Career Reboot

Today marks the end of my software career. After ten years at Northrop Grumman, four years at DRS, and eleven years at Active Voice / Cisco Systems, I’ve decided to take on aviation full time.

This isn’t the first time that I’ve altered my career path. Back in 2003, I went to Phoenix to talk to Pan Am Academy and Westwind. I was nearly committed to starting the Pan Am program. When we got home, we found out that Susan was pregnant, so I placed the aviation dream on hold. Then in 2008, I visited FlightSafety Academy in Vero Beach. I liked what I saw, so I quit my job and moved to Florida. I earned a Commercial license and a Certified Flight Instructor certificate. Unfortunately, the economy was not good, and pilots were being furloughed, so I went back to software to support my family, putting the aviation dream on hold again.

Now, in 2025, with Andrew nearly finished with college, I’ve decided to take one last run at the aviation dream. In 2023, the embers of the dream started smoldering as I heard about my friend being hired by a regional airline. I bought into a partnership so that I’d have access to an airplane to build time. Since then, I’ve accrued 170 hours additional hours. That’s a pretty good amount, but the pace is too slow. Even though I reduced my work hours to allow more time to fly, I felt like it wasn’t enough. So now, I’ve left software behind and immersed myself 100% into aviation. My focus is to build the necessary time and gain as much experience as I can, as quickly as I can. I’d say, “Wish me luck”, but I believe that the experience from living in the aviation world will provide me what I need to succeed. I just need to be fully prepared when the opportunity presents itself.