Flying high
FAA recognizes aviator for 50 years of service
A local aviator received two prestigious awards for 50 years of service last week. The Federal Aviation Administration Safety Team presented James “Jim” McDermott, longtime pilot, flight instructor and airplane mechanic, with the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award and the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award on Thursday.
Two representatives from the FAA presented the awards during Yuma International Airport’s General Aviation Social held in the Million Air lobby. Ernest Copeland, program manager, and Scott Hutson, frontline manager, drove down from their Scottsdale-based FAA’s Flight Standards District Office to give a video presentation and personally hand over the awards, two plaques, a blue-ribbon box of his FAA records and two lapel pins to McDermott, as well as a special two hairpins to McDermott’s wife, Rosemary.
The Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award recognizes McDermott for more than 50 years of safe flying, while the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award honors his more than 50 years of working with airplanes. Copeland noted that this is the first time he has given both awards at the same time.
“They’re both the most prestigious awards the FAA issues to aviation mechanics and professional pilots,” Copeland said.
While most people are familiar with the Wright Brothers, who invented the first successful flying airplane, less know about Charles Taylor, the mechanic who invented the airplane engine for the Wright Brothers.
Eric Saltzer, manager of the Somerton Airport, nominated McDermott for the awards. “He’s been flying longer than I have been alive,” Saltzer quipped.
McDermott took his first solo flight in 1960 in a Cessna 140 out of the Van Nuys, Calif., airport. He trained as a pilot at Gillespie’s Flying Service in El Cajon, Calif. He eventually became certified as a private pilot, commercial pilot, flight engineer and instructor.
He has worked on and flown a multitude of airplanes, from Beechcrafts and Cessnas to Lear Jets and Pipers.
He joined the Marine Corps in 1966 and became an aviation machinist. In the military, he worked on the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, Grumman A-6 Intruder and McDonnell Douglas Hornet.
He went back and forth between the Marine Corps Air Stations in Yuma and El Toro, Calif. He retired in 1994.
In 1970 he started Let’s Fly, which provides flight instruction to the general public and scenic tours including aerial photography. He still owns and runs this company from the Somerton Airport. He moved to Somerton and started Sun Western Flyers, a medical transport service company, in 1983.
He married Rosemary in 1971 and together they have six daughters, 21 grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.
Asked how he feels about receiving the awards, McDermott said, “I think it’s fine. I’m not used to getting awards,” he said.
Several people were quick to point out his generosity to the community. Gen Grosse, account manager at the Yuma airport, recalled that McDermott would often fly over Yuma Scorpions games and drop money from the plane.
“He gives a lot to our community,” Gladys Wiggins, director of the Yuma airport, said, adding that McDermott does a lot of volunteering and is a strong supporter of sports programs.