Back in the middle to late 1970s I was in high school dreaming of going to college. I had no clue of what to study. My girl friend suggested her uncle Rich could take us up for a small airplane ride in a Cessna Cardinal. We set it up for an early Saturday morning flight in the fall. He got us up to about 3,000 feet above the ground and let me fly. I was hooked and began taking civilian flying lessons.

This experience led to my first solo, private pilot certificate, instrument rating, commercial certificate, certified flight instructor, certified instrument flight instructor, and multi-engine land. My teaching time totaled about 1,500 hours and then I became an Airline Transport Pilot. Pottstown Municipal Pennsylvania Airport is where I had done all this.

One day I was flying a lovely lady Part 135 air taxi to Philadelphia and she mentioned her son was the Director of Operations for Flight International at Newport News, Patrick Henry Field, Virginia. He hired me and I flew Navajos, Mitsubishis, and Learjets. We had contracts with the US military and NATO. For them I towed targets, flew VIPs, and took on other miscellaneous operations. I flew all over the US, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It was an adventure and my favorite destination was Souda Bay, Crete.

Simmons Airlines was my first airline gig on 6 Jan 1986. I flew the Bandit and the Shorts 360 we called "Dorothy's House." They then were bought out by AMR and moved from Detroit (DTW) to Chicago (ORD). Mesaba Airlines (XJ) replaced them in DTW so I switched to them and have been with them since October 1988. with XJ I've flown the F-27, DHC-8, AVR-146, and now the CRJ 900.

I've flown for American Eagle, Republic Express, Northwest Jet Airlink, and now Delta Connection. The notion of a regional airline is so not true today. I fly from the right coast to the left coast. Places like: Chicago ORD, Atlanta ATL, Philadelphia PHL, Los Angeles LAX, Phoenix PHX, Salt Lake City SLC, New York's John F. Kennedy JFK, Newark EWR, Washington National DCA, Washington Dulles IAD, Houston IAH, Seattle SEA, etc. I've flown over 23,000 hours, was based in Naples, Italy, flown in at least two dozen countries, currently fly about 25,000 miles per month, and transport about 3,000 people per month. What an extraordinary and inspirational career.