Professional Pilot, September 2016

Proud to say my father was a chief inspector for Lockheed during production of the famous P38 Lighting My mom drove to the factory one afternoon to pick up my dad with me along and observers said I slipped out of the car and tried to climb over the chain link fence to better see the planes I was 3 With a dad who had been involved in aircraft construction for several years airplanes were always subjects of conversation at home Mom wanted me to be a doctor and I was headed that way until I had my first airplane ride in a Stinson 108 which was arranged by my dad From then on it was an aviation career for me I learned to fly as soon as I could at the earliest legal age and Im still flying professionally at 74 Gerry Shore ATP Citation 650 Dir of Ops Chief Pilot Excalibur Intl Aviation Inez TX I always thought my dad had the coolest job as a corporate pilot With him as my guide I could walk into the hangar and see Hawkers Challengers and Gulfstreams No doubt about it I knew I wanted to fly when I grew up Dad retired from the Philip Morris Flight Dept after 25 years of being in cockpits while I was working on my private Having him around to cheer me on as I got all my ratings was great What a source of knowledge Im happy to say he still helps me be a better pilot by continuing to emphasize safe flying practices and even running through my checklist with me Ryan Blanchard ATP Phenom 300 Chief Pilot Luck Companies Richmond VA Throughout my entire life my father has been my role model He was a captain on a Boeing 777 for a major airline for 31 years Id watch him leave home to go fly and notice he had a smile on his face when he left and hed also return with a smile To him flying wasnt a job it was clearly his passion His enjoyment with flying motivated me to pursue a career in aviation as well I believe there are 2 types of pilots 1 Those who fly to live that is they fly to earn a living and 2 There are those pilots who live to fly Same as my dad I live to fly and feel that catching the flying bug is an hereditary trait Craig Reichold ATP Citation X CJ3 Chief Pilot EL Pueblo Aviation Hatboro PA An airshow started my career dream I was on a Boy Scout trip to visit a show at Roosevelt Road Naval Base in Puerto Rico circa 1980 I was thrilled by the throaty noises of the aircraft engines and fantasized about being a pilot I became a modeler and learned a lot about aerodynamics by building and flying radio controlled aircraft models Soon I was working towards getting my private pilots license in a real airplane Now with over 14000 hrs of logged time I still look to the sky every time an aircraft roars above me Armando Martinez ATP Helo CFII de Havilland Dash 8C Sikorsky UH60M Pilot CBP DHS Aguadilla PR Go Ahead Stand on the Brakes Effective Affordable Anti Skid Braking for Your Aircraft CERTIFIED LIGHTWEIGHT EASY TO INSTALL Eclipse 500 550 King Air B200 B300 Pilatus PC12 12NG CONTACT TOM GRUNBECK@ AIRCRAFTSYSTEMS AERO 9183885940 AIRCRAFTSYSTEMS AERO DEALERS PHP