Hal Shevers

Hal Shevers is founder/chairman of Sporty’s Pilot Shop and Sporty’s Academy, both based at Clermont County Airport (I69). Hal is a graduate of Purdue University, where he received a degree in mechanical engineering. It was in college that Hal earned his private pilot’s certificate as a member of the Purdue Flying Club. After college, Hal marketed a small radio that picked up airport control towers. He sold the radio to pilots by mail, using the trunk of his car as his first warehouse. This was the birth of Sporty’s Pilot Shop. In the early days of Sporty’s, Hal supplemented his income by giving flight and ground instruction. He was a pioneer in the first three-day ground school courses, which he developed and taught for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Hal is an Airline Transport certificated pilot with more than 10,000 hours, of which 2,000 are in Piper Aztecs. In 2007, Hal was inducted into the National Association of Flight Instructors Hall of Fame.