?»?Stephen K. Sorenson has had an avid interest in all things flying and space all his life. He comes from an Air Force family and grew up on Air Force bases. He received his private pilot?€™s license at 19 and his commercial, instrument and instructor ratings at 22, and has since provided over 2000 hours of instruction. Mr. Sorenson has more than 5000 hours in over 50 different types of aircraft. He constructed two Rutan designed homebuilt aircraft, a VeriEze and a Defiant. He completed the VeriEze in 1981 and flew 1300 hours before retiring the plane. He completed the twin engine, four place Defiant in 2005 and has flow over 600 hours inside and outside the U.S. In April 2010 Mr. Sorenson and his brother Rod flew the Defiant from California to Australia via Hawaii, Tarawa, and Micronesia. It was most likely the first homebuilt aircraft carrying two persons to make a flight across the Pacific. The return trip is planned for early 2011. Mr. Sorenson has been an active member of the Experimental Aircraft Association for 35 years and was president of EAA Chapter 52. In 1995 he organized the first mass formation flight of homebuilt aircraft at the annual EAA convention in Oshkosh. He was chosen in 2008 and 2009 to fly his Defiant in the Homebuilt Review at the convention.