The FAA administrator will present these awards during a special evening program at Theater in the Woods at EAA AirVenture 2008 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Included in the recipients’ prize package is an all expense paid trip for two to attend the annual Oshkosh event.

“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.” Read more

Avionics Technician of the Year: Tim Adkison

Adkison was born in Northern Ireland, the son of a U.S. Navy master chief petty officer. His first exposure to aviation came as a teenager while on a dependents cruise with his dad, one of the 5,000 crewmembers aboard the aircraft carrier USS John F Kennedy (CVA-67). There, he had the unique opportunity to observe flight deck operations from high atop the ship’s island structure including launches and recoveries of the JFK’s F-14 Tomcats.

When it came time to begin making some career choices, Adkison opted to attend the Institute of Electronic Technology in Paducah, Kentucky. He ultimately graduated second in his class with a degree in electronic engineering technology in 1988. After graduation, he took a position as an avionics technician with Allied Signal Aerospace in Lawrence, Kansas, where he ultimately became a lead technician.

After three years in Kansas, he decided it was time to leave the flat lands and head back east. Ending up in Nashville in 1991, he took a position with Carpenter Avionics at Nashville International Airport (BNA). He remembers this as an exciting time because he was provided the opportunity to perform flight line maintenance and repair on actual aircraft rather than troubleshooting avionics on a bench.

Throughout his time with Midwest, he has tutored and mentored numerous students through the curriculum at his alma mater (now Paducah Technical College). He also provides on-the-job training as well as continuing education seminars for his avionics employees. In addition, he serves on the advisory board for West Kentucky Community and Technical College.

Adkison represented the Louisville FSDO area and the FAA’s Central Region. This year’s other regional avionics technician winners were Andrew Scanlon of Ellsworth, Maine (FAA’s Eastern Region); Charles Boldin of Oxford, Michigan (FAA’s Great Lakes Region); Mark Dietz of Searcy, Arkansas (FAA’s Southwest Region); and Dwayne Comer of Glendale, Arizona (FAA’s Western Pacific Region).

CFI of the Year: Max Trescott

Trescott, a Master CFI and Master Ground Instructor, is a native of northern Pennsylvania, where he started flying when he was 15 years old. Too young to drive, his mother Sue, who had herself taken flying lessons as a teenager, drove him to the airport for lessons. He was also inspired by his flight instructor, Dick Johnston, a former Pennsylvania CFI of the Year, for whom the Wellsboro-Johnston airport is now named.

While attending Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, Trescott completed his private pilot certificate at the age of 19. He earned an MBA in marketing and management from NYU’s Stern School of Business. Then went to work for Hewlett-Packard in New Jersey, later moving to HP’s company headquarters in Palo Alto, California. During his 25 years at HP, he worked in a variety of marketing, sales, and management positions while continuing to fly and earn additional certificates and ratings.

He acquired his CFI rating in September 2001, and began working as an aviation educator on weekends at San Jose’s Reid-Hillview Airport. Subsequently, he added an ATP certificate as well as CFII and MEI ratings. After leaving HP, he began teaching full-time as an independent flight instructor with several flight schools at the Palo Alto Airport (PAO) but shifted his focus to glass cockpit aircraft. He is now a factory trained Cessna FITS instructor, a Cirrus Design CSIP, and a Columbia (Cessna) 350/400 instructor. Trescott also teaches in the national Columbia recurrent training program.

In 2006, Trescott founded Glass Cockpit Publishing (www.G1000Book.com), launched with the release of his Max Trescott’s G1000 Glass Cockpit Handbook. Several CD-ROM courses and online training courses followed, all focused on modern glass cockpit avionics, including the Garmin G1000 and WAAS. As the corporation’s president, he is responsible for new product development.

As a strong GA and flight safety advocate, he regularly posts articles on his blog, www.MaxTrescott.com. He also produces the online newsletter at www.PilotSafetyNews.com

A popular speaker at EAA’s AirVenture Oshkosh and the Sun-n-Fun Fly-In at Lakeland, Florida, Trescott also provides safety seminars to local pilot groups as a FAASTeam member with the San Jose FSDO. He is a member of AOPA, NAFI, Mensa, and the Palo Alto Airport Association.

Trescott represented the San Jose FSDO area and the FAA’s Western Pacific Region. This year’s other regional CFI of the Year winners include Master CFI David Paul St. George of Ithaca, New York (FAA’s Eastern Region); Master CFI Richard Michael “Rich” Funcheon of Vero Beach, Florida (FAA’s Southern Region); Master CFI Thomas Turner of Rose Hill, Kansas (FAA’s Central Region); Master CFI Craig Patterson of Midland, Texas (FAA’s Southwest Region); Master CFI Mark Levin of Richmond, Illinois (FAA’s Great Lakes Region); and Master CFI Darrel Dilley of LaSalle, Colorado (FAA’s Northwest Mountain Region).

AMT OF THE YEAR: Mike Busch

Busch is a New Yorker by birth and a mathematician by training. He earned his private pilot certificate as a 20-year-old college student, and has since amassed more than four decades of aviation experience as a mechanic, inspector, pilot, flight instructor, aircraft owner, aviation author, educator, and lecturer.

