James Baldwin of Pickerington, Ohio, will receive the Experimental Aircraft Association’s 2010 Tony Bingelis Award recognizing contributions to EAA and the aviation community. Baldwin has dedicated more than 60 years to the aviation community, encouraging builders and their projects as well as promoting aviation safety.
As a frequent contributor to EAA Chapter 443’s monthly newsletter, Baldwin has reported on his EAA Technical Counselor visits and has made himself available at each chapter meeting for an open forum of dialogue. Since becoming an EAA Technical Counselor in 1993, Baldwin has conducted sheet metal construction workshops at the Mideast Regional Fly-In, been a flight line safety volunteer at AirVenture, and has advised many builders in Ohio on construction, design, and weight and balance.
A retired Aeronautical Engineer for North America Rockwell, Baldwin has performed several weight and balance programs over the years and has been a major participant in the EAA Young Eagles, providing 332 youths with their first flights and helping send 18 youths to the Air Academy.
Baldwin, who received his private pilot certificate the day before he reported to the U.S. Air Force in 1948, built the second RV6 kit to ever fly in 1989, then built an RV10 in 2007. Additionally, he has owned and maintained several aircraft, including a BC12D Taylorcraft, Cessna 140, Cessna 120 and Cessna 170, and has invested time in rebuilding and maintaining aircraft (most notably a Mitchell B25 and Douglas B26) of The Historical Aircraft Squadron in Lancaster, Ohio.
The Bingelis Award will be given to Baldwin during the EAA AirVenture Homebuilder’s Dinner on Thursday, July 29, during the annual EAA AirVenture fly-in at Oshkosh, Wis. The award was created in 2002 to recognize a member from the aviation community who has contributed to homebuilt projects and safety promotion while maintaining EAA values. The award honors the late Tony Bingelis, who was noted as a homebuilding authority and EAA Sport Aviation columnist.
For more information: EAA.org, Airventure.org
