Jan 6, 2021
This episode’s guest is Austin Kaminski, who is a native of Northern Virginia and is now a captain at a regional airline. Austin discusses how the National Air and Space Museum really inspired him to pursue aviation as a career. As a child, his father would also take him down to Gravelly Point, which is an area within the National Park Service's George Washington Memorial Parkway in Arlington County, Virginia. It is located on the west side of the Potomac River, north of Ronald Regan airport. From there you can watch planes landing on Runway 19 or takeoff from Runway 01.
At age 5, Austin’s father took him on his first flight at College Park Airport in Maryland, to his mother’s chagrin. But from there he knew that he was hooked on flying, once he realized that he wasn’t going to be a professional NBA player. He also discusses how, at the age of 16, he was able to attend the week long EAA Air-Academy in Oshkosh, WI. This is where he got to meet engineers from Boeing, flight instructors, got to take a Young-Eagle flight and attend the Oshkosh Airshow. That is where he got to meet the former Seattle Mariners baseball player, Ken Griffey Jr, who turns out to be a pilot.
Austin then went on to work at a local flight school, first working the front desk and then as a flight instructor. He says that his time at the front desk was very valuable in setting him up with the relationships that helped him succeed not only as a flight instructor but as a regional airline pilot. Austin is now a captain for a regional airline.