Walbrun earns Master Pilot Award

Three local aviators awarded the prestigious Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award

As was explained in last week's column, three local aviators were awarded the prestigious Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award at Lakeland-Linder Regional Airport on Dec. 17, 2005. The award is the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) highest acknowledgement of a pilot's outstanding service in aviation. This week we will learn more about one recipient, Gerald "Jerry" Walbrun, using some of the comments used by the FAA at the presentation ceremony.

Leeward Air Ranch resident Walbrun has a Commercial Pilot certificate that is one of the very few in the world that actually authorizes "All makes and models of single and multi-engine piston-powered aircraft"!

He has deep roots with the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), having risen to prominence within that esteemed international organization. He has been attending EAA conventions from their very first fly-ins at Rockford, Ill., long before we ever heard of a place called "Oshkosh." Walbrun has flown in hundreds of airshows, right up to the present day, in everything from P-51s to AT-6s to antiques, accumulating over 11,000 hours. He formed the T-6 airshow team Six of Diamonds in 1978, flying with them through 1992, and serving as their flight leader.

Over the years he has purchased and restored many warbirds, including the PT-19, BT-15, T-28, P-51D, and various models of the T-6. He holds type ratings in the B-17 and B-25, and is authorized to fly just about any warbird out there, including the Spitfire.

Walbrun has served as EAA's vice president from 1987-1994, and was entrusted with their P-51 for demonstration and public relations flights. His application for the Wright Brothers award was endorsed by none other than EAA founder Paul Pobereszny.

Walbrun loves to fly and is up in one of his three airplanes on most good days. Watch for him overhead in a Cessna 182 if he's going somewhere, or his beautifully restored PT-19 or T-6 if he's staying in the area.