I fell in love with aviation at an early age for reasons I really don’t know, no one in my family was in aviation. I built models of all types in my early years, but stopped in my middle teens. I started pilot training at 16 and got my Private Pilot’s license shortly before graduating from high school. I went on to get my Commercial license and an instrument rating with intentions of a flying career. Things changed and I joined the US Army to become an Air Traffic Controller for 4 years. While I was doing that, the FAA controllers were fired for going on strike and the career field looked pretty open for getting a job there. While waiting to hear from the FAA after getting out of the Army, I picked up a $1.00 1/32 scale F-4 at a garage sale and got back into modeling. I’ve now completed my Air Traffic Control career and live in southern Michigan, spending my time volunteering and building 1/48 scale military aircraft.