Brad was a young guy fueling jets at Fairbanks International Airport when he got the kick in the pants he needed to get himself off the tarmac and into the cockpit.

“A captain from Lufthansa Airlines said to me, ‘Brad, if you don't go to flight school and chase your dream you will be here 20 years from now, fueling planes and still making $10 an hour.’ I went home that day, found a flight school, made a plan and was on my way to school less than a month later.”

Like most pilots, Brad started his career working as flight instructor. From there he moved on to Tanana Air Service flying mail, cargo and passengers in the Alaskan bush. Though Brad still refers to himself as a bush pilot at heart, the flying he does now takes him all over the world and into some pretty intense situations.

Brad has worked as a VIP Pilot for the United Nations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He’s flown anti-terrorism missions in Panama, Colombia and the Philippines. Currently, he is doing contract work for the US Military at Bagram Airforce Base out of Kabul, Afghanistan.

With more than 5,500 hours and a wealth of international experience, Brad is ready for the next step.

“I have started a company called AT3 with Pete [Zaccagnino] that will be doing some really exciting and unique flying. Hopefully, it will really take off soon and I can leave the war zones behind!”

Pete has made a career out of pushing the envelope and accepting risks so that other pilots don’t need to.

His company, high performance aircraft group. (HPAG) tests the limits of high performance aircraft to help pilots fly safer and smarter. Pete is the guy who will find out if the plane can be flown into icing, and if you can spin it and survive. Then he’ll teach you all that he’s learned from first hand experience pushing the aircraft beyond its limits.

Pete’s first job was teaching aerobatic and tailwheel flying. He ran his own flight school and taught at the local college. From there, he went on to flight testing a wide variety of aircraft and flying internationally as a Gulfstream captain.

Pete’s true love is racing. Every year you will find him at the Reno Air Races, competing in both the sport class and the jet class. He competed for the first time in 2004 and took home the Gold Championship. He’s won many races since and takes the races and the risks very seriously.

“Winning at Reno is a big deal. It means you have been lucky enough to have everything come together - the team, airplane and pilot. It's going to help open doors to other possibilities in your career and no one can ever take it away from you. You won. Done.”

Pete has over 15,000 hours flying everything from military aircraft to his own L-39 and Pitts Special. He’s flown around the world several times and has made several hundred ocean crossings. And he’s not done yet.

Before getting his licence and becoming a pilot, Stu worked as a firefighter/paramedic for the San Francisco Fire Department and as a flight medic for FEMA.

He was a first responder to many federal, state and local emergencies, including the World Trade Center attacks. But after almost two decades with the fire department, a terrible accident on the job left Stu with a lifelong spinal cord injury. The long rehabilitation and recovery process pushed Stu onto a new career path … following in his grandfather’s footsteps.

Stu’s grandfather was the famous Dr. Jack Pickup, Canada’s Flying Doctor. He was the first pilot to navigate and map the route for seaplane pilots across the entire Canadian airspace. His Canadian pilot licence that he carried to the day he died was handwritten and was issued as #4.

"His legacy was something that was always very important to me. My ultimate goal has always been to get my seaplane rating because of my grandfather."

Stu began his new career flying helicopters and that continues to be one of his passions today. His favorite gig is flying for Honda for the annual off-road race, the infamous Baja 500 and the even more prestigious Baja 1000. One of his many other jobs is as a commercial pilot repossessing planes for an American bank - a profession that comes with its own dramas and adventures!

Though Stu has only been flying for five years, he’s already racked up 1200 hours and is looking forward to where this new path will take him.

“I just want to do interesting things with flying. I don’t know if it’s going to be flying for the big airlines or flying seaplanes in the Caribbean. I’m just going with the flow of it.”

Kerry McCauley not only loves to fly the planes, he loves to jump out of them as well.

Kerry is the owner and operator of “Skydive Twin Cities”, a successful skydiving business in Baldwin, Wisconsin. He has jumped out of a plane more than 11,000 times and he also has more than 6,500 flying hours under his belt.

In 1979, while still in high school, Kerry joined the army and became a helicopter crew chief. He took flying lessons in the early 80s and was on the road to realizing his dream of becoming a pilot when an impossible-to-pass-up office job landed in his lap.

But Kerry wasn't made for an office job. Despite the good money and the job security, he wanted something more. So he quit, got his pilot licence and took up ferry flying. Most of Kerry's deliveries at that time were for Orient Air, an airline no longer in business. He delivered planes all over the world and crossed the Atlantic many times. Kerry is writing a book about his experiences as a ferry pilot.

“The first time you head out over the ocean it's intimidating. There's nothing but vast ocean out there and once you're a few hours out you're beyond normal rescue. I've known a number of people that got killed. I got my job from a pilot who went down.”

Eventually, the hours and the dangers of ferry flying conflicted with Kerry's new role as a family man. Luckily, he had a back up plan - his skydiving school which was now too successful to keep on the side. He could jump out of planes and fly them, a perfect combination for a man who likes to take risks. Kerry is not done yet with the adventure of long distance flying. He still dreams of flying his Queen Air around the world.

“I love ferry flying. There's nothing like it in the world. Getting out over the ocean is a challenge that you can't find anywhere else. I want to get back out there.”

As the President of CB Aviation, Cory’s priority is pleasing the customer, closing the deal and delivering on time.

Cory started his career straight out of high school selling cars. He spent the next 15 years working his way up from floor salesman to co-owner of a dealership. Business was good but Cory craved a change. He had always been an aviation buff, flying on the side and putting his sales skills to work, buying and selling his own planes. One day that passion became a new career. He left the car business behind and started fresh. CB Aviation was born.

“I took a huge risk getting into this. I gambled everything. And it’s such a rewarding feeling to see it working and to see my dream come to fruition.”

Cory buys, sells and markets planes to the jet set. He didn’t plan on flying the planes to the buyer himself, but the lure of the skies was just too hard to pass up.

“There’s nothing better than to be flying these airplanes and delivering to our clients. It’s an exhilarating, exciting job. It’s unlike anything else.”