When Robert “Bob” Kinnie entered the W.C. Nelson Terminal Building at the Blairsville Municipal Airport on May 21, he did not expect a crowd of people awaiting his arrival – all sporting the same yellow sunglasses he always wears, to boot.
What the local pilot expected even less was to receive the prestigious Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award from the Federal Aviation Administration.
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Kinnie earned the award after being nominated by his friends, Union County residents Chris and Andrea Wadle; a fellow pilot, Chris refers to Kinnie as his flying mentor and an “overall amazing guy.”
To qualify as a Master Pilot, recipients must have at least 50 years of flight experience, and Kinnie more than qualifies with his 66 years in the air and counting; he’ll turn 86 this September and has no intention of grounding himself anytime soon.
Other requirements include being a U.S. citizen, holding a U.S. Civil Aviation Authority or Federal Aviation Administration pilot certificate, having no revocation of any airman certificate, and being “of good moral character.”
Dwayne Hudson of the Federal Aviation Administration introduced the award by playing a video that provided some background on brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright as well as the award named in their honor.
As the most prestigious award given out by the FAA, the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award recognizes individuals “who have exhibited professionalism, skill and aviation expertise.”
Kinnie took the opportunity to outline his own history flying the friendly skies. It all began at Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois, where he completed his first solo flight on June 10, 1960.
He continued his flight training at Stewart Air Force Base in Tennessee, where he received his Private Pilot License on May 25, 1961. He earned his Commercial Pilot License on March 27, 1964, just before leaving the U.S. Air Force.
On March 4, 1975, after moving to Orlando, Florida, Kinnie got his instrument rating, which allows a pilot to fly under instrument flight rules, meaning he had proven he could discern proper protocol “under conditions in which flight by outside visual reference is not safe.”
While in Orlando, he joined the Navy Flying Club and served as a flight instructor and Squad Commander for the Civil Air Patrol. By the early 1980s, Kinnie was known as the Chief Check Pilot for the Florida Wing Civil Air Patrol.
In 1982, Kinnie started working as a traffic advisor for the Greater Orlando radio station WHOO, something he did three hours a day, five days a week, for four years. He also flew a Cessna 210 as a corporate pilot for Sundance Helicopter Service, leading to flights around the Southeast.
Then in 1985, he became a flight instructor with the American Bonanza Society Beechcraft Pilot Proficiency Program, participating in a dozen proficiency clinics around the United States each year.
In the early 2000s, he added Bonanza Pilot Training clinics to his flight instruction schedule, and to this day, he continues to instruct Bonanza and Baron pilots.
It’s because of those ties with the Civil Air Patrol that Kinnie was thanked for his role in helping to maintain the chapter in Union County, and airport staff noted that Kinnie was vital in getting a flight simulator and pushing for the availability of more up-to-date equipment locally.
Of course, he’s had time to perfect his work and make connections here; Kinnie and his wife Judy moved to the North Georgia Mountains 25 years ago.
Following Hudon’s reading of Kinnie’s letters of recommendation, there was no doubt about his stellar morals. Those, combined with the accounts shared around the room by friends and family, painted the picture of a man who holds high the wellbeing of others, stays calm in the face of uncertainty, and always looks for opportunities to teach and learn.
Thoroughly impressed with Kinnie’s extensive history, Hudson presented Kinnie with his award along with a certificate, blue ribbon package, lapel pins, a decorative plaque, and copies of his FAA records.
And because of Judy Kinnie’s support of her husband over the years, she received her own honors through the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Spouse Recognition; during a touching portion of the ceremony, the Kinnies pinned matching Wright Brother MPA lapel pins onto each other.
“I’ve never known anybody so dedicated to what they do. He totally is always there,” Judy said in commending her husband of more than 50 years. “I just can’t tell you how proud I am of him.”
“He always meets people where they are,” added Kinnie’s daughter, Shannon Foster-Boline. “All the amazing things he’s done, all the lives he’s touched amazes me.”
Overall, Kinnie admitted that he felt humbled, overcome by the warm expressions surrounding him.
He shared that his father told him that if people loved what they did for a living, they would never work a day in their life, and Kinnie will continue to embody that sentiment as well as make it a truth for other pilots.
