State Liaison
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…
Read MoreAMANDA 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…
Read MoreBRUCE “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…
Read MoreCHRIS 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.…
Read MoreJEFF 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…
Read MoreBILL 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…
Read MoreKATERINA 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…
Read MoreHARPER GOODWIN
Arkansas State Liaison In eighth grade, Harper’s dad gave him a book, How to Become an Airline Pilot, then career day in high school “sealed the deal,” Harper says. “The job was described to me as something like, ‘Fly around the world in fast moving jets with lots of levers, knobs, gauges and important procedures,…
Read MoreRAY BALLANTYNE
Washington State Liaison Ray Ballantyne was born into an aviator family as his father was a WWII CG-4A Combat Glider pilot who met his mother at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, TX while she was training to be a WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilot). Ray earned his pilot’s license before he got his driver’s license. “I…
Read MoreTIM RILEY
Idaho State Liaison Tim is a native of upstate New York. His introduction to aviation was as a youngster in a Beaver on floats on the lakes in the Adirondacks. He has lived and traveled around the world during a career in the data networking and security industry. Starting with hang gliders and paragliders, Tim…
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