March 15, 2013
The National General Aviation (GA) Awards – a joint effort between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the industry – are a tradition that stretches back nearly 50 years. Presented annually at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture event in Oshkosh, WI, the awards recognize aviation professionals for their outstanding contributions to education and flight safety.
The awards are presented to one individual in each of four fields: flight instruction, maintenance, avionics and safety officer. The 2013 recipients are:
- Bruce Allan Lundquist, 2013 Avionics Technician of the Year. An avionics systems specialist for NBAA Member Pentastar Aviation in Pontiac, MI, Lundquist has been with Pentastar for more than three decades. He received his aviation electronics training in the U.S. Air Force and began his career with the Ford Motor Company, later working for an avionics shop outside of Detroit, MI. While at Pentastar, he has risen from avionics supervisor to inspector and lead technician, then to trainer and his current role.
- William T. “Bill” Fifles, 2013 Aviation Maintenance Technician of the Year. With an A&P and IA license, Fifles is director of maintenance for Kamaka Air, a Honolulu, HI-based airfreight service. In 1992, he purchased a Piper Cherokee 140 and opened Lihue Aviation Center in Kauai, HI, later moving to San Francisco, CA to join United Airlines’ scheduled special routing maintenance troubleshooting team. He returned to Hawaii in 2001 to join Kamaka, and is also a private pilot and passionate about restoring classic airplanes. He currently is rebuilding a 1966 Citabria.
- Dean Wesley Eichholz, 2013 Certificated Flight Instructor of the Year. An independent flight instructor, designated pilot examiner and FAA check airman, Eichholz does flight checks for several Alaska-based operators, including Transmountain Aviation and Kenai Aviation, an NBAA Member Company. After graduating from college, Eichholz joined the U.S. Navy and became an instructor pilot on the T-2 Buckeye. After leaving the Navy, he moved to Soldotna, AK and opened a Part 141 flight school in 1983. He sold the school in 1999 to become an aviation insurance broker and part-time CFI. He is also an FAA Safety Team representative for the Kenai Peninsula.
- Mark Edward Madden, 2103 FAA Safety Team Representative of the Year. A professor in the Aviation Technology Division at the University of Alaska, Madden is also a freelance aviation technical writer and a director of the Alaska Aviation Safety Foundation. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Madden earned his master’s degree in computer data management in 1984 and worked as a CFI at P.C. Flyers in Denver in the 1990s, and later as a charter pilot. As the lead representative for the Anchorage Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), he has helped present CFI workshops in the Anchorage area for four years.
NBAA congratulates these individuals on their GA Awards and commends them for their leadership in the industry – as well as their dedication to safety and professionalism.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.