When did you start flying?
I began flying in earnest in 2020 – I had taken a few lessons as early as 2000, and played plenty of Flight Simulator, but in 2020 had the time and money to buy a 2007 C-172S, and begin my training
What other aircraft do you have/do you own?
2007 172 S – on leaseback today to local flight school
2023 SR-22T – G6
2015 Xtreme Decathlon – acquired April. ‘25
2025 SW-51 – acquired Nov. ‘25
What is the most unusual/interesting thing in your logbook or what logbook entry you’re most proud of (a particular aircraft flown, destination, milestone achieved, etc.)
1st Solo X-ctry Camarillo to Santa Maria in 2021 – the special feeling of going it alone first time away from my home airport
1st flight over Grand Canyon in my SR-22T in 2023 – and landing at Marble Canyon at base of Canyon- narrow sidewalk runway – awe-inspiring with orange Canyon walls, vertically surrounding me on all sides.
What is the motivation behind your decision to buy the SW-51- is there a family or WW II origin story you can share?
I was always a fan of aviation, and WW II movies. I attended airshows in my teens, watched plenty of WW II movies, and my first 2 “Call of Duty” games as a developer (more than 20 years ago) were centered around WWII – I fell in love with the Mustang through that immersion.
Where is your base airport?
Camarillo, Ca ( KCMA)
What is your favorite thing to do in the SW-51 or what do you like most about it? -Tell the story beyond a one-word answer.
My favorite activities:
- Flying low over the CA coastline – and trips to Catalina Island
- Finding new places to fly for airport restaurant lunches – I always plan on an extra hour or so to host questions and conversation about my head-turning, beautiful SW-51
- Formation flying with local friends – my most recent was a flight of 5 with Beech Travel Air, Pitts, Super Decathlon, and Bonanza
What is the story behind the aircraft name and the nose art – -The art is usually “fun or compelling” eye candy. For Double Trouble, we’ll need more that “it’s because I have young girls”— the story needs a compelling anecdote, origin story, etc. – one you can express – would like a quote too.
I have two young girls – 7 and 8 – each so different but at times precocious – they argue over who will fly next with me in the front seat of my Cirrus – they even track that on a chart posted in my hangar. I kicked around many different names tied to my gaming career, but decided to honor my girls with a sentimental reference to them as my “Double Trouble” and their initials AR on the side forward of the star on the fuselage with my family initial “G” aft of the star.
Photo Credit: Christian Villaseñor
I’d like to know more about the 1937 Kodak camera that was used and why. What’s the back story on the camera? How did he acquire it? Why? Why is it meaningful to him? What the actual model name, was it used in WWII? Did he develop film himself? We’ll need images of the camera too. (What might be really cool is a still life of the camera, some Double Trouble shots he took with it, other camera and of flight gear, etc.
A random series of events that day – A young man showed up at airport to take pics when I and my friend were going to do a 2-ship air-to-air formation flight – my friend was set to fly my Cirrus and chase the SW-51 with me flying – the young man admired the SW-51 and asked if he could take pics. I invited him to fly along with my friend in the Cirrus for the photo shoot – period camera was a 1937 Kodak Special Six-20 film camera… The young man took several pics of a vintage SW-51 with his vintage Kodak – a perfect alignment of serendipity, flashback in history and art
What are your dreams and aspirations of missions with your SW-51 into the future?
I am looking forward to building a local ScaleWings Mustang chapter / squadron in my region, teaming up with other 51 owners, practicing formations and bringing them to local events, fly-overs at games, etc. I am also planning to start to fly displays with my SW-51 at airshows, such as Wings over Camarillo.