ROCK FALLS – Dave Murray, who served as attorney for the Whiteside County Airport Board for more than half a century, was presented with a prestigious pilot award at the board’s meeting Thursday night.

The Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award – named after Orville and Wilbur Wright, credited with inventing the world’s first airplane – was established by the Federal Aviation Administration in 2003 to recognize pilots who have performed safe flight operations for more than 50 years of continuous service. To date, the FAA has presented this award to approximately 8,400 recipients, according to its website.

Nominations for the award are submitted using an application form that must include three letters of recommendation from other FAA-certified pilots and photocopies of a U.S. Civil Aviation Administration or Federal Aviation Administration pilot certificate.

In his acceptance speech, Murray thanked the board and everyone involved in the lengthy application process. He particularly thanked airport manager Darin Heffelfinger, who sent the petition to the FAA.

Murray received his pilot’s license at age 35 and has since logged about 1,800 hours of flight time, he said at the meeting.

“I flew from Whiteside almost every hour.”

Murray’s working hours were “rather insignificant compared to those of other winners of this award,” but he never had an accident and never violated air traffic regulations, he said.

“I’ve always wanted to fly,” Murray said. “Every pilot knows the thrill of having the engine and wings running and defying gravity.”

He began practicing law in 1961, representing the airport alongside Henry Ward, the airport’s first attorney. Murray had three young children at the time and could not afford his dream of becoming a pilot, he said.

One day, somewhat impulsively, Murray and a friend decided to buy a plane together. He recalled coming home that day to tell his wife, and she “knew it was only a matter of time,” he said.

His first aircraft was a four-seat Piper Tri-Pacer.

“There aren’t many of those left,” Murray said. “It had what was called a coffee grinder radio.”

Tri-Pacers came onto the market in the 1950s and were nicknamed after the crank used to turn them on, which, according to the Piper Flyer Association website, resembled a coffee grinder.

Murray earned his private pilot’s license and his instrument rating at the Whiteside County Airport. He was also a permanent hangar renter at the airport and a three-time member of the Twin Cities Air Activities Club.

Until his retirement from the position of airport attorney in 2017, Murray advised the board on numerous rule, regulation and lease changes. He was inducted into the airport’s Hall of Fame in 2021.