My interest in aviation began with my father who was a flight surgeon in the U.S Air Force. He was based in Germany and flew in the back seat of the F-100 Super Sabre. I also worked for Butler Aviation in Atlantic City(ACY) while I attended high school. I really enjoyed the many jobs I did there as a lineman and my interest in aviation grew. It grew to the point of considering aviation as a career.

I attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University(ERAU) in Daytona Beach, Florida in the Spring of 1988. I started as an Aeronautical Science major but soon changed to Aeronautical Studies Management. I completed all of my certificates and ratings the first year at a local FBO in Daytona Beach(DAB). I began flight instructing at that same FBO in my second year of school. I also played varsity basketball my last two years at ERAU. That, combined with my instructing job and taking classes led to a lot of long days. In the summer months during college I would go back to NJ and work out of Millville airport(MIV) instructing and flying charters. That helped me build time and graduate ERAU in the spring of 1991 with 1500 total hours and 500 multi-engine hours.

Playing basketball for ERAU helped me meet many people in the aviation industry. Many alumni would attend games and would come meet the players. One alumni, David Brown, who is a Procter and Gamble pilot, became a great friend and helped me get my first job out of school. I started in November of 1991 at Executive Jet Management(EJM). EJM had just received a contract to fly bank checks for the Federal Reserve. I was now a LR-35 FO based in Burbank, CA(BUR). I was "living the dream"! I was 22, living in LA, flying a jet, but I was also eating a lot of Ramen Noodles. I upgraded to Captain a year later in Miami(MIA) and flew for EJM for another year and a half. I was flying 1000 hours a year and building time very quickly. Then I got the call!

I interviewed at Federal Express in December of 1994 and was hired in January of 1995 as a second officer on the 727. I now had my dream job and I was very excited. One year later I upgraded to the FO seat on the A300. Now I was 26 and wanted to see the world. I flew in and out of places such as HKG, CDG, DUB, MUC, TLV, FRA, BSL, MXP, and VCP just to name a few. When I turned 35 I upgraded to Captain on the A300 after 9 years in the right seat. I am flying mostly domestic daytime these days and enjoy every second of it. I feel I am very lucky and fortunate to be a Fedex pilot but I know I worked hard for it. I am looking forward to a long career at Fedex.

Thanks for reading my story. Good luck to everyone out there and I hope to see you on the jumpseat some day.