Flight instructors Doug Stewart and Tim Tucker are being honored as inductees into the Flight Instructor Hall of Fame on July 25 at EAA AirVenture. The ceremony will be held in the National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI) Professional Development Center.
Both instructors are being recognized for helping colleagues with tools that they can then pass along to their students. Stewart and Tucker are mentors who have helped many others in aviation education and they “have also given back to the industry by working in coordination with the FAA, associations, and aerospace companies on various certification and safety committees,” according to NAFI.
Stewart is executive director emeritus of the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) and helped found the organization. He is based at Columbia County Airport in Hudson, New York, and has logged more than 13,500 hours of flight instruction and 5,700 hours of instrument instruction. An FAA Gold Seal instructor and Master Instructor, Stewart is also an FAA designated pilot examiner and was a member of the FAA rulemaking advisory committee that developed the airman certification standards practical testing protocol.
Tucker earned his flight instructor certificate in 1973 and began teaching in a Bell 47 helicopter, then became an Army Reserve instructor pilot. He taught in the Army for 20 years, eventually becoming a standardization instructor pilot.
After taking delivery of the first production Robinson R22 in 1979 and becoming the first instructor to endorse a student to solo in the R22, three years later Tucker was hired on at Robinson as its first chief flight instructor. Author of the Robinson Flight Training Guide, he and Frank Robinson developed the well-regarded Robinson Flight Instructor Safety Course, credited with cutting the R22 instructional accident rate by 66%.
Tucker became a designated pilot examiner in 1994 and administered 8,794 helicopter practical tests in 26 helicopter types before retiring in 2024. According to NAFI, Tucker “is responsible for naming, then promoting the ‘Vuichard Recovery’ from the vortex ring state, which is now used by helicopter pilots worldwide.”
“The combined positive impact these two individuals have had on aviation safety and training is remarkable,” said NAFI president Paul Preidecker. “Doug and Tim deserve our congratulations and thanks for their many contributions.”