Local aviator receives Master Pilot award

Dubach resident Tom Straughan has received a Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award from the Federal Aviation Administration. The award recognizes pilots who have maintained safe flight operations for 50 years. The Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award is the most prestigious award the FAA issues to general aviation pilots. Straughan is one of 64 Louisiana pilots to have received the award since its inception in 2003, and the only one from Lincoln Parish, according to the FAA’s website. Straughan, a retired Louisiana Tech University engineering professor, did his solo flight on June 15, 1965. He flies for pleasure and owns a Twin Comanche. Making the presentation to Straughan, center, is Ruston Mayor Ronny Walker. Straughan’s wife, Rubie Ann, right, is wearing a stickpin given to spouses to commemorate the Master Pilot Award.