Navigators

Sylvie Bouffard

Ratings: Commercial, Multi; Type rated in BE20 & SF34
Home Airport: CYOW
Fun Fact: If I wasn’t training to become a Pilot, I would most likely end up as an Air Traffic Controller. Radios are one of my favorite aspects of flying, especially while talking to an ATC unit! (It makes me feel very “official”!)

Leigh Coates

Ratings: Commercial Pilot - Rotorcraft, Helicopter; Instrument Helicopter; Private Privileges - Airplane Single Engine Land; Flight Instructor - Rotorcraft, Helicopter; Instrument Helicopter; Chief Pilot and Company Check Airman for FAR 135, 133, 137 in the AS350B2, Robinson R66, Robinson R44 for my company, Vertical Solutions, AKA VSHelicopters in Valdez, Alaska.
Home Airport: PAVD or VDZ
Fun Fact: My favorite thing besides flying is yoga, so while waiting for my geologist passengers on mountain tops, I set up my camera and take yoga pics in epic places. It's way more fun than taking naps!

Andrew McNamara and Maverick the Dog

Ratings: Seaplane Rating, Tailwheel
Home Airport: CYKF
Fun Fact: Maverick and I compete in Obedience and Rally Obedience dog competitions

Chris Palmer

Ratings: ASEL Commercial and CFI+I, Tailwheel, High Performance
Home Airport: PAHO
Fun Fact: I live in Alaska, nerd out on Star Wars and Lego, have a beautiful family, and get to fly a lot.

Rob Reider

Ratings: ASEL, Instrument Rating
Home Airport: I69
Fun Fact: Since buying my RV-7A in the fall of 2016 I’ve flown to 32 of 42 air shows I’ve announced! In 2017 alone I racked up more hours than in my previous 4 years of flying.

Allyssa VanMeter

Commercial pilot flying C208B aerial survey
Multi Engine & Tailwheel
Volunteers for Dream Flights, Pilots to the Rescue, Elevated Access
Home Airport: KSPI
Fun fact: aviation was just for fun, but in the last year I’ve been transitioning from being a salon owner/ cosmetologist!

Thea Allen

Ratings: Commercial pilot ASEL/ASES; Instrument rated; Tailwheel, High Performance, & Complex endorsed
Home Airport: KADG
Fun Fact: I currently work as a banner tow pilot & have obtained most of my hours flying a 180 hp SuperCub all over the midwest!

Sydney Hensley

Hometown: Bloomington, Indiana
Home airport: KBMG
Ratings/ endorsements: Commercial Hot Air Balloon, ASEL
Fun fact: I got into aviation when I was 16 and wanted to fly a paramotor. When my dad said no, we compromised on a hot air balloon and learned to fly together. Flying an airplane was the obvious next step 🙂

Chelsea Smith

Hometown: Louisville, KY
Home airport: Bowman Field (KLOU)
Ratings/ endorsements: Instrument Rated Commercial Pilot and A&P Mechanic
Fun fact: My favorite hobby has been Beekeeping! From planting flower gardens to introducing a new queen to the hive, the entire learning experience is wildly fascinating and incredibly connective.

Deon Mitton

Hometown: Cape Town, South Africa, Stellenbosch Airfield. But now my home is Fort Lauderdale, and Anchorage, depending the time of year.
Home airport: PALH seaplane base
Ratings/ endorsements: Instrument, Commercial, Single Engine Sea, Multi Engine Land, Private Pilot Helicopter
Fun fact: I once designed, and implemented from scratch a software defined radio, capable of live streaming over the internet, at much more efficient network bandwidth utilization, than anything else out there. Oh - and I can send and receive morse code at 40 wpm

Emily Herron

Certificates: Private ASEL, Tailwheel
Home Airport: Madisonville Regional AIrport, KY (2I0)
Fun Fact: My Piper J-3 Cub has been in my family since 1949! I had almost 100 hours of flight time before I flew anything with a nose wheel as the pilot.

Ethan O’Rourke

Certificates: Sport Pilot, Tailwheel
Home Airport: KRAC - Batten International in Racine, WI
Fun Fact: I'm a senior in college double majoring in Marketing and Film Studies! In my spare time from school, I run a media production company and like riding my motorcycle and flying with friends!

Josh Flowers

Certificates/Ratings: Commercial ASEL/ASES, CFII, Tailwheel
Home Airport: San Marcos Regional Airport, Texas, KHYI
Fun Fact: Filmmaking is just as much of a passion in me as Aviation

Nat Esser

Hometown: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Home airport: CWL3 for now, but soon to be our own (yet to be named) grass strip at our property outside of Edmonton on the North Saskatchewan River Valley.
Ratings/ endorsements: ATPL, endorsed on the DH8, A320, LR35, LR36, SW5(Metroliner 23) and B787
Fun fact: My second love after flying airplanes is stand-up paddle boarding. I paddled just shy of 250 miles on my stand-up paddle board in the 2021 season.

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