GA Awards Program Finds Home at Museum
For the first time in its 45-year history, the General Aviation Awards Program has a place to call home and a place where the names of the annual recipients of the awards can be publicly recognized and honored. During EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2008, a plaque honoring the recipients of the Certificated Flight Instructor of the Year, the Aviation Maintenance Technician of the Year, the Avionics Technician of the Year, and the FAA Safety Team Representative of the Year was hung in the EAA AirVenture Museum, in the Hall of Fame.
“Here now is a place where these names will forever be recorded,” said JoAnn Hill, chairperson for the awards program and NAFI vice president. “All of these people keep general aviation alive and well and safe; if we didn’t have good people, it wouldn’t survive.”
Yet, while the plaque is on display, there are still several holes in the listings of past award winners. In spite of extensive research into past winners, the awards committee is unable to identify seven CFIs of the Year and three AMTs of the year. Hill hopes visitors to the halls of fame can help fill in the blanks for the National CFIs of the Year 1968-1971 and 1973-1975, as well as the National AMTs of the Year 1974-1976.
The General Aviation Awards Program is a cooperative effort between the FAA and more than a dozen industry sponsors. The program executive committee includes the Aircraft Electronics Association, the FAA, and NAFI, an affiliate of EAA. For more information about the program, to make a donation for the maintenance of the plaque, or to help identify missing winners, e-mail GenAviationAwds@aol.com.
|
