I have been flying and teaching since 1976. I served in the USAF for 20 years as a Master Navigator and Instructor on KC-135’s and T-43’s. About mid Air Force career, I had the great pleasure of serving as part of President Reagan’s Advance Team. I received my civilian pilot’s license in 1980 so I flew planes, large and small, the rest of my Air Force career. Upon retirement, I started a software company that I later sold so I could get back to my passion – flying and sharing that passion with others.

Currently, I have over 10,500 flight hours in aircraft such as the KC-135, T-43, plus civilian aircraft such as the C-152, C-172, C-182, C-206, C-208, Baron 55/58, Bonanza V-35, PA 28, PA 32, Cirrus SR20/22/22T, BE-300, BE-200, Phenom 100, and Cirrus SF50. With Cirrus I have attained the highest level as a Platinum Training Center Instructor. I hold an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate for single and multi-engine aircraft and am type rated for the Phenom 100, King Air 350, and the Cirrus SF50. I hold instrument instructor ratings for single and multi-engine aircraft as well as single-engine seaplanes. I am authorized to administer FAA check rides from Sport Pilot to ATP.

Being a flight instructor and aviation business owner is a dream career for me. I get to meet people of all walks of life and share the joy of being an aviator. Did I mention I really, really love what I do?

As a husband of over 41 years, father of four and now a grandpa, I hope if you ever consider flying, that you would please call Harmony Air! I would love to personally share my passion with you.

My love for all things aviation began early on as both my father and grandfather were Marine aviators. I grew up on a Marine Corp’s air station surrounded by the life and aircraft. I studied for two years at a community college in Knoxville before transferring to Middle Tennessee State University. There I pursued my bachelor’s degree in their Aerospace Professional Pilot concentration. I received all my ratings PVT, INST, COMM, MULTI, CFI, CFII through their program and graduated in 2021. I also instructed for a short time at their flight school gaining valuable experience. I look forward to meeting and sharing my passion with you!

My earliest memories are of wanting to be a pilot. I was introduced to flying around the age of 8 when I convinced my father to take me to the grass strip in our West Tennessee town for a flight in a PiperTri-Pacer. I then looked for every excuse to fly with the construction company my father worked for. I wasn’t able to qualify for flight training in the military because of my vision (No Lasik in those days). During the summer after my junior year in college I started flight instruction in a Cessna 150that rented for $13 per hour. My instructor charged $7 per hour.I earned my private pilot license in December of 1976 and started medical school on January 1977. Flying had to be put on hold for a while but after medical school I was able to join a flying club in Memphis and fly with the Civil Air Patrol. After moving to Nashville I continued to train and obtained my instrument and commercial ratings.

In 2004 I was recruited to a Children’s Hospital in Knoxville and met a Retired Naval Aviator who had started a flight school. I took a basic aerobatic course with him and after that course he convinced me to continue training and get my instructor ratings. I retired from medicine in January 2016 to spend more time working in aviation.

Flying is my true love (don’t tell my family). I also skip work a lot for flying; therefore, I’m extremely flexible.

I’d love to teach you how to fly. It’s the most freeing and rewarding experience you will ever have in your lifetime. Plus, you always have a reason to fly yourself to your vacation spot or fishing hole.

“You start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck.”

I was born in Accra, Ghana. When I was 3 years old my family spent 6 years in Durham, England. It was there that I picked up a fever-like passion for soccer and my favorite club Manchester United. I have played soccer ever since and at all levels short of professional. We moved to West Virginia, the wild and wonderful, in 2009 and have called the U.S. our beloved home. It was along these travels, when I was young, that I picked up an insatiable thirst for flying that I could never let go.

There is something magical and humbling about soaring through blue skies that unites us all. Flying has the incredible ability to make us feel special. Even today, my wheels leaving the runway brings euphoria as intense as my first takeoff in an airplane at 3 years old. I remember feeling the thrust through my back, my gaze forever glued outside the window, and refusing every advance from my mother to eat while we traversed continents; even then, I knew the freedom of flight was something very few humans get to achieve. Fewer still are those who earn the right to hold the controls and chart their own way through the heavens. I told my mother, Lord willing, one day I would be one of those few. Today, I am blessed with the privilege and experience to take my dream one step further by helping others achieve their flying ambitions!

Here, you’ll learn to fly with confidence and safety. Whether you’re a seasoned flyer or discovering your wings for the first time, come see why aviation means so much to me and everyone here at Harmony Air! I can’t wait to see you up there!

