At the National Aeronautic Association Fall Awards Dinner on November 27, 2018, the association added four more individuals to its list of Distinguished Statesmen of Aviation. The list now includes Mark Burns, president of Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, and most unusually, the husband and wife team of John and Martha King, co-chairmen of King Schools.

According to the NAA, the purpose of the Wesley L McDonald Distinguished Statesman of Aviation award is to honour outstanding living Americans who, by their efforts over an extended period of years, have made contributions of significant value to aeronautics, and have reflected credit upon America and themselves. The Kings say they count themselves greatly honoured to be included in this group for their decades of providing playful and fun video ground school instruction to generations of pilots.

“The National Aeronautic Association is to be celebrated for having the courage to do the unconventional thing and select both members of our mom-and-pop team for this award. We are just thrilled,” comments Martha.

For more than 40 years, students and pilots at all levels have followed King Schools' clear, simple and fun video courses. King Schools estimates that around 50 per cent of the pilots flying in the US today have taken one course or another from King. The company is also involved in online pilot certification and avionics training for pilots of high performance and turbine aircraft.