Ed Yost Master Pilot Award
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Ed Yost Master Pilot Award
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The Balloon Federation of America's Ed Yost Master Pilot Award recognizes lighter than air (LTA) pilots who have demonstrated professionalism, skill and aviation expertise by maintaining safe operations for 40 or more consecutive years as active pilots.
DESCRIPTION
The award will be in the form of a BFA award certificate to be presented to the recipient at the BFA Annual Meeting or other appropriate meeting of balloonist as suggested by the Board Member in the region that the recipient resides. Additionally the recipient's name, city and state will be published at www.bfa.net and will be included in a display at the National Balloon Museum.
ELIGIBLE CANDIDATES
To be eligible for the Ed Yost Master Pilot Award, candidates must:
- Have 40 years of LTA piloting experience and be a citizen of the United States or a resident member of the Balloon Federation of America. The effective start date for the award is the date of the applicant's first solo flight or date of receipt of a LTA pilot certificate, whichever occurred first. A current flight review is not required at the time of nomination. Under special circumstances the Committee may recommend a candidate with less than the 40 years of LTA piloting experience for consideration by the BFA Board of Directors.
- Have been active in the sport of ballooning during most of those 40 years.
- Prior accident history will be reviewed and considered on a case-by-case basis.
- Revocation of any airman LTA certificate will disqualify a nominee for this award.
- Prior enforcement actions (excluding revocation) are not necessarily disqualifying but will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
- The award may be presented to a nominee up to 2 years posthumously if the nominee has acquired 40 years of LTA piloting experience prior to passing away.
CANDIDATES FOR CONSIDERATION
To be eligible for the Ed Yost Master Pilot Award, the applicant, or anyone on behalf of the applicant, must submit the following information to a member of the BFA Board of Directors, the chair of the BFA Awards Committee or the BFA Office:
- Proper documentation describing the kind of certificate(s) held by the applicant, including, if available, the original date of the pilot's LTA solo flight or original LTA flight certificate.
- A detailed description, resume, or summary of the applicant's flying history including any accident or enforcement actions involving the applicant.
PROCEDURE
Upon receipt of information for an applicant for the Ed Yost Master Pilot Award, the Chair of the Awards Committee shall convene a committee consisting of three Past BFA Presidents who shall review the information submitted. If the applicant meets the above listed criteria without a prior accident and without prior enforcement action, the committee may approve the award without further action. The BFA Board will be notified of said approval. If the applicant has had an accident or prior enforcement action the committee will submit a recommendation to the BFA Board of Directors who then shall be the final authority for approval or denial of the award.
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Balloon Federation of America Award Program
ED YOST MASTER PILOT AWARD
Applicant Information Form
APPLICANT:
Name: ______________________________________________________________
Address: ______________________________________________________________
City, State, ZIP: ______________________________________________________________
Telephone: ______________________________________________________________
E-mail: ______________________________________________________________
Resume: Please provide a detailed and complete ballooning biography for the applicant that includes the candidate's history and involvement in ballooning.
Provide documentation: Provide proper documentation describing the kind of certificate(s) held by the applicant. Attach copies of documents indicating the original date of the pilot's LTA solo flight or original LTA flight certificate.
Accidents or enforcement actions: Has the applicant had an accident or Federal Aviation Administration enforcement action? Yes___ No___ If yes, please provide details on a separate sheet.
Certification of applicant: I hereby certify that the statements above regarding accidents or Federal Administration enforcement actions are correct and true.
Applicant:___________________________ Certificate Number:________________ Date:_______
PERSON MAKING THE SUBMISSION:
Name: ______________________________________________________________
Address: ______________________________________________________________
City, State, ZIP: ______________________________________________________________
Telephone: ______________________________________________________________
E-mail: ______________________________________________________________
Return the Applicant Information Form to: Balloon Federation of America
PO Box 400
Indianola, IA 50125
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Hall of Fame Inductees
2020 - Coy Foster
2020 - Mark Sullivan
2019 - Nick Saum Ph.D
2019 - Jim Birk
2019 - Eleanor Vadala
2018 - Ward Van Orman
2018 - Alan Blount
2018 - Debbra Spaeth
2017 - Thaddeous S.C. Lowe
2017 - David Levin
2017 - Steve Fossett
2016- Troy Bradley
2016- Bill Bussey
2016- Bob Sparks
2015 - Robert Dodds Meddock,Jr.
2015 - Constance C. (Connie) Wolf
2014 - Nikki Caplan
2014 - Chauncey Dunn
2014 - Don Piccard
2013 - Dennis E. Floden
2013 - William (Bill) Murtorff
2013 - Dr. Clayton Lay Thomas
2012 - Carol Rymer Davis
2012 - Dr. William (Bill) Grabb
2012 - Matt Wiederkehr
2011 - Ben L. Abruzzo
2011 - Maxie Anderson
2011 - Dewey Reinhard
2010 - Anthony M. "Tony" Fairbanks
2010 - Joseph W. "Joe" Kittinger, Jr.
