Flight Instructor, Aviation Technician, and FAA Safety Team Rep Recognized

The FAA and the General Aviation Awards program have collaboratively honored aviation professionals for their accomplishments and contributions every year for over 50 years in flight instruction, aviation maintenance/avionics, and safety.

The awards showcase the amazing leadership qualities displayed by the winners in promoting the highest levels of education, safety, and professionalism in aviation.

The 2024 honorees are:

• Adam McGee – Certificated Flight Instructor of the Year
• Marty King – Aviation Technician of the Year
• Cary Grant – FAA Safety Team Representative of the Year

Adam McGee hails from Swisher, Iowa, where he instructs in hot air balloon flying and has trained more than 3,100 pilots. His nonprofit Balloon Training Academy teaches 100 students per year and he runs a webinar series called Lighter Than Air Outreach. He is a LTA Designated Pilot Examiner for the Des Moines FSDO, one of only a few in the country. He is a board member and treasurer of the National Association of Flight Instructors.

Marty King is from Elkhart, Indiana, and has been in aviation since 1968 when he started flying lessons and his first apprenticeship at the age of 12. He learned how to install fabric, rebuilt his first engine, and bought his first airplane by the time he finished high school. He earned his A&P in 1991 and has been very active in running mentoring and apprenticeship programs while doing his regular job in his GA service shop. He is also a FAA Safety Team Representative and volunteers as an EAA Technical Counselor with Chapter 132. He helped develop a STEM program that teaches 13-18 year old students how to build an airplane, with the additional benefit that they get to fly it when it’s finished.

Cary Grant of Cave Creek, Arizona, has been a FAA Safety Team Representative since 2009. He is an experienced aviation safety advisor serving as a flight instructor, Lead Representative, WINGSPro, and professor. He conducts numerous FAASTeam seminars all over Arizona to flight schools such as All ATP, Embry-Riddle, EAA chapters, and at AOPA’s Buckeye Air Fair. A retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and Flight Instructor in the T-37 jet trainer, C-141 Starlifter transport, and Gulfstream GIII flying military and diplomatic VIPs. After retiring from the Air Force he was a Captain for United Airlines flying Boeing and Airbus aircraft.

Sandya Narayanswami, GA Awards Board Chair said, “It is an honor to announce the names of the 2024 General Aviation Awards National Honorees. The Board and our many sponsors are pleased that these outstanding aviation professionals will receive public recognition before their peers at AirVenture.”

FMI:  www.generalaviationawards.com/