Flying home with the rock.

Flying has been a large influence for me, being my lifelong dream and passion. Having several opportunities for military aviation dissolve, I have stayed involved with aviation and decided to pursue flying for pleasure and perhaps some business down the road.

I grew up around aviation with my father being a career Air Force transport pilot and mother being very supportive of my dream of becoming a pilot. In college, I earned my private license and used it for pleasure flying. My training was completed at Wilgrove Airpark in Charlotte, NC (8A6). It was a perfect setting with a great instructor and a challenging little runway tucked away in the trees. After moving to Chicago, I finished my instrument rating flying with Windy City Flyers out of Chicago Executive (PWK). With the umbrella of O’hare and Great Lakes surrounding the airport, I gained a lot of great experience in IMC and IFR!

My wife, Laura, has always enjoyed flying with me, especially the flight we took two days after my instrument check ride. We flew to Door County, Wisconsin for a photo trip over Lake Michigan and Cave Point. What she didn’t know was the low voltage light that came on was deliberate! It “forced” us to make a precautionary landing for lunch and a drive out to the lake. There, she was completely surprised when I dropped to one knee and pulled out a ring! We stayed the night and then flew back the next day. The whole trip depended on me passing my check ride because flying home was 90% in IMC and included a ILS down to minimums back at Executive (that went flawlessly)!

Today, we live back down south in Iron Station, NC. Our newest home is on 10 acres with a beautiful creek and is conveniently located on left base for runway 23 at Lincoln County Regional Airport (KIPJ). We enjoy staying active with our dog Eva. Camping, beach and mountain trips, and cruises are our favorite past times. I am a pilot for a small charter company based in the Charlotte area and a Captain in the North Carolina Air National Guard, serving as a Maintenance Operations Officer for the 145th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. Laura is an analyst for a large bank here in Charlotte and helps with social media advertising for her sister’s yoga studio.

While we have many big plans for our airplane, our biggest is to use it to visit everyone of our nation’s national parks.