Rick Armellino is a general aviation pilot who has accumulated over 6100 hours since soloing 52 years ago. Most of his flight time has been accumulated in three different Mooneys he’s owned and used extensively for personal business travel throughout the US. He needed a way to pay for the flying bug, so he became a self-employed traveling sales representative flying to potential customer locations to demonstrate multiple types of hazardous law enforcement and military equipment…like weaponry, tear gas, flash bang grenades, pepper sprays, and other products not permitted on passenger airliners. In 2003 he decided it was time for a career change and took time off to improve his aviation skill sets obtaining the Commercial, Multi, CFI and CFI-I credentials. Afterwards, Rick started a new business designing, manufacturing, and marketing a patented line of personal protective armor products, in which he still uses a Mooney to expedite sales and logistics. He believes flying improves mental health, plus the challenges and enjoyment found in almost every flight are a great form of therapy that helps to maintain sanity and purpose.
