About Aaron Kahn, Aircraft Delivery Solutions Owner
Present
My role at Aircraft Delivery Solutions is that of owner and Director of Operations.
For ferry flights, I supply operational control, flight following, Weather and NOTAM advice, and on-call assistance for pilots.
For container deliveries, I represent the client in all services and processes from aircraft acceptance to container delivery at the destination.
I consider myself active in aviation. I'm active in Civil Air Patrol (the civilian organization which performs inland Search and Rescue in the United States). I bought and sold two Cessnas in the last few years. And, I have an continuing and abiding interest in aviation safety and consider myself an expert in Human Factors and Flight Operations. Finally, my fiancée is a 737 pilot for a freight airline.
Background
My background is that of a professional pilot.
I graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1996 majoring in Aeronautical Science (airplane pilot) with a minor in Aviation Safety.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 1992
As is the case with many pilots, I began my career as a flight instructor. Most notably, I spent a year teaching ab-initio cadets from Korean Air.
Korean Air Program, 1997
My first 'commercial' pilot job was flying single-pilot night small-package freight at Ameriflight. After flying some piston types there, I got qualified single-pilot in the Beech 99 twin-turboprop.
Ameriflight, 1998
In 1999 I achieved my goal of becoming an airline pilot; I got hired at Colgan Air/US Airways Express as a first officer in the Beech 1900 (19 passengers). In late 2000 I was selected for upgrade to captain and flew in the left seat for about six months.
I decided airline flying wasn't for me and I returned to my hometown of San Francisco. I flight instructed sporadically for a few years.
US Airways Express, 1999
In 2005, I started an airplane ferry company called FlyIt4U. Over the next 12 years, I completed 48 delivery flights in 21 different types of airplanes; the smallest I flew was a Cessna 150, and the largest a Cessna 310 twin. I flew over 60,000 nautical miles on ferry flights and crossed the Continental Divide 31 times. I also did 9 international trips including 2 in Guatemala, and 1 trans-Atlantic trip to Denmark which included stops in Greenland, Iceland, and Scotland.
FlyIt4U [Wick, Scotland], 2009
In the next part of my career, I flew quite a few different airplanes in various operations. I began regularly flying Cessna 182s for Civil Air Patrol (United States Air Force Auxiliary); I was a Search and Rescue pilot there, as well as check pilot and check pilot examiner. I spent time as a First Officer on the Cessna Citation II and V, and the Hawker 700 for Kaiser Air in Oakland, California. In 2009, I did summer flying in and around Juneau, Alaska in the Cherokee Six, flying people and freight to smaller, outlying cities such as Skagway, Alaska. I also was on call as a corporate pilot for SunnyGem Almonds in a Cessna 182, based in Palo Alto, California, flying employees throughout the state.
Civil Air Patrol [Comm Relay], 2008
FlyIt4U [BE-76], 2010
FlyIt4U [M20R], 2016
Unfortunately, in 2017 I encountered a health condition which precluded me from complying with FAA Medical requirements, so I stopped flying. In the meantime, I've been aloft several times in small airplanes but nothing regular. At this point I don't anticipate regaining my medical privileges. In 25 years of flying, I logged 6,400 hours including 2,400 as a flight instructor and 1,900 in air taxi/airline operations.
08:00 - 20:00 Pacific (16:00 - 04:00 UTC)