Honored 2024
Bill Dunn was born in Canon City, Colorado in 1961. Being from an aviation family, he began his journey in this field at an early age first soloing at the age of 16. His aviation experiences expanded with the Civil Air Patrol in Montrose, Colorado. He was the Cadet Commander of the Montrose unit.
Bill began his career in aviation in western Colorado, working with helicopter companies in Grand Junction and Montrose. In 1981 he successfully completed the ATC entrance screening exam and was hired by the FAA as an air traffic controller. He transitioned to Flight Services and became the supervisor at the Automated Flight Service Station at Centennial Airport. He acquired a Certified Flight instructor rating in 1987 and trained pilots on weekends. Dunn received the Outstanding Save of the Year Award from the FAA in 1999.
Bill worked at the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center in Longmont from 2005 to 2010. In 2010 he moved to Denver Terminal Radar Approach Control to work with the design team for the Denver RNAV arrival/departure/approach system. The development of this cutting-edge navigation system would provide a major advance in air traffic safety and efficiency. Bill coordinated numerous facilities in the metro area during its development to resolve safety issues for air carriers and general aviation. The installation of RNAV at Denver international Airport, the first of this type in the world, was a major advance for the airport and for Colorado aviation.
One of his many contributions to aviation safety was the indoor airport training simulation that he created for pilots to practice receiving ATC clearances and instructions.
As Bill grew up flying in the Colorado mountains, he understood the weather and could provide knowledgeable briefings to pilots on the local conditions. He was the principal contributor to the Colorado Pilots Association’s Mountain Flying course. He developed pilot seminars for weather reporting and created a video production on mountain flying.
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