2010 - Thomas A. F. Sheppard
2009 - Karl H. Stefan
2009 - Lucy Luck Stefan
2009 - Jim Winker
2008 - Captain Eddie Allen
2008 - Tracy Barnes
2007 - Malcolm Stevenson Forbes
2007 - Deke Sonnichsen
2006 - Bruce Comstock
2006 - Peter Pellegrino
2005 - Sidney D. (Sid) Cutter
2005 - Don N. Kersten
2004 - Paul E. (Ed) Yost
Ed Yost Master Pilot Award Recipients
CURRENT AWARD RECIPIENTS
Ed Yost Master Pilot Award recipients are Notable Balloonists as identified by the BFA Hall of Fame Committee. Click the following link to access the biographies and other information on Ed Yost Master Pilot Award recipients and other Notable Balloonists.
Name |
State |
Date |
Sidney Cutter |
New Mexico |
October 2012 |
Matt Wiederkehr |
Minnesota |
October 2012 |
John Davis IV |
Colorado |
October 2012 |
Gordon Hall |
Washington |
April 2013 |
J Michael Ehrler |
Kentucky |
May 2013 |
Clayton Thomas MD MPH |
Massachusetts |
May 2013 |
Richard Jaworski |
Nebraska |
July 2013 |
James Birk |
Texas |
July 2013 |
Thomas McConnell |
New Mexico |
October 2013 |
John Tarpley Head Jr |
Georgia |
October 2013 |
Brent Stockwell |
California |
October 2013 |
Bruce Wellens | October 2013 | |
Don Cline | October 2013 | |
Bill Meadows | October 2013 | |
David Robinson |
California |
October 2013 |
Rocky Bailey |
Georgia |
May 2014 |
Harold Graves |
South Dakota |
July 2014 |
Gary Ruble |
Iowa |
July 2014 |
Rob Bartholomew |
Iowa |
July 2014 |
Ted Staley |
Missouri |
September 2014 |
John Marlow |
Missouri |
September 2014 |
John Schaumburg |
Missouri |
September 2014 |
Daniel Schettler |
Missouri |
September 2014 |
Orvin Olivier |
South Dakota |
October 2014 |
Ronald Grove |
Oregon |
October 2014 |
Charles W. Book |
New Mexico |
October 2014 |
Frank Bacon |
New Mexico |
October 2014 |
Michael Emich |
Ohio |
October 2014 |
Bobby Sparks |
Pennsylvania |
October 2014 |
Albert Leon Nels |
Ohio |
October 2014 |
Tom Oerman |
New Hampshire |
June 2015 |
Forey Walters |
Washington |
June 2015 |
Sam Edwards |
Texas |
June 2015 |
Jim Neill |
Illinois |
July 2015 |
Eric Barnum |
Ohio |
July 2015 |
Dewey Reinhard |
Colorado |
October 2015 |
Jim Ahern |
New Mexico |
October 2015 |
Tom McConnell II |
New Mexico |
October 2015 |
Greg Winker |
Washington |
December 2015 |
Stephen Blucher |
Colorado |
March 2016 |
Jeff Thompson |
Florida |
July 2016 |
Al Muir |
Texas |
July 2016 |
Curt Pengelly |
Idaho |
September 2016 |
William Costen |
Connecticut |
September 2016 |
Janice Sines |
Missouri |
September 2016 |
Gary S Palmer |
South Dakota |
April 2017 |
Gary Sines |
Missouri |
July 2017 |
Dr. William Bussey |
Texas |
July 2017 |
Don Conner |
Indiana |
September 2017 |
Fred Dinkler |
Texas |
October 2017 |
David Bobel |
Indiana |
October 2017 |
Rick Neubauer |
Florida |
October 2017 |
Dick Miller |
Florida |
October 2017 |
Thomas H. Smith | March 2018 | |
Bill Hughes | New York | March 2018 |
Carroll Teitsworth | New York | March 2018 |
Rudolph Schwenker | March 2018 | |
Kathrine Wadsworth | March 2018 | |
Russ Barber | New York | March 2018 |
Ronald Thornton | Massachusets | March 2018 |
Robert Waligunda | New Jersey | March 2018 |
Rick Behr | Virginia | March 2018 |
Aaron Brody | March 2018 | |
Beth Davidson | Ohio | April 2018 |
Guy Gauthier | Texas | 2018 |
Paul Stumpf | Vermont | 2018 |
Annie Laurie Points | Colorado | 2018 |
Larry Salters | Missouri | 2018 |
Jeff Kong Shields | Washington | October 2018 |
Elizabeth Wright-Smith | New Mexico | October 2018 |
Roy Caton | Missouri | 2018 |
Phil A. Thompson | Illinois | October 2018 |
Thomas Stodolski | 2018 | |
Kevin Thompson | Texas | 2018 |
Frank Prell | Kentucky | February 2019 |
David Tanzer | Vermont | April 2019 |
Larry Torgerson | Mississippi | May 2019 |
Lesley Pritchard | Michigan | July 2019 |
Glen Terry | Minnesota | August 2019 |
Larry Nickolay | Minnesota | August 2019 |
Scott Spenser | Idaho | August 2019 |
Scott Shields | Washington | August 2019 |
John Hitron | Kentucky | September 2019 |
Cheri White | Texas | October 2019 |
Frank Dickey | New Mexico | October 2019 |
Gary Morgan | New Hampshire | October 2019 |
Peter Procopio | New Mexico | October 2019 |
Bill Glen | Arizona | October 2019 |
Paul "Buzz" Wills | Texas | October 2019 |
(click to link to their site)