FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
RECOGNIZES LOCAL PILOT AS
FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR OF THE YEAR
August 26, 2009 –The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced Arlynn McMahon of Versailles, Kentucky as the 2009 National Flight Instructor of the Year. She is co-owner of Aero-Tech, Inc., an FAA approved flight school based at Blue Grass Airport, and the fixed based operator at the Russell County Airport in Jamestown, KY. McMahon was selected for this national honor among the more than 19,000 Certified Flight Instructors in the United States.
“We are fortunate to have a nationally-recognized flight instructor right in our local airport community,” said Bobby Owens, chair of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Airport Board. “Arlynn is an inspiration to her students and aviation enthusiasts including myself. We congratulate her for her outstanding achievements and lifelong commitment to providing general aviation services for our airport and the Bluegrass region. This is an exceptional and well-deserved honor for her.”
Arlynn McMahon has dedicated much of her life to general aviation and teaching. Growing up, she swept hangar floors and washed airplanes at Blue Grass Airport. On her 16th birthday, she completed her first solo flight and then at the age of 17, she earned her private pilot certificate. Arlynn has academic training in the field with a degree in Professional Aeronautics, and she earned the Certified Flight Instructor rating in 1980. All of her fight training was completed at Blue Grass Airport at Aero-Tech, Inc., and in 2004 she married Charlie Monette, the flight instructor who taught her to fly. She and Charlie own and operate Aero-Tech.
Today, McMahon has Master Instructor status (held by less than 300 Certified Flight Instructors) and is responsible for all pilot training and flight activities. At Aero-Tech, she has helped more than 1,000 students and Certified Flight Instructors fulfill their dreams of flight. McMahon is an active FAA Accident Prevention Counselor and was selected as the 1991 FAA Regional Flight Instructor of the Year.
Arlynn McMahon is the author of the book Train As You Fly, a manual for certified flight instructors on scenario-based training techniques. Her numerous articles on flight school operations have appeared in publications of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). She counsels women interested in flight, as well as participates in the Young Eagles program for youth and serves as a guest speaker at many aviation safety seminars and functions. Her recreational flying has taken her to Canada, the Caribbean and 49 states in the USA. McMahon has also served as a pilot on an air-taxi flight for President Gerald Ford.
A reception honoring Arlynn McMahon for her Flight Instructor of the Year Award is scheduled for August 31, 2009 at 6 pm at the Aviation Museum of Kentucky. The museum is located at 4316 Hangar Drive near Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky.
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