Hood named CFI marketing mentor
AOPA has named renowned trainer and motivator Ralph Hood as national CFI marketing mentor for AOPA's Project Pilot Instructor program, now the nation's largest group of active flight instructors.
The Project Pilot Instructor program, announced just three months ago, now provides more than 3,000 flight instructors with guidance, information, and motivation to succeed in flight training and student retention.
"CFIs are the visible and influential front line of general aviation. They're the respected and trusted source of information and advice, especially when students or new pilots question whether they can tough out flying's rough spots," said AOPA President Phil Boyer.
Hood will spearhead AOPA's "CFI Success Program," advising the nation's flight instructors in the one area in which their CFI rating didn't train them: attracting and keeping students who will earn their wings.
"The original AOPA Project Pilot encouraged pilots to mentor new students and prospects," said Boyer. "Now, under the Project Pilot Instructor program, Ralph Hood will be mentoring CFIs in the critical skills that will help rebuild flight training."
AOPA's Project Pilot Instructor program supports CFIs by providing them and their students with training aids, guidance, and a frequent-flier-style program rewarding CFIs for the volume of students flying.
Hood is well known in the FBO/flight school management community as a columnist in Airport Business (formerly FBO) magazine and a frequent lecturer and master of ceremonies at National Air Transportation Association (NATA) events. He sold aircraft at the wholesale and retail levels for 15 years.
He was involved in the promotion of flight training during the 1970s through the Piper Instructional Program and Piper Blue Sky programs, and more recently through the national Learn to Fly effort. He has also been a lecturer in general aviation management at Southern Illinois University.
Hood met with CFIs in the AOPA tent at the EAA International Fly-In Convention during July and will meet more of them at AOPA Expo '95 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in October and at the 1996 Sun 'n Fun EAA Fly-In next April. He'll also advise CFIs through e-mail in the special "CFI Hangar Talk" section of the new AOPA Online on CompuServe.
At Expo '95, Hood will be featured on "CFI Day," Friday, October 20. After a luncheon presentation on facing general aviation's future with optimism, Hood will participate in a "CFI Success" seminar on attracting and retaining students, and on CFI career planning and business skills.
Hood is a 3,000-hour commercial multiengine- and instrument-rated pilot and holder of a world aviation speed record. He has attended factory schools in Piper Navajo twins and Cheyenne turboprops. His aviation career has included the marketing of Cessna products in the agricultural aircraft market.
From his home in Huntsville, Alabama, he conducts a nationwide professional public speaking business, offering his motivational message that one can rise above immediate everyday problems to find "it's clear on top."
"Ralph's message — that we can climb above today's problems to a brighter future for general aviation — is the critical message for today," said AOPA President Boyer.
A graduate of Clemson University and a National Speakers Association Certified Public Speaker, Hood has motivated and enlightened audiences from the Canadian Business Aircraft Association to television's Oprah Winfrey Show.
More mentors and students receive premiums
Sporty's Pilot Shop has awarded a Sporty's Electronic Checklist ($99.95 value) to the following mentors whose students have recently earned their private pilot certificates: Carl F. Bonner, William J. Jones, Stephen J. Sinclair, Michael W. Johnson, R.E. Pfeiffer, Donald Sleight, Bruce Coulombe, Kelley F. Owens, David C. Olson, Robert C. Kovacks, Jim Humphries, John Bobcik, Wallace Scott II, Ryan D. Fendler, Michael J. Andalora, Doedo Schipper, David B. Hamilton, William M. Yates, Michael E. Rathbun, Ron Wagner, Anthony J. Derderian, Llewellyn P.F. Krause, Steve Jurvelin, George Smith, Raymond Polito, Kory Nykerk, Tim DeWitt, James Edward Sok, Irvin A. Roseman, Edward F. Bate III, Gerald Jospa, Chuck Collingwood, Randy D. Miller, Lee Halsted, and Robert A. Morgan.
King Schools has awarded a video series (any King Written Exam Video Course, a $169 to $199 value or the complete King "Take-Off" Video Library, a $199 value) to participating AOPA Project Pilot students Thomas Gustitus and Blaine Hadley.
To inquire about eligibility for these awards, call 800/USA- AOPA, menu choice 4.
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