Learning to fly
Private pilot certificate at 17, followed by commercial and instructor ratings in 2009, including CFI, CFII and MEI.
4,400+Total flight hours
2,000+Cirrus SR22 hours
750Multi-engine hours
60+Aircraft types
Flight history
More than hours in a logbook.
The interesting part is what happened along the way: instruction, business ownership, experimental aircraft, engineering evaluations, simulator development, formation work and long ferry flights.
Murfreesboro Aviation
I started with one airplane and grew the school to seven aircraft and five employees. Instruction and operations during that period accounted for roughly 3,000 flight hours.
Mission, experimental and engineering flying
Around 2012 I hauled supplies to Haiti. I also supported flight testing of an electric Long-EZ, flew homebuilt and experimental aircraft, and connected Red Bull Air Race simulation work with real pilot feedback.
Aircraft development and airshows
BlackFly development, physical simulator evaluation, aircraft ferrying, GoEZ Aerobatics support and increasingly complex professional simulator work.
Professional flying becomes the main work
Cirrus instruction and operations, SF50 type rating, PA-31 and PA-46T flying, TL Sport Aircraft demonstration and test flying, formation and photo-ship missions, and live-flight HMARD testing.
Across the Atlantic and across the country
An SR22 crossing of the Atlantic, DA62 flying, coast-to-coast ferry work in a Navion and bush plane, and photo-ship flying alongside a Lockheed Constellation.
What the flying includes
Instruction, operations, testing and airshows.
Commercial ASEL, AMEL and ASES; instrument airplane; CFI, CFII and MEI; and an SF50 type rating earned in January 2024.
Instruction
From primary students through advanced ratings, with extensive current experience in Cirrus SR aircraft.
Professional operations
Cirrus, Piper, Cessna and Diamond aircraft across instruction, contract operations, management, ferry and evaluation flights.
Test and demonstration
Experimental aircraft, prototype systems, TL Sport Aircraft demonstrations and engineering evaluations that continue beyond the first flight.
Airshow operations
Crew support for GoEZ Aerobatics and Mike Goulian, plus formation and photo-ship flying at Sun 'n Fun and Oshkosh.
Simulation
Real aircraft experience carried into aircraft models, complete simulators, professional X-Plane support and pilot training systems.
Live-flight development
HMARD ground and flight evaluations combining prototype avionics, head tracking, mixed reality and maneuvering flight.
Selected aircraft
From floatplanes to jets.
The list spans more than 60 types and keeps growing.
Engineering tells you why it should work. Flying tells you whether it does.