Who… What… Where... [Part 3]

Professional to Present

Who Was I

Shortly after graduation form college, I was married to a wonderful person whom I had met seven years previous. We had maintained a distant relation through my college years and decided to tie the knot. That was over 31 years ago and we are more in love now than we were when we walked the isle. We now have three adult children even though one is finishing up his schooling.

What Was I Doing

Spending the decade of my twenties trying to get hired by the airlines resulted in many years of frustration. The general aviation jobs I had ranged from flight instruction, flying night freight in light twin-engine aircraft, flying passenger charter trips, to corporate flying. As I never got that “airline” job, I can look back on my career and see God’s hand shining his light on the paths I was to take. My employments took to the Quad Cities, IL, to Plymouth, IN, South Bend, IN, Benton Harbor, MI, Elkhart, IN,and Grand Rapids, MI.

Where Was I Going

As unstable as flying in General Aviation had become, all of my training and experience had been in the area of service to others. Treating passengers with the utmost respect, privacy, and convenience while providing safe and efficient transportation to their destination. This is the banner that strengthened my core values of others first.

During each employment of my career, I would somehow find my self involved with projects or positions that made things better for others. I guess it was this natural ability that secured a position as Chief Pilot with a charter company in Elkhart, IN. That turned into a position as Director of Operations but was taking its toll on my family time. I was given an opportunity of employment with the Amway Corporation in Grand Rapids as a pilot. In my mind this would be the job I retired from. That is until nine and a half year into my tenure I raise a concern for the direction the department was going that ended in my separation from the company.

Yes this was a traumatic event in my life but ended in a position with the company I am currently employed with. I have been with NetJets out of Columbus, OH for over eleven years. Starting as a line pilot, I quickly became involved in the training department as an INstructor Pilot then take on the role of Check Airman evaluating the pilots on the aircraft I fly on behalf of the company and the FAA.

Tomorrow we will look into the future as much as we can. Here you can gain an insight into my plans and motivations.

Cya then... Doug 

Here are the links to the series:

Part 1 Introduction

Part 2 School to Professional

Part 4 Present to Future