Jeffrey Robert Moss of Los Angeles, California, is the 2010 National Certificated Flight Instructor of the Year. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, Jeff’s passion for aviation began at the tender age of seven. While on a family trip, Jeff remembers looking out the terminal window at a huge PanAm Boeing 747, the aircraft that would take the family from Miami to Los Angeles. Once on board, he made his way up the spiral staircase and onto the flight deck. He sailed past the flight engineer and proclaimed, “Hi Mister Captain, I’m Jeffrey Moss, I’m seven years old and I’m here to learn everything!” Thus, his love affair with flying began.
As a student at Arizona State University, aviation reentered his life. After discovering that his college roommate was a private pilot, the two of them would occasionally venture out to Phoenix Skyharbor Airport with a portable radio in hand to listen to air traffic control while watching aircraft takeoff and land. At about that same time, a friend read an article about an airline offering a “pilot for a day” program where you could actually fly a full motion 747 flight simulator. Jeff immediately jumped at what would become a life changing experience. At the urging of his airline friends he met flying 747 simulators he obtained his flight instructor certificate in 2003.
When Cirrus introduced the first general aviation aircraft to have a full glass Avidyne cockpit, Jeff joined the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) and became an early member of the Cirrus Standardized Instructor Program. He was also one of the first factory trained instructors on the Lancair Certified Columbia 350/400 (now the Cessna Corvalis) and was a co-creator and chief flight instructor for the Columbia Recurrent Training Program.
Today, Jeff holds five single pilot jet type ratings. He is an independent instructor and mentor pilot on the Cessna Citation Mustang & CJ series, Eclipse 500, Embraer Phenom 100/300 and Hawker Beechcraft Premier IA. He specializes in training piston pilots for their initial single pilot jet type rating. He trains mostly out of Santa Monica (SMO), Van Nuys (VNY) and Burbank (BUR) airports.
A Master Certificated Flight Instructor (MCFI), Jeff is a charter member of the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) and also serves as a FAAST Team lead representative. He is an active member of AOPA, COPA, Cessna Advanced Aircraft Club, Citation Jet Pilots, Eclipse 500 Club, and Phenom Pilots/Owners. He continues to work extensively as an aviation educator and is a sought after aviation speaker. His company, Flying Like the Pros, produces computer-based avionics training programs.
Moss (JRobertMoss@aol.com) represented the Van Nuys FSDO area as well as the FAA’s Western Pacific Region. This year’s other regional CFI of the Year winners include Michael Gary Oliver GRANT of Viera, FL, (FAA’s Southern Region); Robert Vincent MEDER of Omaha, NE (FAA’s Central Region); MCFI Megan Roberta SAYRE of Bennett, CO (FAA’s Northwest Mountain Region); Susan Marie THOLEN of Kennebunk, ME (FAA’s Eastern Region); MCFI-MGI Ronald Jay TIMMERMANS OF Bedford TX (FAA’s Southwest Region); and MCFI Wanda Jean ZUEGE of Custer, WI (FAA’s Great Lakes Region). (Attached photo: 2010 Nat’l Certificated Flight Instructor of the Year MCFI Jeff Moss of Los Angeles, CA)