Avionics News March 2022 - 57

 Award recipients will be announced
MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2022, during the AEA Convention's opening session.
2022 AEA Member of the Year &
AEA Associate Member of the Year
Tom Hass
Park Rapids Avionics -
Park Rapids, Minnesota
Tom Hass grew up on a farm in
rural Minnesota, 3 miles from the
airport watching airplanes come
and go. This piqued his interest
in aviation. Hass
took flying lessons
in high school, and
he currently has a
private pilot license,
single-engine land,
single-engine sea and
multi-engine land ratings. Hass has
a passion for flying seaplanes.
In 1991, he enrolled in an
avionics technician program at
Alexandria Technical College and
received an associate degree in
1993. Hass began his career at a
small avionics shop, Robertson
Aircraft in Albuquerque, New
Mexico. Jetsun Aviation in Sioux
City, Iowa, followed where Hass
was an avionics bench technician.
He troubleshooted aircraft avionics
systems and performed repairs and
installs for new avionics.
In 1999, Hass was hired by
Silverhawk Aviation in Lincoln,
Nebraska, to start and manage an
avionics shop/department. In 2001,
Hass founded Park Rapids Avionics
as a one-man shop in Park Rapids,
Minnesota. He acquired Approach
Systems in 2006 and rebranded as
Approach Fast Stack. This provided
a global presence in retail sales of
avionics wiring systems and new
over-the-counter avionics sales. Park
Rapids currently has six avionics
technicians and six wiring harness
builders.
Park Rapids Avionics has been
an active member of the AEA since
2001. The company participates in
the AEA International Convention
& Trade Show and has received the
AEA Avionics Training Excellence
Award the last 14 years.
Bryan Potyk
McCreery Aviation - McAllen, Texas
Bryan Potyk began his career in
aviation in 1988 with the United
States Navy as an aviation fire control
technician on the F/A-18 Hornet.
His first duty station was Naval
Air Test Center at Strike Aircraft
Test Directorate. At Strike, he was
involved with support and upkeep of
the F/A-18 Night Attack Hornet and
F14D Super Tomcat. After Strike, he
joined Strike Fighter Squadron VFA37
as a flight deck troubleshooter
and integrated weapons team leader
for workups and deployments on
board the CV-67 John F. Kennedy
and CVN-69 Dwight D Eisenhower.
During these years, he developed his
technical abilities, attention to detail
and leadership skills. He departed
the Navy in 1997 with an honorable
discharge.
Upon departure from the Navy,
he went to work at Ahr Avionics
in San Antonio,
Texas, as an avionics
installer working on
a variety of aircraft,
from Mooneys to
Boeing 707s, and
performing various
avionics modifications. Some notable
accomplishments during this time
have been complying with the
TAWS mandate on John Travolta's
Boeing 707, performing several
custom avionics retrofits to various
World War II aircraft to include P38
Glacier Girl, several F7F Tigercat
cockpit refurb/upgrades and the
demilitarization of a CF-5D Freedom
Fight for civilian use/exhibition.
Through his tenure at Ahr Avionics/
Ahr Aviation, he went on to become
Continued on following page
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Avionics News March 2022

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