I’ve been interested in warbird aviation since I was a kid, going to airshows with my dad every year. He had a Beech 18 and a B-25 that we took to airshows all over the US. When I wasn’t playing with dinosaur toys under the airplane or eating ice cream, my dad would try to put me in as many airplane cockpits as possible. By the time I was 13 I had amassed a warbird book collection, and I would frequently sit in my room and try to memorize as many aircraft types as possible. I had shown a little bit of interest in becoming a pilot myself, so throughout ages 13-18 I took a few lessons in my dad’s J3 Cub, which is my favorite airplane to fly to this day. I got serious about flying in 2020, right after I graduated high school and realized college wasn’t the right path for me.

I learned in our Cessna 150, obtained my PPL in September, and then got my tailwheel endorsement with Laura Stants in our Cub shortly after.

In October 2020 I decided I wanted to go the helicopter route, so I moved from Indiana to Florida to obtain my helicopter ratings. When not flying helicopters, I would keep my tailwheel proficiency in our Taylorcraft L-2, which I had flown down and hangared nearby. I earned my helicopter CFII by November 2021, instructed for a few months, then decided to go and get the rest of my fixed wing ratings.

At Reno Air Races in 2021 my dad and a few other warbird operators put together a proficiency program for my tailwheel flying, specifying how many hours I needed in each airplane before moving to the next, more complicated airplane. After I had 200 hours of tailwheel time, mostly in the L-2, I went to Ken Holsten for my L-19 checkout. After around 200 hours in the L-19 and a lot of landing practice, it was time to go to Warbird Adventures for my T-6 checkout. A lifelong dream of mine was to race at Reno, and in December 2022 when I heard 2023 was going to be the last year I could possibly race, I flew the T-6 as much as possible when I had freetime from my tailwheel instruction job. I flew the T-6 for almost 300 hours in 2023, attending the Pylon Race Seminar in June, and the actual races in September with “T-6 race 999” in the T-6 Silver Class.

In 2023 I was given some unique ferry opportunities, like flying the BT-15 and Convair L-13. In June 2023 I started flying our TBM-3 with the help of Matt Kropp and Mark Henley. In November 2023 my dad purchased DC-3 NC33644 “Western Airlines”, and Daniel Wotring came to Florida to help me earn my type rating. In December I did my P-51 checkout at Stallion 51 and obtained my experimental type rating. I have since gained over 150 hours of DC-3 PIC time on two Atlantic crossings this summer with the D-Day Squadron. My total time in the 4 years of flying is 2500 hours, with 1700 of that being in tailwheels.

I am forever thankful to the aviation community and the opportunities I have been given. My way of giving back to the community is finding younger people who are interested and giving them rides or tailwheel instruction. I think it’s extremely important we as warbird operators show these beautiful machines to as many people as possible. Aviation is all about connections and my advice to anyone who’s interested in being around these airplanes is to show up to as many fly-ins, museum days, and volunteer organizations as possible.