My background and experience

I am a seriously professional flight instructor. 

I began flying on Saturday, July 31, 1971 in a 1947 Piper J-3 Cub, at a small private airstrip near Plant City, Florida. From that first 30-minute introductory flight with Charlie Miller, I have added more than 10,000 additional flight hours. To steal a few lines from the famous poem by John Gillispie Magee Jr., I have “…danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds,—and done a hundred things you have not dreamed of…” 

One of my goals is to introduce new pilots to those “hundred of things” you have not dreamed of.

As with many young pilots, I liked to fly but I didn't like having to pay for it. This led me to the logical conclusion I should become a flight instructor. I started my training with an open mind not knowing whether I would like teaching others how to fly, or not. As it turned out, I loved teaching! This probably accounts for my logbooks containing more than 6000 hours of dual given.

I spent two years full time instructing a small airport which has now become the suburbs, in Brandon, Florida. Following those two years, I began flying checks at night for a Part 135 operation out of Tampa International—that lasted about 10 months after which I found myself in a class of 55 other candidates at NAS Pensacola trying to push the earth away (doing pushups). My Navy flight experience began in T-28 Trojans, which was followed by T-2s, A-4s, and A-7s, and included dark nights and carrier landings.

I left the Navy in 1990 for grad school at an aeronautical university. My intent was to take time off from operational flying and then get back into it. The degree I completed was the master of aeronautical science with a specialization in aviation education. I thought I would eventually go to the airlines, but later decided not to follow that path. At the university, I taught all levels of certification and ratings from private pilot, instrument, multi-engine, commercial, as well as flight instructor certification. I also performed in-house checkrides for each of those certificates and ratings.

After 32 years of flight and classroom  instruction at the university, I “retired” to become what one of my financial guys described as “a hybrid retiree.” In other words, I work when I want, where I want, and when I want.

One of the things I really wanted to do was to get back into light, tailwheel flying. This led to the creation of a new business and the purchase of a 1946 Aeronca Champ with which I can offer tailwheel endorsements and other flight instruction.

If you are looking for a tailwheel endorsement, a flight review, other instruction, or just want to go out and have fun in the Champ, hit me up.