Castle Shannon resident receives prestigious award
Robert McAdams
Robert McAdams
Wendy L. Grimm, Manager of the FAA’s Allegheny Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) in Pittsburgh, presented the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award to Castle Shannon resident Al Bennett at the Pittsburgh Soaring Association’s annual banquet held Feb. 17. The FAA presents this award to pilots with 50-year perfect safety records. He was also presented with a plaque recognizing him as Most Active Instructor in Region 3 (Western Pennsylvania and northern New York) and third most active instructor in the United States for 2017 as measured by the number of badges awarded. Bennett, who actually met Orville Wright, learned to fly at an early age, being taught by his father, who at the time was vice president of Taylorcraft, a light plane manufacturer. Bennett flew his first solo flight in 1951 at the age of 11, becoming the world’s youngest solo pilot in La Pesca, Mexico. At 16 he soloed a flight in the United States (the minimum age that one is allowed to solo a plane in the U.S.), and became a commercial pilot at the age of 18. Bennett has flown both powered planes and sailplanes ever since – in Hawaii, the Philippines, and throughout the U.S. He has introduced many students to the experience of soaring flight, helping them work through the SSA badge program and FAA pilot certification requirements. The Pittsburgh Soaring Association provides education and flight training in sailplanes; motorless aircraft often called gliders. Flight operations are conducted April 1-Oct. 31 at Bandel Field located in North Strabane. Those interested in taking a Soaring Orientation Flight are encouraged to visit www.PGHsoar.org to learn more about PSA, soaring in general, or how to obtain a soaring orientation flight gift certificate.
Wendy L. Grimm, Manager of the FAA’s Allegheny Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) in Pittsburgh, presented the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award to Castle Shannon resident Al Bennett at the Pittsburgh Soaring Association’s annual banquet held Feb. 17. The FAA presents this award to pilots with 50-year perfect safety records. He was also presented with a plaque recognizing him as Most Active Instructor in Region 3 (Western Pennsylvania and northern New York) and third most active instructor in the United States for 2017 as measured by the number of badges awarded. Bennett, who actually met Orville Wright, learned to fly at an early age, being taught by his father, who at the time was vice president of Taylorcraft, a light plane manufacturer. Bennett flew his first solo flight in 1951 at the age of 11, becoming the world’s youngest solo pilot in La Pesca, Mexico. At 16 he soloed a flight in the United States (the minimum age that one is allowed to solo a plane in the U.S.), and became a commercial pilot at the age of 18. Bennett has flown both powered planes and sailplanes ever since – in Hawaii, the Philippines, and throughout the U.S. He has introduced many students to the experience of soaring flight, helping them work through the SSA badge program and FAA pilot certification requirements. The Pittsburgh Soaring Association provides education and flight training in sailplanes; motorless aircraft often called gliders. Flight operations are conducted April 1-Oct. 31 at Bandel Field located in North Strabane. Those interested in taking a Soaring Orientation Flight are encouraged to visit www.PGHsoar.org to learn more about PSA, soaring in general, or how to obtain a soaring orientation flight gift certificate.