Kent Stroud was nominated by his friend, Michael Zegilla. Michael shared the following sentiment about Kent and his support:
"Kent is a great mentor, I have been flying close to 35 years and I had taken break,I finaly got up enough nerve to buy a jet. The jet I pick was all ready to go, I was cluless and Kent jump right in and got me off to a good start. Kent reminded me of the club I belong to up north Stars. any way here's how Kent was and still is great copilot to me and we need more Kents out there.
Turbine jets aren’t exactly “plug and play.” You’ve got fuel systems, start sequences, CG that has to be spot-on, pre-flight checklists that make full-scale pilots nod in respect, plus that AMA turbine waiver process. Learning it ground-up with someone experienced keeps both you and that expensive airframe safe.
Turbines: Throttle lag, EGT management, proper startup/shutdown, fuel quality, fire safety.
Weight & Balance: Jets are way less forgiving than foamies — 1/4" CG shift can make landing... interesting
Inspection: Pressure testing fuel tanks, checking for FOD, turbine wheel inspection, servo/linkage slop
Flying: Energy management on landing, keeping speed up in turns, no dead-stick options.
Waiver: The AMA LMA-1 turbine waiver sign-offs, flight proficiency demo, safety code.
I definitely got the full foundation, not just stick time. That’s the right way to do it. And I still drive three hours and 29 minutes just so I can fly with Kent and be there for me in case I need my copilot. Flying props planes is one thing and building a kit form the ground up is different, flying a 90 mm foam jet is not the as flying a turbine and years of flying I have, Jets was whole different ball game, I was learning to fly all over again.
Kent is not only a great friend, Best co-pilot I can ask for."
