![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/WaltBarbo_052919_4edit-683x1024.jpg\")
This is the first award of its kind presented by the CAB\nintended to specially honor and recognize individuals who have exhibited\nunprecedented contributions to the Colorado aviation community. Individuals\npresented with this extraordinarily-limited award have also demonstrated values\nthat fall in line with the CDOT Division of Aeronautics mission to advance a\nsafe, efficient, and effective statewide air and space system through\ncollaboration, investment, and advocacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Walt Barbo joined the Army Air Corps on December 9, 1941,\ntwo days following the attack on Pearl Harbor. \nIn December of 1942, during WWII, Barbo began flying P-38 Lightnings in\nNew Guinea with the 475th Fighter Group. Barbo flew with the United States Air\nCorps until May of 1946.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the late 1950\u2019s, Walt attended the University of\nWashington, earning a number of engineering degrees, including a B.S. and\nMasters in Civil Engineering, and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering. Walt\u2019s\nMaster\u2019s thesis was to develop a Master Plan for Boeing Field in Seattle Washington.\nAirport officials were so impressed by Walt\u2019s work on his thesis, they hired\nhim as the Airport Engineer. Walt would go on to also earn a Master\u2019s in Air\nTransportation from the University of California Berkley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following the signing of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958,\nwhich created the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Walt began working for\nthe FAA in 1963 as an Airport Engineer. \nWalt participated in writing language that created the Federal Airport &\nAirway Development Act of 1970. This legislation paved the way to develop a\nsustainable federal funding source for the aviation system in the United\nStates. In 1971, he transferred from FAA Headquarters in Washington D.C. to\nDenver, Colorado where he would become the Assistant Manager of a newly-created\ndivision of the FAA; the Rocky Mountain Region Airports Division. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1980, Barbo was appointed as the Chief of what would\nbecome known as the FAA Northwest Mountain Region Airports District\nOffice. During his days working with the\nFAA, Barbo was the driving force behind the development of the Federal Reliever\nAirport Program which designated certain airports as \u201creliever airports\u201d – a\nfederally-funded system of airports designated to provide additional air\ntraffic capacity to areas where the primary commercial service airport had\nreached maximum traffic capacity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of Walt\u2019s focuses working for the FAA in Colorado was to\nimprove commercial air transportation into Colorado\u2019s mountain resort\ncommunities. This resulted in the construction of improved runways and\ninfrastructure at the Telluride Regional Airport (TEX), Hayden-Yampa Valley\nRegional Airport (HDN), and the Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1979, Walt was integral in the certification of a\ndesignated Short Takeoff & Landing Airport (STOLPORT) in Avon, CO to be\nutilized by Colorado\u2019s Rocky Mountain Airways. \nThe Avon STOLPORT would provide commercial air service to the Vail\nValley and visitors of the Vail\/Beaver Creek Ski Resort. Walt was also key in\nthe development of the Front Range Airport (FTG) as a reliever to Stapleton\nInternational Airport, and the Meadow Lake Airport (FLY) as a reliever to the\nColorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1988, after 25 years of service with the FAA, Walt\nretired as the Manager of the FAA Northwest Mountain Region Airports District\nOffice. Following his retirement, Walt\ndedicated his focus on the next generation of aviators with development of the\nFantasy of Flight Foundation, a youth education program designed to inspire\nkids interested in aviation with computer flight simulators built and\nmaintained by Barbo himself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Walt Barbo remains a key fixture in the in the Colorado and\nnational aviation community. Walt has\nbeen involved in the following aviation and community organizations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 President,\nColorado Pilots Association, 1989 & 2002, membership since 1975<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 President,\nFantasy of Flight Foundation, 1993 \u2013 2003<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 President,\nRocky Mountain Aviation & Aerospace Association, 1992 \u2013 2003<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Board\nmember, Wings Over the Rockies Museum, 1993 \u2013 2001<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Board\nmember, Colorado Air Safety Foundation<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Past\nboard member, United State Pilots Association<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Member,\nColorado Aviation Historic Society<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Member,\nAirpower West<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Member,\nSilver Wings Fraternity, Colorado Wing<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Member,\nCivil Air Patrol<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Member,\nColorado Airport Operators Association<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Member,\nExperimental Aircraft Association<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Member,\nAircraft Owners & Pilots Association<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Member,\nLowry Redevelopment Authority Community Advisory Committee<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Member,\nAirport technical committees for airport planning at Centennial and Front Range\nairports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, at the age of 95, Walt continues to fly his personal\naircraft based at the Front Range Airport\/Colorado Air & Space Port (FTG)\nlocated in Watkins, Colorado.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Colorado aviation great Walt Barbo was distinguished with the \u201cColorado Aeronautical Board Lifetime Achievement Award\u201d by the Colorado Aeronautical Board. The award was presented to Mr. Barbo on Friday, June 7, 2019, at a Colorado Aeronautical Board (CAB) meeting held in conjunction with the Colorado Airport Operator\u2019s Association (CAOA) Spring Conference in Greeley, Colorado. This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13098,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,116],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colorado","category-front-page-slider"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/WaltBarbo_052919_5edit.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13097"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13101,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13097\/revisions\/13101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}