The FAA Wright Brother’s Master Pilot Award Goes To A CAP Leader

The FAA honors pilots with the prestigious Wright Brother’s Master Pilot Award when they have, “demonstrated professionalism, skill, sound decision-making and aviation expertise by conducting safe flight operations for 50 or more years.

As reported in the Dawson Community News, Richard Ivy, who serves as a director of operations for the Georgia Wing of Civil Air Patrol (CAP) has received this award. Ivy holds the CAP rank of Lt. Colonel and has been flying for 54 years.

The commander of the Georgia Civil Air Patrol (CAP) wing, Col. Richard Greenwood is reported to have said about Lieutenant Colonel Ivy, "His hard work, his willingness to serve others and his dedication to his country are in the highest traditions of volunteerism.”

According to DawsonNews.com, the 78-year-old Ivy began his career in aviation when he joined the U.S. Navy in 1959. While in the Navy he flew single and multiengine airplanes as well as helicopters. His service included assignments in the Atlantic, Pacific, and in Vietnam. Of particular interest is that the missions he flew in the recovery of Alan Shepard and the Freedom Seven capsule in 1961. Ivy said, “I was the also helicopter pilot that dropped the crew that puts the flotation ring around Apollo 4 in the Pacific. Those are two pretty significant events in my career."

The Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award was instituted by the FAA in 2003. The award consists of a certificate and a pin, and consolidates other aviation awards presented by the FAA district offices.

FMI: www.faasafety.gov