Master mechanic robert Bushby

Robert “Bob” Bushby’s aviation career spanned more than seven decades, but at its foundation was a lifelong understanding of aircraft from the mechanic’s point of view.

Bushby’s interest in aviation began early. He took his first airplane ride in a Ford Trimotor in 1937 and made his first solo flight in a Piper J-3 Cub in 1943. During his military service, he attended aircraft maintenance school at Keesler Field in Mississippi before serving on Guam with the 4th Emergency Rescue Squadron as a B-17 flight engineer.

Following his military service, Bushby continued his formal aviation maintenance education. In 1948, he completed the aircraft maintenance program at Lewis College in Illinois and earned his Aircraft and Engine mechanic certificate, the predecessor to today’s Airframe and Powerplant certificate. He later added Inspection Authorization.

That same year, Bushby opened an aircraft maintenance shop in Ottawa, Illinois, which he operated until 1953. During this period, he also restored aircraft, including a Piper J-5 and a Waco AGC-8.

Bushby would eventually become particularly well known within the experimental aircraft community.
In 1953, he joined the still-young Experimental Aircraft Association as EAA member No. 26 and began a business associated with the Midget Mustang. His work eventually led to development of the Mustang II, a two-seat, all-metal homebuilt aircraft that first flew in the 1960s and became an enduring design within the experimental aviation community.

Bushby’s contribution went beyond designing and selling aircraft plans and kits. For decades, he provided technical assistance to Mustang builders and shared his knowledge of metal aircraft construction with other homebuilders. His work helped generations of builders turn plans and raw materials into flying aircraft.

In 1992, the Federal Aviation Administration presented Bushby with the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award, recognizing his lifetime of achievement in aviation maintenance. His contributions to aviation continued to be recognized in the years that followed. He received the FAA Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award in 2005 and was inducted into EAA’s Homebuilders Hall of Fame that same year.
In 2016, Bushby was recognized for another remarkable milestone: 50 years of successful flight of the Mustang II design.

Bushby died in 2018 at the age of 91, leaving behind a legacy visible not only in the aircraft he maintained and restored, but in the Mustang aircraft built and flown by generations of homebuilders.
His career is a reminder of the influence an aviation maintenance professional can have far beyond the hangar—through craftsmanship, innovation, mentorship, and the willingness to share a lifetime of technical knowledge with others.
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Sources: Federal Aviation Administration; Experimental Aircraft Association; Bushby family historical records.