His interest in turning wrenches grew out of his many years as an aircraft owner and operator intrigued by the mysteries of aviation maintenance. Thus, he started doing his own maintenance under the watchful supervision of a certificated A&P mechanic. Ultimately, he passed the A&P exam and became a certificated mechanic in his own right. Three years later, the FAA granted him an inspection authorization.

An aviation writer since 1970, Busch began his fulltime pursuit of aviation in 1995 after retiring from a long career as a software developer. One of his first post-retirement projects was the founding of AVweb, the well-known, web-based aviation news service. He served as editor-in-chief and one of AVweb’s most prolific writers for the first seven years of its existence.

For the past 20 years, the primary focus of his writing and teaching activities has been general aviation maintenance. He has published hundreds of articles in numerous aviation publications. Currently, he writes monthly maintenance articles for American Bonanza Society, Cessna Pilots Association, and Cirrus Pilot magazines as well as AVweb. A longtime member of the Cessna Pilots Association’s technical staff, he specializes in twin-engine, piston-powered aircraft. In that capacity, Busch has assisted thousands of aircraft owners in troubleshooting thorny maintenance problems.

The founder and president of Savvy Aviator (www.SavvyAviator.com), Busch provides in-depth technical training to aircraft owners and their mechanics focusing on maintenance and troubleshooting in single- and twin-engine aircraft. His goal is to teach how to troubleshoot aircraft problems and how to manage aircraft maintenance more effectively and cost-efficiently. He conducts weekend maintenance seminars 10 to 20 times each year at venues throughout the U.S.

In addition to his A&P ratings, Busch is also a CFI as well as a glider and seaplane pilot, and has earned phase 11 in the FAA’s WINGS program. His affiliations include membership of EAA, AOPA, American Bonanza Society, Cessna Pilots Association, Cirrus Owners & Pilots Association, and the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association (PAMA). Busch is a frequent presenter at EAA AirVenture-Oshkosh, AOPA Expo, and many other aviation gatherings.

Busch represented the San Jose FSDO area as well as the FAA’s Western Pacific Region. This year’s other regional AMT winners include Eric Christenson of Bellevue, Washington (FAA’s Northwest Mountain Region); Brian Crafford of West Paducah, Kentucky (FAA’s Central Region); Leroy Muise of Trenton, Maine (FAA’s Eastern Region); and David Mills of Portage, Michigan (FAA’s Great Lakes Region).

FAA Safety Team Representative of the Year: John Teipen

Teipen, a Master CFI as well as a Master Ground Instructor, exemplifies the standard of professionalism in the fields of aviation education and flight safety. He is involved in many areas of pilot education including FAA WINGS seminars, FAASTeam online courses, flight instructor revalidation clinics (FIRCs), and youth aviation education programs.

He earned his private pilot certificate in 1984, later becoming a CFI, an FAA aviation safety counselor (ASC), a FAASTeam representative, and a designated pilot examiner (DPE). His work as a DPE with pilot applicants and recommending CFI candidates provides a foundation for his educational work as a member of the FAA’s new safety program, the FAASTeam. Teipen established www.AVTrain.net, a website dedicated to promoting safety through education, to create and host online educational programs. This effort led to the first national courses for FAASTeam representatives and industry members, the new WINGS Pilot Proficiency Program, and additional www.FAASafety.gov online courses.

In 2005, Teipen was instrumental in the development of the Midwest Aviation Conference and Trade Show (www.MACTS.org) in St. Louis. This annual event hosts a “super safety seminar” with nationally known speakers, an aviation trade show, a FIRC, an aviation awards banquet, and an aviation career program for high school students.

Teipen created and introduced the highly successful My First Logbook and Young Eagles Flight Education programs for youths participating in KidVenture during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.

Teipen believes in continuing education for all pilots and includes himself in that regimen. A regular attendee at safety seminars and revalidation clinics, he achieved phase VIII of the recently retired FAA Pilot Proficiency Awards WINGS program and has completed the first level of the new WINGS program last year. A longtime glider pilot and flight instructor, he has also earned the Soaring Society of America’s A, B, C, and Bronze Badges in 2007

He is one of only 20 aviation educators worldwide to earn both the Master Certificated Flight Instructor (MCFI) and Master Ground Instructor (MGI) accreditations from NAFI. He is a longtime NAFI member, plus belongs to AOPA, EAA, IAC, and WAI. In 2005, he was named the National CFI of the Year in recognition of his dedication to and passion for aviation education.

Teipen represented the St. Louis FSDO area and the FAA’s Central Region. This year’s other regional winners include MCFI Clifford Floyd Chetwin of Littleton, Colorado (FAA’s Northwest Mountain Region); John Anderson of Gilford, New Hampshire (FAA’s Eastern Region); George Vose of Alpine, Texas (FAA’s Southwest Region); Janese Thatcher-Buzzell of Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota (FAA’s Great Lakes Region); and Dennis Renzelman of Granada Hills, California (FAA’s Western Pacific Region).

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.