State Liaison
CHRISTINE MORTINE
Ohio State Liaison Following a career in classical music, Christine turned from conducting instruments to flying by them. She is an FAA appointed pilot examiner, maintains CFI-ing (especially tailwheel), a former AOPA safety seminar presenter, and when not flying in the back country, is thinking about it. Christine has a Cessna 185 and a Super…
Read MoreBRIAN RAU
North Dakota State Liaison Brian is the first to admit that he’s a “flatlander”. “I do recognize that the world is round and not every place is as flat as North Dakota.” Actually, his portion of North Dakota – Prairie Coteau (French for “pot holes”) – is quite rugged with rolling hills. Brian and his…
Read MoreRON KELLER
New Mexico State Liaison Toward the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, Ron Keller was stationed in Albuquerque and has lived in New Mexico ever since. His first ride in a GA aircraft was with an Air Force co-worker. His interest in aviation began from a maintenance perspective, until he married his wife, Mary…
Read MoreJOHN MEADE
New Hampshire State Liaison John grew up in New York and had the Navy take him away; eventually depositing him in Massachusetts. John’s father-in-law flew, and in the late 80s, John got bitten by the flying bug as well. Eventually a SuperCub on floats became his pride and joy. It became a convertible with Bushwheels,…
Read MoreDAN KELLER
Nebraska State Liaison During his freshman year in college, a “Learn to Fly Here” flyer caught Dan Keller’s eye. Four years later he graduated with an ag business degree. It was post-911 and “two thousand pilots had just been laid off. My flight instructors from four years prior were still instructing,” says Dan. So he decided on a…
Read MoreSCOTT NEWPOWER
Montana State Liaison For 25 years, pilots flying into Montana’s Logan International Airport in Billings probably heard Scott Newpower in the tower. He decided on an ATC career in Hudson, WI, during college when he saw an ad in the local newspaper to become an FAA air traffic controller. After four years in the tower…
Read MoreKEVIN BARRY
Georgia State Liaison “I pretty much grew up in the cockpit,” Kevin Barry says. “My father was a fighter pilot turned test pilot, and my favorite birthday present every year was to sit in the cockpit of whatever fighter aircraft Dad was flying at the time.” Kevin chose the United States Military Academy at West Point…
Read MoreKIRK HINER
Minnesota State Liaison Kirk Hiner, who lives in Kenyon, MN, grew up in an aviation family thanks to his dad who flew B24s out of England during World War II and then continued to fly after the war. Kirk received his private pilot license in 1976, and his commercial, instrument and CFI ratings in the…
Read MoreANDY ROWE
Maine State Liaison I may be the slowest learner in aviation history as I first soloed in 1963, but did not get my private license until last summer….2010! I followed up with a seaplane rating a month or so later and am presently working on an instrument rating. I’ve owned 2 aircraft, a Champ (in…
Read MoreJEFF SMITH
Kentucky State Liaison Jeffrey grew up in rural New Jersey near the Delaware Water Gap. His father exposed him to flying at 15 with an introduction to Ernie ‘Pete’ Billows at Trinca Airport in Northern New Jersey. Jeffrey soloed on his 16th birthday in a J-3 Cub on skis, landing in a cornfield. “After a…
Read More