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BLOOMFIELD HILLS — Since 1997, only about 800 people have earned the National Association of Flight Instructors Master Flight Instructor accreditation. Bloomfield Hills resident and NAFI member Steven Tupper recently earned his NAFI Master Flight Instructor accreditation.
NAFI, the oldest and largest professional association for flight instructors, requests that applicants meet an extensive list of eligibility requirements in order to earn this accreditation.
Some of these requirements include two years of being a flight instructor, a minimum of 1,000 hours of flight instruction to a student, and involvement and leadership in the local aviation community. The full list of requirements can be found on nafinet.org/eligibility.
“One of the big things that the program has is the longevity of itself. It is internationally recognized as a very difficult program to receive,” said John Niehaus, the NAFI director of program development. “For anybody that is accredited currently or even previously, it is very well known in the industry that this individual is in the upper echelon of what it means to be an instructor.”
While 800 people have received this accreditation, only about 61 are currently active. The accreditation lasts for two years before it has to be renewed.
“We don’t look at it as the number being something inadequate. We look at it as it’s so selective that there aren’t that many that can actually get approved by it,” Niehaus said.
Tupper started flying in 2001, and he became an instructor in 2015, around the time his son was reaching the age where he could solo a glider.
He said he did not start working towards this accreditation until a few years ago, when he realized he was not far from the required instruction hours. Tupper submitted his application with 1,002 hours logged.
Tupper said it feels good to be recognized for the hard work he has put into his application, especially the 1,000 hours requirement, which he said was typically logged in hour or hour-and-a-half increments.
“That really is a commitment over a lot of years, especially when you don’t do it full time,” Tupper said.
In addition to all of his involvement in the aviation community, Tupper is a full-time attorney.
Tupper holds and has held several titles and positions in the aviation community. Currently, he is a CFI in gliders and single-engine airplanes with an instrument airplane rating, a Civil Air Patrol lieutenant colonel, and a check pilot examiner and mission check pilot examiner.
In his position with the Civil Air Patrol, he trains and evaluates pilots and other aircrew in search-and-rescue and other related missions.
For several years, he was the director of the Civil Air Patrol glider program in the Michigan Wing. He has also served as a cadre for its Mission Aircrew School at the National Emergency Services Academy.
Tupper is a judge advocate and on the Civil Air Patrol’s national headquarters operations staff as an aviation-advisor and is one of their primary aviation counsel.
He is involved with air shows in the region. In particular, Tupper is the originator of the Tuskegee Airmen Detroit River Days Airshow. His leadership in this is what met NAFI’s requirement of involvement in the aviation community.
The Tuskegee Airmen Detroit River Days Airshow received its first waiver in 2013 and held shows until 2019. There has not been a show since the pandemic, but they are hoping to begin again in 2024.
Tupper is an instructor of the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum in Detroit. Through the museum, Tupper helps train underrepresented youth to become career pilots.
He said he plans to renew his NAFI Master Flight Instructor accreditation once it expires in two years.
“I am a fan of demonstrating your abilities by objective tests and doing it frequently,” Tupper said.
If anyone is interested in aviation, Tupper said he encourages them to visit a flight school and ask for a discovery flight, which will give a taste of what flying is like.
“If you are curious, don’t wait, go get a discovery flight,” Tupper said.
