ABOUT

When I was 13 years old my dad bought an airplane and took flight lessons at the Waupaca Airport (PCZ) and that’s when my interest is flying began as a boy hanging out at the airport while he flew with his instructor. Sometimes after Dad’s lessons, the instructor would take me for a short ride, and I was hooked. As approached 16, Dad got me going in my own flight lessons at PCZ, and I soloed on my 16th birthday in 1977. Shortly after that he bought a Cessna 150 that I flew for many years and in which I eventually received my private pilot’s license. My interest in aviation lead me to the Air Force after high school where I spent four years working on helicopters in Germany until I got out and returned to Wisconsin to attend UW Stevens Point. A year after leaving the active duty Air Force, I joined the Wisconsin Air National Guard in Madison where I served in various aircraft maintenance roles working with A-10s and F-16s. My dream was always to become a professional pilot, and in 1989 I decided to pursue my dream. With a couple hundred hours and a private pilot’s license, I spent that summer completing my instrument rating, commercial pilot’s license, multi-engine rating and certificated flight instructor rating, the certificates and ratings necessary to begin my flying career. My professional flying began soon after that with me giving flight instruction and soon thereafter being hired as a pilot for Waupaca Foundry, where I spent 15 years. In 2003 I retired from the Air Guard as an aircraft maintenance officer, reaching the rank of Major. My next aviation venture had me flying reconnaissance missions as a civilian contractor in Afghanistan and Iraq, and after 10 years of flying in war zones I decided to take a job as a charter pilot. I have always enjoyed flight instruction, which is why I have decided to start this flight school, and for it to be at PCZ makes it even more exciting for me because that’s where it all began for me 45 years earlier. My goal is to help future pilots find as much joy in aviation as I have found, whether you fly for pleasure or wish to make it a career. God bless all who train with Celestial Kinetics Flight Acadamy, LLC, and I am excited to be a part of your aviation adventure.