Bob Tooker, a sales representative for Duncan Aviation’s Parts and Rotables Sales and a long-time aircraft technician with Duncan Aviation, was recently honored as a recipient of the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award.
The award was presented by Nebraska Aviation Mechanics Seminar committee and the FAA in January. The award recognizes the lifetime accomplishments of senior mechanics and recipients are required to have worked for a period of 50 years in an aviation maintenance career and must have been an FAA-certificated mechanic or repairman working on N-registered aircraft maintained under the federal aviation regulations for a minimum of 30 of the 50 years required.
Tooker has been employed in aviation for 50 years, 43 of those years being dedicated to serving at Duncan Aviation. Tooker began his career in the U.S. Navy in 1967 and was sent to Avionics School.
In 1974, at a time when there were only 17 aircraft mechanics at Duncan Aviation, Tooker came to the company to work on early model Learjets, Bonanzas, Barons, and King Air aircraft. In 1984, Tooker helped Duncan Aviation develop and start its Parts and Rotables Sales department, which manages an extensive inventory of aircraft avionics, parts and rotables available for sale. Tooker wore many hats during his years at Duncan, including inventory quality control, and sales rep. One of his favorite projects was the disassembly, transportation, and reassembly of a Learjet 35 that can be seen hanging in Terminal 3 of the Denver International Airport.
Tooker has a lot of gratitude for Robert Duncan, Chairman Emeritus of Duncan Aviation. “I always felt encouraged and empowered by the trust Robert put in me early in my career. I want to thank him for the fun ride,” he said.