In Memoriam: Ron Timmermans, Orlando, Florida.
Ron and his wife Barbara "Traveled West" on Feb 11, 2026 in a small plane crash. He was a contract instructor for us and was instrumental in our small aircraft training program.
Ron fulfilled a 40-year professional career as an architect and project manager before devoting himself to aviation on a full-time basis. He was an independent flight instructor since 1998. He and Barbara owned and managed AileRon T, LLC, and he flew the Beechcraft Bonanza co-owned with his wife Barbara – who originally inspired him to become a Flight Instructor.
Ron logged more than 5,000 hours of dual instruction given, nearly 2,000 of those hours in the past five years. He instructed at locations throughout Florida, where he also served as a mentor and advocate for emerging and young pilots and CFIs.
Before relocating to Florida, Ron lived in North Texas and provided flight training in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Ron was an ATP-AMEL, Commercial-ASEL, CFI-IA, MEI-IA, AGI-Instrument, and Remote Pilot.
Accomplishments
He was a NAFI Master CFI and Master Ground Instructor, a Gold Seal Instructor, and an American Bonanza Society (ABS) Master Aviator.
Ron was particularly well-known in the Beech community due to his active involvement in the Beechcraft Pilot Proficiency Program (BPPP) and Bonanza/Baron Pilot Training (BPT) program.
Ron began providing training to Beechcraft pilots in 1998 and developed the BPT training curricula that were approved for WINGS credit by the FAA. He instructed in BPT events throughout the United States from Oregon and California to New Hampshire and Florida and numerous other venues in between.
In addition to providing instruction for Bonanza and Baron pilots, Ron was also active in the BPT Companion Training Course for those pilots’ significant others. Since 2012, Ron was active in the BPPP program of the American Bonanza Society (ABS), and authored more than 50 articles published in the ABS Magazine. He was a frequent consultant to owners and buyers of Beechcraft airplanes and frequently conducted Beechcraft transition training.
Latest Activities
Ron served as a FAASTeam Lead Representative for the Orlando FSDO and the North Texas FSDO. He presented at more than 50 WINGS safety seminars and at aviation events throughout Florida and EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh.
He was a frequent presenter at AOPA’s Rusty Pilots Seminars, Safety Seminars, and Flight Instructor Refresher Courses. He was a founding director of the WINGS Industry Network, and he volunteered on the FAA’s WINGS Usability Working Group in 2020-2021.
Ron’s outreach activities included presenting NAFI MentorLIVE webinars for flight instructors and hosting broadcasts for Florida Aviation Network live-streaming events to international audiences.
He was a regular presenter at ABS national conventions, EAA AirVenture, Sun ‘n Fun, and numerous other aviation events.Ron is a contributing member of AOPA, EAA, NAFI, SAFE, ABS, BPT, BPPP, and Quiet Birdmen.
CFI of the Year
He was named the 2021 National Flight Instructor of the Year, and he was inducted into the Flight Instructor Hall of Fame in 2022. He will be sorely missed. His most famous phrase was "I'm Ron Timmermans, and although I have 9000 hrs of flying, I am a Student Pilot. The next hour you fly is the most important. Never Stop Learning."