Dave is from upstate New York, but the family quickly moved to Florida, so he grew up around water and warm weather. During the Viet Nam era, he served in the Air Force as an electronic intelligence analyst, with tours of duty in Pakistan and Omaha, NE. He met Pam when she was teaching kindergarten at the Offutt AFB elementary school and they moved back to FL and married where he finished college.
Out of school, he spent his career with two Fortune 300 healthcare companies, first in sales and then distribution where he was VP of Global Distribution. He ended his career with an assignment working with the Dept of Homeland Security as part of a business/government partnership working on pandemic preparedness. Who would have ever thought that a few years after we would actually have a pandemic?
His interest in aviation started in the late 70’s. They were at an air show while living in Miami and he started talking to the guy next to him who was a pilot. Pam still laughs that she should have seen it coming. Two weeks later he started flight instruction and six months after that, he was a private pilot and bought their first airplane, a Cherokee 180. From then on, it was Cessnas with the longest ownership being a C182. At 6’7”, he considers that the perfect GA aircraft. He currently owns a C172 with his son and proud that his grandson (14) is just starting glider lessons. He has about 1700 hours and an instrument rating.
Dave joined the Civil Air Patrol back in the mid 80’s and still flies as a Mission Pilot with a senior squadron in the Houston area. He belongs to AOPA and EAA.
When asked about his conservation views, his response was, “well, I guess I’m not a tree hugger, but I do feel that we all have an obligation to protect the water and air around us”.
