Instructors

Born in Silver Lake, and has lived in the Hollywood area most of his life, Michael, though introduced to aviation by a neighbor’s/Mom’s/Boyfriend (who owned a Cessna 172 based at Compton), and a business associate (who had owned several aircraft, and held many airplane STC’s), Michael actually took his first GA flight aboard a Beech Duchess on a flight to Bullhead City with a friend, who had worked at the ice rink that Michael’s college hockey team played. Michael thought that the flight was “better than sliced bread” and began flight training with his friend. He completed his flight training (through CFI-AIM) with two absolutely awesome instructors; one who is now the head check airman/chief pilot for an airline, and another who was the guitar player for Rick James (made famous by the song “Superfreak”).

Michael is an instructor who teaches other Certified Flight Instructors, Multi-Engine pilots, and pilots who operate high performance/complex aircraft, and is available for the same. Other instruction will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Besides being a pilot and flight instructor (with approximately 7,000 hours total time, and 1,500 hours of multi time), Michael serves the aviation community by being the stakeholder lesion to air traffic at Whiteman, the co-chairman of the Southern California Airspace Users Working Group (SCAUWG), an appointed member to the Southern California Association of Governments/Aviation technical advisory committee (SCAG/ATAC), on the executive committee for the Whiteman Air Fair, serving by invitation on numerous Local Runway Safety Action Teams (LRSAT), serving on various developmental committees with NASA and SoCal Gas on Advanced Air Mobility/Urban Air Mobility(AAM/UAM), and is currently working on projects including training controllers on site specific pilot flight training requirements, aviation communications training and testing standards, implementation and integration of green energy technology in the aviation ecosystem and in the areas of advanced air mobility; primarily in airspace integration, pilot training and testing standards, and vertiport development and integration, especially in pre-existing aviation locations.

Michael, besides his involvement in aviation, is involved in the world of classical music. Originally trained as chorister has served in this role for 60 + years. He has also been an organist for the past 57+ years, and a trained and certified pipe organ builder (specializing in reed voicing) for the past 53+ years. Michael has sung/played in such places as Notre-Dame and St. Sulpice in Paris and St. Paul’s in London and has worked on pipe organs throughout the world. He was also a college athlete in Golf and Ice Hockey.