THE GORGE — Don Mobley, former manager of The Dalles Airport and the Madras Airport, received the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Wright Brothers Mater Pilot Award during the 26th annual Airshow of the Cascades, held Aug. 28-29 in Madras.
Eligibility for the award requires 50 years of safe flying with no incidents, and the pilot’s record must be free of aviation accidents or safety violations. Mobley has more than 26,000 hours of pilot time, which includes more than 10,000 hours of flight instruction in aerobatics, single and multiengine, instruments, back country, and tailwheel. He flew twin-engine turboprops and business jets for corporate clients Norton Cattle Company and Les Schwab Tires and logged more than 4,500 hours of charter flying.
He was also a Designated Pilot Examiner for the Federal Aviation Administration for 31 years, conducting more than 3,000 pilot evaluations for private, commercial, multi-engine, airline transport, and gliders.
A graduate of Oregon State University, Mobley joined the U.S. Navy and graduated from its flight school in Pensacola, Florida. His active duty included piloting the P-3 Orion, a four-engine submarine seeker plane, and later service as a flight instructor teaching formation flight and aerobatics in Pensacola. After leaving the service, he managed The Dalles Airport, now the Columbia Gorge Regional Airport. With help from his Rotary Club, he organized and managed an annual air show. After moving to Madras, he organized the air show now known as Airshow of the Cascades. He flew in all the air shows, using his aerobatic skills in an act that engaged the audience.
To memorialize this recognition, Mobley’s name will be permanently added to the FAA’s official Elite Roll of Honor. The award is described as highlighting a “lifetime of impeccable professionalism and safety in the skies.”
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