….if I wore hats!
For me, home right now really is where I hang my hat because I enjoy living in new places every so often when a new opportunity takes me someplace different every few years. At the moment my hats hang in Reno, Nevada – a town right over the Sierra Nevada Mountains next to the California border and about a 4-hour drive to San Francisco. I’ve enjoyed the adventure of finding many great places to live around the country and discovering what each area has to offer.
I started my adult life by serving five years in the U.S. Army, first as an airborne infantryman in the 82nd Airborne Division. After returning from the Persian Gulf War when my initial enlistment was ending, I re-enlisted to later become an honor graduate of the Army’s Electronic Warfare Tactical Intercept Systems Repairer course. I then spent over 25 years in the field of broadcast television technology which was an interesting and challenging field to work in coming up with creative solutions for unusual and dynamic challenges.
After obtaining my private pilot certificate in January of 2020 flying out of Minden, Nevada, I went ‘all in’, as it were, to be serious about my passion for aviation and make this my focus. I completed the ATP Flight School program on September 19th, 2020 where I earned my instrument and commercial ratings and then moved swiftly through their CFI academy for my ASEL CFI, CFI-I, and AMEL/AMEL MEI ratings without failing a single checkride.
I then started my own company, V Speed Aviation LLC, so I can work as an independent contractor in Northern Nevada for local flight clubs, local owner-pilots, and with local flight schools mostly out of Reno-Tahoe International Airport (KRNO). I’ve continued to challenge myself by obtaining my high-performance, complex, and tailwheel endorsements and spent time as a tailwheel instructor flying an American Champion Citabria.
I’m also a member of the EAA, National Association of Flight Instructors, AOPA, and an active participant in the FAA Safety Team (WINGS) program and work full-time to show others the fun and adventure of flying and teach them how to accomplish the same dream.
See you in the sky!
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