I am extremely honored and humbled to be invited to join my fellow awardees in this 20 under 40, 2024. The Warbird community is such a unique and amazing group! Every time I fly one of these warbirds, I am amazed by the stories and the interactions I get to be a part of by being a steward of these aircraft. I hope to be able to continue to pay it forward as those have paid it forward to me.

My love and interest started as a young kid in Southern California. I found myself at the El Toro Airshow every year with my grandparents. Watching the Blue Angels and all the other acts soar across the skies got me hooked on the bug and began a lifelong obsession with aviation.

During college, my interest in aviation showed up as I was trying to figure out my path for ‘what I wanted to be’ when I grew up. I took a discovery flight at the Long Beach Airport, and immediately, as I took off on Runway 25L, I knew this was what I wanted to do. I began to get my ratings and start working towards my aviation career.

My venture into warbirds came from one of my best friends. He recently bought a Cessna 170 and told me about his long-term plans to fly “Warbirds.” I had no idea what a warbird was, and he was almost offended that I didn’t, so he took me to the annual Planes of Fame Airshow for my education. By the end of the day at that Airshow, I was as hooked as he was and knew I needed to find a way into them.

Eventually, his small aviation school secured several different tail draggers on least back and I got my first checkout in a warbird in the PT-17. We had a little ride program, and I began to cut my teeth in Warbirds, giving local rides around the area. This PT-17 eventually led to an SNJ being put onto leaseback and a checkout that followed. After about a year, our small ride program expanded with the addition of a DC-3. Each time a new airplane showed up, I was lucky enough to earn a checkout in them.

I cut my warbird teeth, giving rides in each of our warbirds on the ride program until I got accepted into the California Air National Guard in 2012. While in pilot training for the USAF, I was probably one of the only pilots in the US who was current in both the Texan and Texan II, an incredible honor.

A few years down the road, I was able to sponsor a Harvard at the Inland Empire CAF Squadron and fly D-Day Doll as well. In 2018, I was honored to be invited to join the Aerometal International team and fly a beautiful example of a DC-3. We now have the honor of crewing several different DC-3s, which take us worldwide. Around this time, I was invited to fly to several local museums.

My plans include hopefully breaking into the fighter world and flying my dream aircraft, the P-51 Mustang. In addition, I plan to continue teaching and inspiring the next generation of warbird pilots.

Keep them flying!

-C.Hicks