John was born in Minnesota and has had a love affair with the north country all his life. While working for the Minnesota DNR, he had the opportunity to ride with Bob Hodges, a flying game warden, in a float-equipped Cessna 180. They were working out of Ely, Minnesota, and cruised around the BWCA for a look see. It was a life changing experience for John - he just had to fly floats. The access to the back country was too compelling. He decided to make a full time career out of aviation while working as a flight instructor, and was lucky enough to land a job in Alaska flying for a hunting and fishing outfitter. That lasted 10 years flying Super Cubs, C180/185s, Beavers, and Otters. Next John went into flying big airplanes, namely Douglas DC-6s and Boeing 727s, all over the state of Alaska and even in the Lower 48. He says he wouldn't change a thing.
