Joe Gauthier is to receive the Spirit of Flight award tonight.

Joe Gauthier, member of the EAA Homebuilt Aircraft Council and a longtime homebuilder, receives the Spirit of Flight Award tonight at the Homebuilders Dinner at the Nature Center. The award is sponsored by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and is presented to the EAA member who best exemplifies the spirit of research, development, or flight-testing.

Gauthier more than fits the bill. An active EAA technical counselor since 1977, he is certified as an FAA aviation safety counselor, an EAA flight advisor, and a NAFI master instructor. As southern New England’s leading flight advisor, Gauthier has made the maiden flights of more than 30 homebuilt aircraft. He speaks regularly at chapter meetings throughout the area, as well as at forums during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, including 2002 when he spoke about record-keeping for amateur-built aircraft and first flights.

Gauthier and his wife, Carol, live in Cromwell, Connecticut, with their two daughters. "My wife has been extraordinarily supportive, and I owe much of what I do to that support," Gauthier said. "Our daughters always said, ‘Don’t ask Dad what time it is, he will tell you how the watch works.’ Machines always intrigued me, and the airplane is the ultimate machine."

After discovering the world of homebuilt aircraft in 1968, Gauthier sold his street rod to pay for flying lessons and has been influencing aviation enthusiasts ever since. "I simply do the best job possible preparing for every flight, establish parameters for that flight, and stay within the limits prescribed during the flight," Gauthier said. "I have enjoyed the success achieved by taking one step at a time and always looking ahead to the next sequence for planning purposes."

Gauthier, a former member of the U.S. Air Force, spent 33 years with Southern New England Telephone and is now providing tailwheel and instrument flight instruction and leading two group aircraft construction projects.

Gauthier has received an impressive array of awards such as the EAA Chapter 166 Outstanding Contribution to Sport Aviation in 1984; EAA Major Achievement Award in 1987; EAA President’s Award in 1991; Chapter 166’s Aircraft Completion Award in 1973, 1974, 1980, and 1995; Aviation Safety Counselor of the Year (New England region) in 1999; Certificated Flight Instructor of the Year (New England region) in 2002; EAA Tony Bingelis Award in 2003; and Aero Club of New England Connecticut State Award in 2005.

Appointed to the EAA Homebuilt Aircraft Council in 2002, Gauthier has constructed two BD-4 homebuilts, a Davis DA-2A, a Lancair 235, and a Thorp T-18. He restored a 1946 Taylorcraft and a 1948 Cessna 140, and assisted in numerous other homebuilt projects both in the mechanical and flight instruction areas.