J. Craig Popkess

Craig Popkess began, like many aviators, with a solo at age 16 from a hot and windy grass strip in Oklahoma, and obtained his Private License at age 17. Then came college and 15 years in the United States Air Force. Accumulating 1,200+ hours in the RF-4C and then 2,000+ hours in C-141Bs and another 2,000+ in the C-137 (Boeing 707s at Andrews AFB, MD,) he moved to Pan American World Airways and then Delta Airlines. Flying through turbulence, geopolitics, lightning, air refueling, emerging economies and airline bankruptcies, (2), he saw most of the world pass under his wings. He holds an Airline Transport Pilot License with nine type ratings. Now he shares the lessons of four decades with others, paying forward a lifetime of travel. All the students should be as lucky as I was!