Welcome to the Platinum Team, Gabe!

Hi, this month we welcomed a new Flight Instructor to the team, Gabriel Hernandez.  Here is a little bit about him and his flying background:

Gabriel Hernandez has been captivated by aviation for as long as he can remember.  Even as he pursued a long career in photography, he harbored a boyhood dream of one day becoming an aviator himself, driven by memories of crop dusting planes over fields near his family’s Texas home, of hot-air balloons drifting across evening skies, of the wonders NASA spaceflights.  In late 2014, he took a demo flight in a Robinson R22 helicopter — and was immediately hooked.  His subsequent commitment to long-term flight training earned himself a helicopter private pilot license, and he went on to gain a license for fixed-wing aircraft, receiving a tail-wheel endorsement from Damian DelGaizo for the Piper J3 Cub.  Over the past five years, Gabriel has become part of the Platinum family, continuing to advance his helicopter ratings and earning instrument, commercial and flight instructor certificates.  His fascination with all things airborne is neatly captured in the immortal lyrics of the late Jimi Hendrix, “Excuse me while I kiss the sky.”