bombing, he moved over to Transport Canada as a Flight Operations Inspector before retiring in 2022. Throughout his career he has remained an active instructor, teaching introductory aerobatics, seaplane flying, formation flying, gliding, warbird checkouts, and teaching other flight instructors. He enjoys flying his Nanchang CJ6A. His wife also occasionally lets him fly her Grumman AA1B.

John Zimmerman

ATP, Instrument Ground Instructor

Coming from an aviation family, John grew up in the back of small airplanes and learned to fly as a teenager. Ever since, he has been hooked on aviation of all kinds and regularly flies a Pilatus PC-12, a Cirrus SR22, and a Citabria. He is a 4000-hour ATP and also holds ratings for multi-engine, seaplanes, gliders, and helicopters. As a writer, John’s work has appeared in Flying magazine, AOPA Pilot, and Plane & Pilot, and he is currently Editor-in-Chief of Air Facts and host of the Pilot’s Discretion podcast. John has worked at Sporty’s for over 25 years, where he is President.

Chris McGonegle

Simulation Expert, Instrument-Rated Commercial Pilot

Chris caught the aviation bug at the age of seven when he was able to sit in the cockpit of a 737 between flights. Countless balsa wood flyers and multi-stage rockets later, he enrolled in the Aviation Technology Program at the University of Cincinnati and successfully turned a fascination into a career. “One of my most memorable flights was flying my dad to a local airport with a restaurant just off the ramp known for their generously portioned ribs. I’ll never forget that day with passenger #1.” Chris is also the the Director of Search Marketing at Sporty’s.

Frank Bowlin

ATP, CFII/MEI, Aviation Writer, FAASTeam Member

Frank Bowlin got hooked on flying by age 10. He saved enough money to start flying at age 18 and has flown 40 types, from taildraggers to airliners. Frank has written extensively for Aviation Consumer, Aviation Safety, and IFR, and now serves as editor of IFR. His pilot-wife Nirmala sponsored him and he was granted the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. He and Nirmala enjoy flying their beautiful Cessna 340A all around the U.S.. He provides initial and recurrent training to other 340 pilots.

Dr. Penny Levin

CFI, Psychologist, and Aviation Speaker

Since learning to fly in 2000, Dr. Penny Levin’s goal has been merging her two professional passions—psychology and aviation. She presents nationwide on topics related to flight instruction, flight safety, and pilot mental health. An athlete herself, she is a member of the Olympic Mental Health Registry and is available to members of Team USA to meet their performance and mental health goals. A longtime member of the Civil Air Patrol, Dr.Penny has flown as an instructor, a mission pilot, and a mission pilot instructor. She served as the PA Wing Assistant Director of Safety, responsible for creating an innovative aircrew safety seminar series. She has won numerous awards, including an Amelia Earhart Career Scholarship from the International 99’s and a Women in Aviation Achievement Scholarship.

Mark Robidoux

Founder, President

PilotWorkshops.com founder Mark Robidoux holds a commercial pilot certificate with instrument and seaplane ratings and has been flying since 1996. Before starting PilotWorkshops.com in 2005, he spent 18 years in high-tech, working for several of the world’s most successful software companies. He held a variety of sales, marketing and product development positions during his career.

While studying for his Instrument rating, Mark noticed there was little proficiency training available for pilots online. Most of the information out there was for student pilots looking to pass their FAA test and check ride. He was convinced there was an opportunity to develop online training courses and products focused solely on pilot proficiency. He used his knowledge and experience developing web technologies and recruited the best flight instructors in the country to develop a series of online training programs that help pilots fly better and safer.

His idea grew into the PilotWorkshops.com products, web site and partner network we have today.

Jeff Van West

Vice President, Product Design and Strategy, CFII

Jeff Van West is PilotWorkshops’ Creative Director with the primary responsibility for managing the development and creation of the company’s pilot proficiency training programs, including our flagship IFR and VFR Mastery programs.

For 19 years, Jeff ran many noteworthy aviation media projects with his own firm, Van West Communications, including magazines, books, videos and live seminars. Jeff previously served as editor-in-chief of IFR Magazine and co-editor of Aviation Consumer, and his work appears in AOPA Pilot, Flight Training Magazine, Plane and Pilot, and AVweb. He’s an experienced CFII/MEI with ratings for single- and multi-engine airplanes, seaplanes, and gliders. Jeff was the creator of the first pilot transition program for new Cirrus aircraft.

Ryan Koch

CFII, Director of Product Development

Ryan is responsible for the design and development of our new online training courses and pilot-friendly manuals, and oversees the course development team. He is also an active flight instructor specializing in instrument flight, is a flight simulator expert, and has experience doing remote flight instruction via simulators.

Ryan was the driving force behind the development of several PilotWorkshops online courses, including Instrument Rating Accelerator, IFR: The Missing Lessons, Garmin GTN: Next Level, and Advanced IFR. Ryan is also a contributing expert for PilotWorkshops’ IFR Mastery series and is a regular participant in the Instructor’s Roundtable. He teaches ground schools, runs ATC communications courses for both IFR and VFR pilots, and has developed curriculum for a variety of IFR proficiency programs, and a simulator-centered high school aviation program.

Mallory Devine

Operations Manager, Customer Service, CFII

Mallory, a CFII with commercial and multi-engine ratings, is responsible for ensuring that our customers receive outstanding support and assistance with all their questions. She also assists on a variety of product development projects.

Mallory graduated from the Flight Operations program at Daniel Webster College in Nashua, NH where she earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Aviation. Mallory is still an active instructor for East Coast Aero Club where she teaches in 172’s, Arrows and Warriors. She most recently was the Manager of East Coast’s Nashua office before joining PilotWorkshops.

Jeff Mulligan

Marketing and Technology Consultant

Jeff Mulligan co-founded PilotWorkshops along with Mark Robidoux in 2005. He was responsible for driving our technology direction and overseeing the design and development of our website and training platforms. In addition, Jeff managed our strategic partnerships to expand our online, email, and social media channels to reach as many pilots as possible.

Jeff is currently “semi-retired”, having moved out of the day-to-day operations of the company, but still actively consults with the company on a part-time basis on strategic marketing and technology initiatives.

During his 40 year career, Jeff served as Senior Vice President of an ad agency and Vice President of Marketing for two software companies. He has been building websites and developing integrated digital marketing campaigns since 1996.