The son of a test pilot dad and a flight instructor mom, RJ has been in the cockpit his entire life. Growing up in Greensboro, North Carolina, he started flying before he was tall enough to see over the instrument panel! He soloed on his 16th birthday and got his private pilot license on his 17th.

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RJ developed a passion for aerobatics through radio-control (R/C) flying. He started competing in R/C aerobatics at age 16 in national and international events, representing the US in indoor precision and freestyle aerobatic championships. R/C flying gave him a strong background for "full-scale" aerobatic flying.

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RJ earned his bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering from North Carolina State University. He got his Decathlon, learned aerobatics, and flew his first airshow… all in the span of only one year. That was only seven short years ago. Since then, RJ has flown more than 200 airshow performances and has logged more than a thousand hours.

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RJ is SAC certified for surface-level solo and formation aerobatics, comedy, wingwalking and circle-the-jumper.