Mary found her passion in life when her children were 5 and 10 years of age respectively, and it wasn’t until Lisa, the youngest was in college that she finally had an opportunity to learn how to fly.  That was back in 1991 and she has been flying for business and pleasure ever since.  She is now an FAA Certificated Flight Instructor (CFI), Certificated Instrument Flight Instructor (CFII), Advanced Ground CFI &CFII, a Designated Pilot Examiner, FAA Safety Representative and the Director of Operations of Naples Seaplane Charter, Inc.  This year is the 3rd year she will judge the International Women Pilots Association Air Race Classic.

In the past she has received many awards such as; “The Pilot Who has Done The Most for General Aviation in the State of Maine” from the Aero Club of New England, “The Woman Pilot who has done the most for Women in Aviation” from the New England Section of the 99s and FAASTeam Representative of the year in 2008 from the Federal Aviation Administration in Portland, Maine.

She has flown to Alaska 4 times in a Cessna 172XP and several times has had other pilots join her in their planes en-route to Alaska with her.  She flies a variety of planes from a Cessna 150, 172, 182, 180, 185, 206, Piper Cubs on wheel, skis and floats.  She also has time in a King Air 90 and a Kodiak on amphibious floats.

 

Linda Cooper is the newest addition to the WMA staff. Having worked in Information Systems at local businesses for over 20 years, Linda is excited to become a fixture in the office of Western Maine Aviation. She anticipates a learning curve and expresses comic dismay at having to "relearn the alphabet" but has a very strong background in systems and loves working with the public. She is not afraid to ask questions or to let you know if she can't answer one. Linda promises to be a quick study and work to make the paperwork portion of WMA a breeze!

Linda lives in Sebago with her husband. She is a musician, writing and playing much of her own music. A writer and avid reader, Linda hopes to incorporate her new environment and the great people she is meeting into her stories.

 

 

 

Matthew McFadden is both a certified flight instructor and certified mechanic for Western Maine Aviation. Matthew received his Private pilot certificate in May 2002 and his Airframe and Powerplant certificates from Columbus State Community College in 2003.  He then worked as a mechanic for American Flyers in Morristown, New Jersey as he trained for his commercial pilot and flight instructor certificates.  For the past five years Matthew has worked at Naples Seaplane Service inc. in Naples, Maine teaching single engine seaplane flying and serving as the mechanic for the seaplane base.  He acquired his inspection authorization in December 2010 with the assistance of King school of Aeronautics. Matthew has received many positive compliments from students on his teaching abilities and techniques including the following:

 

“ He was always pleasant, but unbending in his demands for high standards of performance-for both me and himself. Through all of this we laughed a lot. Working and learning with Matt is fun.”                                         

Karen Monteith
FAA Aviation Safety Inspector

 

 

Byron Danforth joined the Air Force as an aircraft maintenance specialist in 1966. After leaving the service in 1970, he attended the University of Wisconsin, Sheboygan achieving a Bachelor of Science degree in 1975.  Byron completed his private pilot check ride in December of 1970 and became a Certified Flight Instructor in 1983.  He has flown over 5800 hours as a CFI and has logged more than 10,000 hours total time. 

Along the way he also acquired his Airframe and Power plant certificate with Inspection Authorization.  From 1990 thru 2001 he owned and operated Middleberry Flight School in Middleberry, VT.  In 2001 he was awarded Safety Counselor of the Year- New England by the FAA.  This is also the year he began working at Keyson Airways in Nashua, New Hampshire as an IA.  By 2007 he had attained the position of Director of Maintenance.  Byron moved to Fryeburg, Maine, in Jan 2010. He quickly became enamored with the local aviation community and decided to stay. 

He is currently employed with Western Maine Aviation as an A&P, IA and CFI.

Ben Mosher graduated from LeTourneau College in Longview Texas with an Associates of Science Degree in Aviation Maintenance Technology in 1985 where he received his A&P certificate. He has worked as an A&P mechanic for the

past 26 years and has held an IA certificate for 19 years.

Ben worked from 1985 to 1991 for South Central Airlines in Kenai Alaska maintaining a fleet of Piper Chieftains, Navajos, T1040, and Cheyenne’s. While in Alaska he received his pilot training and has Commercial single and multi-engine instrument ratings and also his single engine seaplane certificate. In 1991 he moved to Connecticut where he worked for Bridgeport Air Service as a mechanic maintaining a variety of GA aircraft until 1993 when he then went to work for Master Aviation in Danbury, CT.  There I specialized in the Piper Aerostar maintenance.   He moved to Maine in 1994 and worked at Oxford Aviation until 1995.

 In 1995 Ben became director of maintenance for Twin Cities Air Service a 135 Air Taxi Service with a flight school and full service maintenance facility.  At Twin Cities he maintained a fleet of Cessna T303, 310, 402B, 402C, 414A, 421C, Piper Seneca, Beechcraft B100, B200, and Learjet 35A. In 2004 Ben bought a Beech B60 Duke that had a gear up landing and fully restored the aircraft to pristine condition. Ben is an experienced trouble-shooter in all aircraft systems including avionics problems.  He has experience in the installation of avionics having done numerous installs on different aircraft.

Ben has experience in the maintenance of the following aircraft:
Beechcraft: Bonanza, Baron, Duchess, Duke, and King Air 100 and 200.
Cessna: Twins 300 thru 400 series and all Cessna singles from 150s to 210s.
Piper: All Piper Series singles and multi.
Learjet: 35A
Training Schools
Pratt & Whitney PT-6A engine maintenance.
Garrett TPE331 engine maintenance.
Lear 35A aircraft maintenance.
Schweizer 269 series helicopter maintenance.

I love to fly and I’ve flown everything from a light sport aircraft Gobosh & Valor, Piper Cubs, Cruisers (on wheels & floats), Colt, Cherokees to Warriors, and of course Cessna 150s, 152s, 172s, and Diamonds to Cirrus.

Since I don’t own a plane, I’m free to sample a wide range of general aviation aircraft and I’m having a ball. Some aircraft I only get to sample once or twice, but many others I have had a chance to master. The first taildragger I flew and master was the Piper Colt, and that really prepared me for seaplane flying – love the glassy water landings the most!

Most of my flying is done in the “backyard” literally making turns around a point (my house) and flying to close airports for Soup Sundays, safety seminars and 99s Section Meetings. When I can’t fly from the airport – I’ll be working there. I’m an on-call employee at Western Maine Aviation at IZG (Eastern Slope Reg. Airport, Fryeburg, Me. serving the Maine Western Mountains and White Mountain Region of NH). Stop in an say “hi”!

I have also made some long cross countries in small aircraft – the first being a trip to Sun & Fun in a Warrior, followed a few years later by an Osh Gosh trip in a Cherokee. The longest and most unforgettable will be my flight to Anchorage, Alaska in a 172XP. Admittedly, my role in these excursions was as more of a co-pilot, but doing my share of right-seat flying. To me that doesn’t matter – I’m in the air thoroughly enjoying the view from above and all the processes involved with flying.