I'm a partner at Boldmethod, as well as the chief tech geek and a writer.
I earned my solo wings in 1996 with the Civil Air Patrol at Pueblo Memorial (KPUB), and my Private Pilot Certificate in 1996 at Denver, Centennial (KAPA) in a 1973 Cessna 172.
The University of North Dakota taught me how to land in 30 knot winds and thirty below temperatures; I returned the favor by instructing there for seven years in Warriors, Arrows and Seminoles.
The classmates, students and instructors I met at UND have become some of my best friends. Most have gone on to the airlines and corporate flight departments - but some are at UND mentoring the next generation of aviation professionals. All of them have been invaluable in helping me write these columns.
Post UND, I worked as an intern, and later a paid intern, at Atlantic Coast Airlines. That opened the door to a job as a safety analyst at JetBlue - my first experience at a company who truly knew their core values. Safety, Caring, Integrity, Fun and Passion - they never asked us to memorize them, but I never met a team member who didn't know them by heart.
Colin Cutler and I started Boldmethod in 2006 - which grew out of a side business writing software for engineering companies. Since then, we've developed:
- Software to monitor oil and gas pipelines,
- General aviation training,
- Software to manage nonprofit donations,
- More general aviation training,
- Emulators and training for the MQ-1 Reaper and MQ-9 Predator drones,
- More general aviation training,
- Training software for other military aircraft,
- More general aviation training
- And now, only general aviation training.
I do this because I love it. Because, aside from what I'm doing now, teaching at UND was the job I loved the most. So, if you've got an idea, suggestion or comment, pass it to me. If you're briefing one day and you think, "I really wish I had [this]," email me. We'd love to build it.
Oh, and please buy our Aviation Weather Products course. Every pilot should be able to easily read a weather report!
Aleks (aleks@boldmethod.com / @udri)
First kiss - or testing the stall warning horn? (Solo Encampment, Colorado Wing CAP, 1996)