SAFE Elects New Board Members

Three well-known aviation leaders were elected to the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) Board of Directors in May, each for three-year terms. They were elected by popular vote open to all 900 SAFE members and will begin their duties at the Society's annual meeting on Thursday, July 31, 2014 at AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The three are Sherry Knight Rossiter of Missoula, Montana, Dr. Donna Wilt of Melbourne, Florida and Ken Wittekiend of Burnet, Texas. Rossiter has enjoyed a diverse career in GA, including a commercial pilot, flight instructor, weekend ground school instructor, business owner, aviation journalist, adjunct faculty for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and U.S. Army helicopter pilot. She is currently self-employed as an aircraft broker. Rossiter has been an active part of SAFE's aviation education outreach since founding of the Society in 2009, and has chaired SAFE's Membership Committee for the last two years.

Wilt is currently a SAFE Board member and an associate professor in the College of Aeronautics at Florida Institute of Technology. Dr. Wilt serves as a subject matter expert in GA flight operations, ab-initio flight training and avionics systems. She holds an FAA ATP certificate, is a three-time Master flight instructor, a FAASTeam Representative, EAA Member and Chair of the 99s Florida Spaceport Chapter. In her varied background are stints as an avionics design engineer for Rockwell Collins and as a flight instructor. She is also a founding member of SAFE. Wittekiend is the founder and owner of ProMark Aviation Services, an FBO and flight school on the Burnet (Texas) Municipal Airport. He is an FAA Designated Pilot Examiner and regularly contributes articles to national aviation magazines including Flying, AOPA Instructor Report and the AOPA Flight Training magazine. Wittikiend holds a BS in Education and History from the University of Texas, is a Master CFI, has been a FAASTeam member since 2006 and was named FAA Flight Instructor of the Year for the FAA Southwest Region in 2009. He regularly volunteers for altruistic missions involving GA, including as a Bahamas Habitat Relief Pilot. Last summer, he flew 140 hours round trip from Texas to Alaska in a Piper Super Cub, a 12,000-mile journey. Since its founding, SAFE has built a large library of audio-visual and written resource materials on aviation education, divided into members-only and public sections. The organization sponsors an Aviation Educator Mentoring program to help CFIs and teachers to become world-class aviation educators and offers an exclusive CFI liability insurance program. Substantial member discounts are available on a variety of aviation products from over 24 SAFE member benefit partners. SAFE also publishes the quarterly SAFE, The Magazine with articles and observations by some of the nation's top flight instructors and aviation educators. This spring, the Society introduced a members-only app for both Android and iPhones with more than a dozen oft-used resources for flight instructors including all FAA-suggested logbook endorsements, flight tracking, aviation weather and a guide to AirVenture 2014.