As a child I dreamed of becoming a professional pilot, but as I grew older I found myself believing that those dreams may be unattainable. After enrolling at MTSU as a Criminal Justice Admin student, I found myself unhappy and longing for a meaningful educational experience. I was inspired by those around me who were chasing their dreams of flight and made the decision to change my major. It took me 3 semesters to improve my GPA enough to reach lab eligibility status, but I was determined to reach my goals. I took my first flight in June of 2019 and was hooked. I completed my Private, Instrument, Commercial ASEL/ AMEL, and CFI with MTSU and graduated in December of 2021 with a B.S. in Aerospace. I then completed my CFII rating in a flying club, and have since been elected into a leadership position as well. This success has given me a new sense of self-worth and has greatly improved my confidence. I now find myself in a position to pass this determination along to future generations of aviators, and I believe that Harmony Air is the best place to do so.

A few years ago I saw a subtitle on a now defunct flight training blog: Mind of an engineer, heart of a pilot. That describes me perfectly. Every time a plane passes overhead I stop and look up. For a long time I couldn’t afford to fly and believed a career in aviation was impractical. I have worked in emergency para-medicine and flight test engineering but found myself continually distracted with the thought “what are the pilots doing?” I received my Private Pilot Certificate in 2017 while working as an engineer and flew once or twice a month recreationally. In 2019 I took a year off from flying when my first son was born. That time away solidified in my mind that I wanted to fly full time.

I love the blend of science and art that is a part of every flight. A great flight is accomplished when a pilot understands how an airplane flies and artfully applies that knowledge to control the airplane to do what the pilot wants.

I like helping people and enjoy teaching and mentoring. I’m excited to share my passion for flying and look forward to helping you along your aviation journey!

Darren is an ardent aviator with a deep-seated passion for fixed wing flight. Originally from British Columbia, Canada, he spent his formative years in New York City where he owned and operated a small leather goods company. In 2019, he put down roots in Nashville and set out to pursue a career in aviation.

Darren believes that education can be obtained at any age and that anyone with the desire can learn to fly. He aims to continue his education while sharing his knowledge to grow the aviation community.

For as long as I can remember, my dream has been to become an airline pilot. I took my first flying lesson in May of 1971 at the age of 13 and earned my Private Pilot certificate in June of 1976. By March of 1978, I had completed the remainder of my flying certificates; Instrument, Commercial, Certified Flight Instructor – Airplane, Instrument Instructor, and Multi-Engine rating. I was a flight instructor and flew FAA Part 135 charter in Piper Aztec, Beech 18, Aero Commander 580, and Piper Navajo based in western New York.

In January of 1979, I was offered a job flying for a regional airline headquartered in Jamestown, NY, to fly Beech 99s. All of this occurred by the ripe old age of 20! I had to wait until I was 23 to upgrade to Captain, the minimum age to acquire the ATP rating. I received my ATP (Airline Transport Pilot) rating with the airline in July 1981. Shortly after that, I received my first of what would amount to 10 type ratings on the Short 3-30. With some incredible timing, good luck on my part, and a couple of mergers, I finished my airline career accumulating 37 years with United Airlines, of which the last 14 was flying the B-777. I was a Line Check Airman instructor, also known as an (LCA) my last 12 years. I was very much involved in the training arena. The last 8 years I instructed both new B777 pilots and new Line Check Airman. I was an FAA designated ILI and I performed initial Captain observation rides for the airline in lieu of an actual FAA inspector. My particular area of specialty was the Middle East/Russia.

Overall I consider myself extremely fortunate to have had such a great airline career. It doesn’t always work out that way. As I have said on many occasions, I pinch myself daily.

I have accumulated over 32,600+ flight hours, including type ratings in the mighty B-17 affectionately known as the “Movie Memphis Belle” and Whiskey 7 a C-47. I own and fly a 2002 Cessna 182T that the previous owner converted to a TAA (Technically Advanced Airplane), and it now sports a modern glass panel suite of instrumentation.

I live in the Spring Hill area with my awesome wife of 33 years.

I look forward to supporting Harmony Air as Nashville’s premier flight school and charter operator.

I’ve lived in the Nashville area for the past 15 years, graduated college at MTSU and started my own landscape company while pursing my dream of being a professional race car driver. Four years ago, I decided I was ready for a change. Somehow I got talked into going on a discovery flight, I loved it way more than I thought I would, two months later I started my flight training.

I joined Harmony Air in 2022, but I have been instructing for the past two years. I have a true desire to make sure that my students are as prepared as possible for whatever might be thrown at them in their own flying career. As a firefighter, safety and muscle memory are very important and that is something I incorporate in my training.

My Hobbies – Hanging with my wife and son, playing soccer and golf, watching racing, and being active!