Our FIRC Instructors

Pat Brown

Pat was bitten by the flying bug early, and began taking lessons at age 16, earning his Private Pilot license shortly after his 17th birthday. Today, 7000+ hours later, he holds a Commercial Pilot certificate for Gliders, Single-Engine Land, and Multi-Engine Land aircraft and is a Gold Seal Flight Instructor for single and multi-engine aircraft as well as gliders. In addition, he is the former Chief Tow Pilot for the Greater Houston Soaring Association with nearly 2500 tows under his belt. Pat contributed a sidebar on radio communications to Rod Machado’s Sport Pilot Handbook, and participated in re-writing/updating the National Association Of Flight Instructors’ CFI Guide To Light Sport and Light Sport Aircraft. He is the co-developer of AOPA’s Rusty Pilot seminar, travels the country speaking to pilot groups as a Safety Seminar Presenter for the Air Safety Institute, and conducts Flight Instructor Refresher Clinics nationwide. In 2013, Pat was named by the FAA as both the Houston District and Southwest Regional Flight Instructor Of The Year.

Tom Emanuel

Tom holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and is Associate Director and a pilot examiner at the University of Illinois Institute of Aviation. He has been a CFI for over 45 years and is rated in gliders and seaplanes, as well as SE & ME airplanes. He has been designated by the FAA as a National Accident Prevention Counselor.

Gerry Fairbairn

Gerry holds a Ph.D. in Economics and is a retired professor of aviation having taught at San Jose State University, Daniel Webster College and Westminster College. He is an ATP, a flight instructor with airplane, glider, and instrument ratings; a ground instructor with advanced and instrument ratings, and holds a mechanics certificate with A&P ratings. He has accumulated over 6,500 flight hours with much of it in flight instruction.

Bill Gunn

Bill is the former airport compliance manager for the Texas Department of Transportation, Aviation Division. Bill is an ATP, CFII, MEI, and ACR authority. He has approximately 8,000 flying hours in a wide variety of military and civil business, corporate, and general aviation areas. Bill flew RF 4C aircraft in South East Asia, air shows in Great Britain, and represented the Air Safety Foundation in test CFI clinics in Australia. Bill is a consultant for right-of-way and airport compliance issues and litigation and writes professionally for aviation journals. He is an aircraft owner and flies for business and pleasure.

Andrew Miller

Andy flies all over the country in his beautiful 1973 Cessna Skylane to help pilots and CFIs sharpen their skills. A member of the National Speakers Association Wisconsin chapter, Andy has extensive experience speaking in the technology world, and in 2004 he joined the AOPA Air Safety Foundation first as a Safety Seminar presenter, and now as a FIRC instructor. A commercial pilot, he holds CFI-A, CFI-I, IGI, and AGI certificates. He regularly flies Young Eagle and Angel Flight missions, is an AOPA Airport Support Network Volunteer, and serves as a FAASTeam Lead Representative in the Great Lakes Region.

Jason Miller

Jason Miller is a Certified Flight Instrument Instructor with more than 18 years of aviation experience and thousands of hours of instruction given. Jason is a member of the FAA safety team, an instructor for AOPA’s Air Safety Institute and was nominated by the FAA for the 2009 Flight Instructor of the Year Award.

“I am passionate about developing systems that help pilots become safer and more efficient.” Says Miller.

Using his background as a performer and experience on the flight line, Jason created The Finer Points – Aviation Podcast, one of the most recognized and well respected aviation podcasts in the world. The critically acclaimed podcast has delivered more than 3m flight training files to pilots all over the world.

Wayne Phillips

Wayne Phillips is an ATP with B-737 and Falcon 20 type ratings. Wayne is a DA-20 Examiner, has owned and operated a 135 company, a banner towing business, and a hot air balloon tour enterprise in the Rockies. He manages the Airline Training Orientation Program (ATOP), a two-day B-737 introductory course for aspiring airline pilots conducted at the Continental Airlines Pilot Training Center (www.b737.com). He’s the careers writer for Flight Training Magazine. Wayne earned “CFI of the Year-1999” in the FAA NW Region.

Kurt Reesman

Kurt holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Masters of Aeronautical Science and considers himself a student for life. For over eight years, he served as an Associate Professor and Assistant Chief Flight Instructor in Liberty University’s School of Aeronautics where he sought to bring life, and practicality to aviation academic content. He is a retired USAF Instructor/Evaluator Pilot and has flown the T-37, T-38, RF-4C and F-15E/S. Kurt holds ATP, CFI, CFII and MEI certificates, as well as a B737NG type-rating and has flown over 4000 hours; approximately half of his flight time has been as a flight instructor. Kurt has been a contract instructor with the Air Safety Institute since December 2008.

Pat Shaub

Pat is an experienced ATP, CFI-I, and an active FAA Safety Counselor with many years of experience flying and teaching pilots. Pat’s classes are interesting and fast paced, salted liberally with examples taken from his extensive real-world flying experience in the civil and military world, including his career flying as an air ambulance helicopter pilot.

Jeanné Willerth

Jeanné Willerth is a Master CFI who provides single and multi-engine training in the Kansas City area. She was named the 2015 “CFI of the Year” for both the Kansas City Flight Standards District and the FAA’s Central Region. Jeanné was the 2012 “National FAASTeam Rep of the Year”. She is an ATP and holds CFI-A, CFI-I, MEI, IGI, and AGI certificates. Jeanné is active in the Ninety-Nines, SAFE, and the Missouri Pilots Association. She volunteers for Angel Flight Central, Challenge Air, LifeLine Pilots and Young Eagles. Jeanné holds both undergraduate and master’s degrees in mathematics.

Tom Curran

Tom started flying at Seattle’s Boeing Field in 1978 and holds ATP, CFII/MEI, and float ratings. His early exploits included instructing in Florida and Alaska. After college, he helped produce Alaska’s first Aviation System Plan and several airport master plans. Tom later joined the USAF and served as an Instructor and Evaluator pilot in the F-15C and B-1B. His adventures included tours in Alaska, Europe, Japan, and Southwest Asia. His “day jobs” included Commander of a B-1B squadron, Director of a NATO Air Operations Center, and Deputy Director of the DoD‘s Joint Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center of Excellence. His credentials include degrees from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Florida Institute of Technology. Tom lives in Gig Harbor, WA, and WILL fly for food!