Awards Will Be Presented In Oshkosh By Administrator
Babbitt
For the past 47 years, the General Aviation Awards program and
the FAA have recognized a small group of aviation professionals in
the fields of flight instruction, aviation maintenance, avionics,
and safety for their contributions to aviation, education, and
flight safety.
This awards program is a cooperative effort between the FAA and
more than a dozen industry sponsors. The selection process
begins with local FAA Safety Team managers at Flight Standards
District Offices (FSDO) and then moves on to the eight regional FAA
offices. Panels of aviation professionals from within those
four fields then select national winners from the pool of regional
winners.
Recipients of this year's national awards are Neil John Nederfield
of Lafayette, New Jersey, Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT) of
the Year; Kirk Harold Peterson of Larimore, North Dakota, Avionics
Technician of the Year; MCFI Jeffery Robert "Jeff" Moss of Los
Angeles, California, Certificated Flight Instructor (CFI) of the
Year; and MCFI Thomas Paul "Tom" Turner of Rose Hill, Kansas, FAA
Safety Team Representative of the Year. Previously, this
award was the Aviation Safety Counselor (ASC) of the Year.
The FAA administrator will present the national awards in July
during a "Theater in the Woods" program at EAA AirVenture 2010 in
Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Included in the prize package for all
four national winners is an all expense paid trip to Oshkosh for
the recipient and a guest to attend the awards presentation and
other GA Awards activities.
"These awards highlight the important role played by these
individuals in promoting aviation education and flight safety,"
said JoAnn Hill, General Aviation Awards Committee
chairperson. "The awards program sponsors are pleased that
these outstanding aviation professionals will receive the
recognition they so richly deserve before their peers in
Oshkosh."
2010 NATIONAL AMT OF THE YEAR: Neil
Nederfield of Fairfield, New Jersey, has been an airframe and
powerplant (A&P) technician for 45 years and has held
inspection authorization (IA) for 15 of those years. Neil and
his son Sean own C & W Aero Services, an FAA Certified Repair
Station, located at Essex County Airport (CDW) in Caldwell, New
Jersey.
A four-year tour in the United States Navy launched this Viet
Nam veteran's career in aviation maintenance. Neil attended
schools for aviation airframe sheet metal and paint corrosion
control and then served with VA72 aboard aircraft carriers from
1965 to 1969 working on Douglas A-4 Skyhawks. After an
honorable discharge as a Petty Officer 2nd Class, he continued to
work in aviation maintenance. Following ten years of
employment at C & W Electronics, Neil became the owner and
manager of C & W Aero Services at Essex County Airport in
1983.
This year's other regional AMT winners include JoAnn Arnold of
Blytheville, AR (FAA's Southwest Region); Hatton Nicholas Batson of
Cordova, TN (FAA's Central Region); Darrell Eugene Boldluc of Ham
Lake, MN (FAA's Great Lakes Region); Joseph Morales of Lakewood, CO
(FAA's Northwest Mountain Region); Marlin Jerome Priest of Hoover,
AL (FAA's Southern Region); and Gerald Wayne Rose of Grass Valley,
CA (FAA's Western Pacific Region).
2010 NATIONAL AVIONICS TECHNICIAN OF THE
YEAR: Kirk H Peterson has been selected by the
General Aviation Awards program as the 2010 National Avionics
Technician of the Year. He currently holds a Federal
Communications Commission license with Radar endorsement, an
Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) Technician Certificate with
inspection authorization (IA), a Repairman Certificate, and has
over 25 years of avionics maintenance and repair experience.
For the past 20 years, Kirk has been employed by the University
of North Dakota's John D Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences (www.Aero.UND.edu). He is
the avionics manager of an FAA Part 145 repair station that
maintains over 100 aircraft ranging from Supercubs to turbine
helicopters and turbine aircraft that are used by UND's flight
training department. Kirk is responsible for maintaining
UND's state-of-the-art avionics lab. The avionics shop has
grown from one person in 1990 to its current staff of three
full-time avionics technicians and three part-time repairmen.
During the past several years, Kirk and his staff have installed
over 100 automatic dependent surveillance (ADS-B) systems into
UND's fleet of fixed wing and rotorcraft aircraft, giving UND one
of the largest ADS-B equipped fleets in the world. Most
recently, Kirk has spent the better part of 8 months performing 37
major structural and electrical modifications to a Cessna Citation
II that will be used for weather research and special mission
operations by UND's Atmospheric Sciences Department.
Kirk mentors UND student interns each semester and assists academic
professors with demonstrations of and training in avionics
systems. He works closely with the FAA at the Fargo FSDO and
the FAA Aircraft Certification Office in Chicago to gain approval
and documentation of installations and modifications to the UND
aircraft.
2010 NATIONAL CFI OF THE YEAR: Master CFI
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
age of seven.
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.
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 (www.FlyingLikeThePros.com),
produces computer-based avionics training programs.
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 Tommermans OF Bedford TX (FAA's
Southwest Region); and MCFI Wanda Jean Zuege of Custer, WI (FAA's
Great Lakes Region).
2010 NATIONAL FAA SAFETY TEAM REPRESENTATIVE OF THE
YEAR: Master CFI Thomas P Turner exemplifies the
highest standard of professionalism in the field of aviation safety
and education.
Tom's involvement in aviation began while a US Air Force officer
by earning his initial pilot certification in 1985 and becoming a
certificated flight instructor in 1988. Today, he holds an
airline transport pilot certificate with an AMEL rating as well as
CFI, CFI-I, and MEI.
Since 1996, he has been an outspoken aviation safety advocate
while also organizing and conducting safety programs for WINGS
credit nationwide. He now serves as a FAASTeam Lead
Representative in the Wichita area where he conducts WINGS
seminars, writes prolifically, and maintains aviation safety
websites. He has also earned Basic, Advanced, and
Master-level WINGS accreditation through the FAA's Pilot
Proficiency Program.
Currently, Tom is the executive director of the American Bonanza
Society (www.Bonanza.org)
which represents approximately 10,000 Beech aircraft owners,
mechanics and enthusiasts around the world. He is responsible
for the day-to-day operation of the Society as well as all
technical and educational member support functions. His
typical day at the Society's Wichita office includes reading and
writing e-mails, strategic planning, editing and managing the
monthly ABS Magazine and website, working with regulatory
agencies and other associations, developing educational and
technical support materials, and assisting members with piloting
and technical questions.
This year's other regional winners include Javier Angel Guerra
of Lytle, TX (FAA's Southwestern Region); William Victor Hill of
Redding, CA (FAA's Western Pacific Region); MCFI Mark Edward Madden
of Anchorage, AK (FAA's Alaska Region); Jon Nagi Malek of Yonkers,
NY (FAA's Eastern Region); John Edward Mitchell of Fort Collins, CO
(FAA's Northwest Mountain Region); MCFI John Urban Rockcastle of
Oxford, FL (FAA's Southern Region); and MCFI Wanda Jean Zuege of
Custer, WI (FAA's Great Lakes Region).