COEUR d’ALENE — Al Goodwin found his passion at an early age.  

At only 14 years old, he got to ride in the cockpit of an airplane — and the rest is history.  

“I’d always been fascinated with airplanes, but now I was hooked,” Goodwin recalled. “By the time I finished high school, I had my private pilot certification.”  

Over 20,000 hours in the air later — and a career spanning over 50 years — Goodwin was presented with the prestigious Federal Aviation Administration’s Wright Brothers Award “for 50 years of safe piloting and aircraft operations” last week at the Coeur d’Alene Airport-Pappy Boyington Field.  

Goodwin maintained a perfect flight record over the course of his entire career, having never received a single violation or “black mark” on his record.  

“It was just 50 years of doing it the right way,” Goodwin told the Press.  

Goodwin said advice from one of his first flight instructors stuck with him all those years.  

“He told me, ‘A superior pilot is one who uses his superior knowledge to avoid needing to use his superior skills,’” he said. 

Goodwin only had three employers across his entire career as a pilot — including 32 years as the Hagadone Corporation Aviation Manager at the Cd'A Airport.  

“Working for Duane Hagadone was great ... by far the best job I’ve ever had,” he said.  

Goodwin’s career took him to all 50 states and 51 countries around the world. He has been to the tips of South Africa and South America, and he spent a month in 1977 training pilots in the former country of Yugoslavia, which Goodwin described as “the most interesting and challenging training” in his career.  

“Their English wasn’t great, and my Serbian was zero, but over the training period we all learned a little, and it worked out,” Goodwin recalled.

Goodwin, now 80 years old, has been retired since 2021. He said he wouldn’t change a single thing about his career.  

“All in all, I feel pretty lucky having made a living for 51 years doing my hobby,” Goodwin said.  

Goodwin also had advice for young pilots starting out in the field: “Just do it right!”