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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Ms. Joanne Kunin

Jonathan was brought up in a bilingual home, and as a toddler frequently used the word "avion" (airplane in Spanish).
In 4th grade, Jonathan built a model F-14 Tomcat jet for his "what I am going to do when I grow up" presentation. He then built and launched many Estes model rockets.
At age 12, Jonathan flew cross country as an "unaccompanied minor" on a United 757 to visit his grandparents in Boston. When the flight was diverted and delayed in D.C., the pilots invited Jonathan into the cockpit. After sitting in the cockpit, Jonathan declared that he would indeed become a pilot.
By 14, flying was a constant theme in Jonathan's life, and in order to see if the reality matched the imagination, his parents purchased a demo lesson at Bellingham's Aviation Northwest. Jonathan's first flight, and first time at the controls was August 27th 1994 in a Cessna 150 Aerobat # N5960J. He promptly announced he wanted to take lessons.
During his sophomore year at Sehome HS, his parents reminded him that if he expected to fly he would need both an education and the finances to get the training. His parents struck a deal with Jonathan where he would earn half the cost of flight training and maintain good grades, and then his parents would pay for the other half.
By the summer of 1996, Jonathan's instructor decided that he was ready to solo, and so he did on August 31 in Cessna 150 # N9349U.
The pace quickened, as did the time on Microsoft Flight Simulator, and between his Junior and Senior year, on the day he became legally eligible, his 17th birthday, Jonathan received his Private Pilot's License...months before getting his driver's license!
During his senior year, an aggressive search for a university with a flight school lead to the application, and acceptance at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Jonathan celebrated his Senior Prom by flying three of his friends to the San Juan Islands off the Washington coast for dinner.
While at Embry-Riddle, Jonathan compacted the 4 year aeronautical science program into less than 3 years, obtaining his Commercial, Multi-Engine, Instrument, and Flight/Advanced Ground Instructor ratings. While finishing school, he taught in Embry-Riddle's modern fleet of aircraft. During this time he was awarded a Gold Seal CFI from the FAA, a result of exemplary teaching performance.
An internship at Atlantic Coast Airlines/United Express led to an immediate hiring on graduation in 2001, and admission to the training class for the Bombardier CL-65 CRJ Series 200, based in Washington-Dulles. Jonathan's first flight in the right seat as a First Officer was Christmas Eve 2001. This made him one of the youngest airline pilots in the country at the time.
ACA became Independence Air and a furlough from Independence in early 2005 led him to the corporate sector where he obtained his ATP and began flying a Learjet 60 internationally, for which he was type-rated to fly before his 25th birthday in 2005.
Influential people along the way:
• The United 757 Flight Crew
• Dr. Ken Henderson, Optometrist and Cessna Skylane owner
• Larry Brown, Sehome HS principal (and father of a pilot)
• Joel Wolcoski, first flight instructor
• Professors Bill Baker, Pat Donahue, and Richard Shook at Embry-Riddle
• Chief Pilot David Turley, Independence Air
• Rick Sawyer and Taous Sawyer (Jonathan's parents)