Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

MRO technology firm Alpha Wingman is bringing its own version of a “Shark Tank” type competition to NBAA-BACE next month in Las Vegas. Called PitchAv, the competition will be held from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, October 21, on the Horizon Stage on the show floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center.
PitchAv will provide a forum for entrepreneurs to present their business ideas before five judges, all of whom are accomplished business executives: Stuart Illian, co-founder and chief aviation officer at Bluetail; Joe Hertzler, founder and former CEO of Avtrak and strategic business advisor with Thoroughbred Aviation; Brent Wiggins, AOG director of operations at Stevens Aerospace and Defense Systems; Ryan Waguespack, owner of General Aviation Consultants; and Ben Walton, founder of Summit Aviation.
These industry veterans “will put the business impresarios’ plans through the paces, test their viability, and determine which potential new venture is most likely to become the industry’s next breakthrough,” NBAA stated in announcing the competition.
The judges will question the business plans and provide suggestions. Announced shortly before the end of the session, the winner(s) will receive prizes that include professional mentorship, introductions to investor groups, and business services such as marketing, bookkeeping, legal, strategy, and graphic design.
Potential presenters must provide their presentation deck in advance and undergo an interview to participate; <a href="https://alphawingman.aero/pitchav-2026/">applications</a> for participation are due on September 25.
This is the second of this kind of event that Alpha Wingman founders Andy and Lindsay Nixon have staged. They held their first in tandem with—but not in conjunction with—BACE two years ago at a space provided by a Las Vegas entrepreneur network. The Nixons lined up food trucks and secured a sponsorship. It was so well received that NBAA officials and other industry executives asked them to stage it again, but this time at BACE. “We were excited that this idea is taking off with NBAA and BACE this year,” said Lindsay Nixon, Alpha Wingman’s director of strategy.
The Nixons have experience with these types of pitch competitions, entering them as they were launching their business, which was originally called MRO Insider and links customers in need of AOG support with providers through an online platform.
The Nixons founded their company in 2016, launching at the 2017 edition of BACE. They developed a platform on which corporate operators could request quotes electronically and available MRO providers could respond. Since then, the business has expanded with major operators seeking assistance with their platforms.
“Having a business aviation-related technology company has really shown us the need for innovation and technology to come to the forefront to create solutions for the industry,” Lindsay explained. “We’ve seen more and more come through in the past five to eight years, but there’s always room for more. And that just leads directly into the overlap with entrepreneurship and the Shark Tank-like competition.”
When they began entering competitions, Lindsay said, they found them to be a “fun and different way to learn about your business and really just pull you up to speed with how investors and well-seasoned business professionals look at your business. The feedback was excellent. We learned a lot each time we did it.” Importantly, the opportunity provided the exposure that many new businesses seek, she added.
They were challenged to look at various aspects of their business and their business plans—“we had to learn how to do financials,” said Andy Nixon, who is Alpha Wingman’s president, adding that they would receive insights where people would say, “This looks great, but have you thought about this?”
One of their key mentors from these competitions taught them to be patient through the process. Andy noted that they began with the belief they would have a large company within a couple of years. “But once you get in, you realize…that’s not reality.”
They received prizes such as design services, including for the website and collateral. Getting a company name known “is probably the hardest thing that a lot of people do,” Andy added. “All these companies that raise $100 million or $500 million, such as Wheels Up, get all the glory. But when you’re starting out from nothing, and you want to bootstrap the business like we have—we own all the equity, we haven’t taken outside investors—that’s when that mentorship comes into play. You ask [questions like]: ‘How can I design these flyers and get them printed? Is that in our budget?’”
To accomplish those goals, many company founders will give away equity to the point that they no longer have ownership, he said, explaining that that’s why assistance such as mentorship is so helpful. “We try to let entrepreneurs know that there are other ways to go about starting a business,” Andy said.
Lindsay added, however, that some level of investment will help a company grow, and that was included in the prize package.
As for BACE, Jo Damato, NBAA senior v-p of events and professional engagement, stressed how PitchAv is “a great fit” for the three-day convention. “NBAA-BACE is the place where innovative ideas and the people with that entrepreneurial spirit converge to help shape the future of business aviation,” she said. “We’re thrilled to give these fresh ideas a stage in front of the industry’s leaders and top decision-makers.”

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