General Aviation Awards LIVE!

2025 GENERAL AVIAITON AWARDS LIVE! - FAA and INDUSTRY RECOGNIZING EXCELLENCE

Hosted by PAUL NEW

The GAA Awrads are a cooperative effort between industry sponsors and organizations and the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA.

Since 1962, the Program has recognized aviation professionals in the fields of flight instruction, aviation and maintenance technicians, and flight safety for their important contributions to the GA community.

Awards highlight the important leadership roles Honorees play in their commitment to aviation safety, education, and professionalism.

Winners are recognized at the district and nationally. National winners are recognized during AirVenture in Oshkosh, WI each July. Recognition includes gifts from many sponsors and contributors.

ADAM BOYD
2025 National Certificated Flight Instructor of the Year

Adam Boyd of Cabot, Arkansas, is an active presenter for the Little Rock FAA Safety Team, and provides a continuous presence in the general aviation community for Central Arkansas as a CFI and DPE. An FAA Gold Seal Flight Instructor and two-time Master CFI, Adam has over 5,600 hours of flight time, with over 1,600 hours as a Flight Instructor and Designated Pilot Examiner. He is currently a C-130H Instructor and Evaluator Pilot in the 189th Airlift Wing’s C-130H Formal Training Unit at Little Rock AFB, Arkansas.

dam’s Aviation experience spans 25 years of flying everything from a J-3 to a C-130J. He began taking lessons in 1999 and has sought opportunities and adventure ever since. Over the past 19 years he has served as both a Navigator and a Pilot for the USAF, logging over 3,000 hours in the C-130E, C-130H, and C-130J with over 600 hours of combat time. He is a Lieutenant Colonel and has been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal and Air Medal for service in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa.

He attended San Jose State University, and earned his B.S. degree in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and his M.S. Degree in Aviation Safety from the University of Central Missouri. He regularly teaches and conducts seminars about aviation safety and techniques to student and professional pilots.

SAMUEL "BEAU" HARDISON
2025 National Aviation Maintenance Technician of the Year

Samuel “Beau” Hardison of Mountain View, Arkansas, is the President of Aircraft Structural Inspections LLC an FAA Repair Station in Mountain View, Arkansas. He is Accountable Manager /Inspector responsible for the operation of an FAA repair station certificated for Non-Destructive Testing (NDT), altimeter system tests and inspections required by § 91.411 and ATC transponder tests required by § 91. 413. The repair station offers inspections using Magnetic Particle, Penetrant, Eddy Current, Ultra Sonic, and X-Ray, as well as Dynamic Balancing. The company offers level 2 and level 3 services and inspection services to other repair stations, maintenance facilities, and operators. ASI inspects aircraft and components from GA aircraft, business jets, 135 charter operators, 121 airline operators, EMS, and the US military. Mr. Hardison has inspected a wide variety of aircraft and has traveled all over the USA and around the world.

Mr. Hardison has a background in aviation extending back to his teenage years in the 1970’s working as a lineman for his father’s FBO and flight school where he fell in love with aviation. He and his father salvaged and restored a 1974 Cessna 150 commuter in the 1980’s. He is a private pilot and has been actively flying since 1994 with a current SEL, complex high-performance rating with tail wheel endorsement. He earned his Private Pilot certificate April 15, 2003, in that same Cessna 150. He has his FAA repairman certificate and is certificated to perform and supervise NDT in Magnetic Particle, Penetrant, Eddy Current, Ultra Sonic, and X-Ray as well as avionics for radio instruments for the 91.411 and 413 of transponders. As an NDT Level 3 he has consulted numerous companies and currently oversees 16 company NDT programs for certification and qualification of NDT programs and personnel.

It was through this experience that he developed the NDT work log, a phone app available for Apple and Android phones, for capturing technicians’ work experience for certification purposes. This led him to developing Quality Training, an online training platform, so people and companies can train on their schedule, originally for NDT Methods but now also for avionics and instruments. QT offers over 33 courses, all of which are FAA approved and ICAET accredited, allowing students completing the courses to earn continuing education credits. He is obtaining higher education accreditation so that these same course credits can be applied to a college degree program. As the Founder and Director of Training he personally develops and oversees course content, syllabus development, and course production.

JOSSELYN SLAGLE
2025 National FAA Safety Representative of the Year

osselyn Slagle of New Castle, PA. At the age of six, Josselyn Slagle told her mother she one day wanted to climb cell phone towers to grab clouds. After high school graduation, Joss thought she would pursue air traffic control, but after taking a discovery flight at 17 years old she was hooked on flying. She is a first-generation aviator with a passion for sharing her love of flying with others.

She has been an FAA Safety Team Representative since 2023. She acts as a WINGS Pro and Drone Pro. She has a master’s degree in aviation safety and a bachelor’s degree in aviation management, both from Florida Institute of Technology, and four other degrees from the Community College of Beaver County. After graduating with her Master’s Degree, she applied to be an FAA safety team representative as a way to utilize her degree and interest in aviation safety. Joss is always eager to educate and be educated. She spends rainy days taking FAA Safety courses so that she might recommend courses to her students and keep her own skills sharp.

Joss is employed as chief flight instructor for Haski Aviation at New Castle Airport and is a Lead Deicer for Integrated Deicing Services at Pittsburgh International Airport. She holds CFI/CFII, AGI, and IGI, commercial pilot’s license with instrument rating, single engine land, single engine sea, multi engine land. and complex, high performance and tail wheel endorsements. She has been flying for 9 years. She teaches drone pilot ground school courses and foreflight workshops, in addition to the standard flight instructor curriculum.

PAUL NEW
General Aviation Awards LIVE! Host