BPA’s Own Ron Timmermans Named National Certificated Flight Instructor of the Year
The General Aviation Awards Program is a cooperative effort between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and sponsoring organizations from the aviation industry. For more than 50 years, the Program has recognized aviation professionals in the fields of flight instruction, aviation maintenance, avionics, and flight safety for their important contributions to the general aviation community.
We’re proud to announce that BPT’s own Ronald Jay “Ron” Timmermans has been selected as the General Aviation Awards 2021 National Certificated Flight Instructor of the Year!
Ron received his Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Iowa State University in 1972. He enjoyed a 40+-year professional career as an architect and project manager before devoting himself to aviation on a full-time basis. He owns and manages AileRon T, LLC — and he flies a Beechcraft Bonanza, co-owned with his wife Barbara, who originally inspired him to become a Flight Instructor.
Since 1998, Ron has been an independent flight instructor, logging more than 4,000 hours of dual instruction given, nearly 1,300 of which were within the past five years. He instructs at locations throughout Florida from Miami to Naples to Tampa, where he serves as a mentor and advocate for emerging and young pilots and CFIs. Before relocating to Florida, Ron lived in North Texas and performed flight training in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.
Ron holds a wallet full of FAA airman certificates, including ATP-AMEL, Commercial-ASEL, CFI-IA, MEI-IA, AGI-Instrument, and Remote Pilot. He is a NAFI Master CFI and Master Ground Instructor, a Gold Seal Instructor, and an American Bonanza Society (ABS) Master Aviator.
While Ron has instructed in everything from primary trainers to high-performance turbines, he is particularly well-known in the Beech community due to his active involvement in the Beechcraft Pilot Proficiency Program (BPPP) and Bonanza / Baron Pilot Training (BPT) program.
A big supporter of the FAASTeam WINGS program, Ron served on the WINGS Industry Advisory Committee (WIAC) and helped found the WINGS Industry Network in 2020. He also serves on the FAA’s WINGS Usability Working Group.
Ron began providing training to Beechcraft pilots in 1998 and developed the BPT training curricula that were approved for WINGS credit by the FAA. He has instructed in BPT events throughout the United States from Oregon and California to New Hampshire and Florida and numerous other venues in between.
In addition to providing instruction for Bonanza and Baron pilots, Ron has also been active in the BPT Companion Training Course for those pilots’ significant others. Since 2012, Ron has been active in the BPPP program of the ABS Air Safety Foundation.
Ron’s involvement in the Beech community has included authorship of some 50 articles published in the ABS Magazine and was elected to the ABS Board of Directors. He is a frequent consultant to owners and buyers of Beechcraft airplanes, and conducts frequent Beechcraft transition training.
Ron has served as a FAASTeam Lead Representative for the Orlando FSDO since 2011 when he moved to Florida. Prior to that, he served as Lead Representative for North Texas FSDO.
A big supporter of the FAA WINGS program, Ron has presented at 30 WINGS safety seminars at events throughout Florida and at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh. He has also been a frequent presenter at AOPA’s Rusty Pilots Seminars, Safety Seminars and Flight Instructor Refresher Courses. He served on the WINGS Industry Advisory Committee (WIAC) and helped found the WINGS Industry Network in 2020. Ron also serves on the FAA’s WINGS Usability Working Group that began in 2020.
Ron’s outreach activities include presenting NAFI MentorLIVE webinars for flight instructors, and hosting broadcasts for Florida Aviation Network live-streaming events to a national audience. He is a regular presenter at ABS national conventions, EAA AirVenture, Sun ‘n Fun, AOPA Regional Fly-Ins, and numerous other aviation events. Ron is a contributing member of AOPA, EAA, NAFI, SAFE, ABS, BPT, BPPP and Quiet Birdmen.
Please enjoy this video interview with Ron – and join us as we congratulate and thank him for his tremendous contributions to aviation!