State Liaison Archives - Recreational Aviation Foundation

KEN WARREN

Iowa State Liaison Ken spent his early years in western Kentucky and Tennessee where he learned the joy of outdoor activities from his father, uncle, and grandfathers. In 1994 he moved to Indiana and earned an Electrical Engineering degree from Purdue University. Since 2002 Ken has lived in eastern Iowa and he is currently employed…

STEF GOZA

Alaska State Liaison New Alaska Liaison Stef Goza started flying as a teenager in Iowa’s flatlands, where she was born and raised. She earned her pilot certificate in her 20s and flew for the next few years, but like a lot of us, flying was set on the back burner. “I returned to aviation with grit and determination…

GENERAL GRANT

Michigan State Liaison In Michigan, we obsess over the northern part of our state, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in particular. It’s amazingly beautiful with beaches, rugged coastlines, waterfalls, boreal forests, bears, moose, the Pictured Rocks, Porcupine Mountains, hidden lakes with huge fish, and blue-ribbon trout streams. There are few places in the world where you can, in a…

KARL JUNGCLAUS

South Dakota State Liaison Karl Jungclaus, born and raised on a small farm in southern Indiana with a grass strip, was surrounded by his father’s passion for all things aviation, from RC models, homebuilts, ultralights to GA aircraft. His maternal grandfather was a corporate pilot, instructor and A&P. “Their early influences set the path for…

AMANDA LEVIN

Amanda Levin has always had a passion for adventure and travel. Her first glimpse of GA was through her younger brother, who pursued his PPL before joining the Air Force to fly C-17s. While attending Colorado State University for her undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Amanda met her now husband, Austin, an avid flier. After flying with Austin…

BRUCE “SPARKY” PARKER

Idaho State Liaison “I have, and always will, champion preservation and access to backcountry airstrips as a user and volunteer. It is such an important part of my life,” Bruce “Sparky” Parker says. His passion for flying the Idaho backcountry began early, as his father was a pilot for the US Forest Service, based in…

CHRIS SULLIVAN

A lifelong resident of Greenville County, South Carolina, Chris Sullivan started flying in 1991 largely inspired by his Uncle John who had been a Marine Corps fighter pilot in the Pacific theater, and later flew a Mooney for business. Chris explains that back in the early sixties, Greenville was still a sleepylittle Southern town.…

JEFF DEFREEST

Alaska State Liaison Jeff DeFreest started flying early in life – logging his first hours in 1972 – but his flight training stalled until he was well into his career as a professional geologist with the US Forest Service (USFS). He worked in Idaho, Oregon, and Utah before transitioning to Alaska in 2001. Before moving…

BILL STEINMETZ

Indiana State Liaison Bill grew up in a flying family. He graduated in 1979 from Purdue University in Indiana with a degree in Professional Pilot Technology. “I was teaching and flying Part 135 in what was then a horrible aviation job market,” he says. Eventually becoming engaged full time in a family construction business, Bill…

KATERINA BARILOV

California State Liaison Originally from Russia, Katerina lives and works out of a small airport in Santa Paula in southern California. Along with a team of engineers based in Silicon Valley, she is growing a start-up that is building an electric aircraft that will help first responders get to the scene of an accident in remote areas…