Steve Thompson Joins Business Aviation Flight School

"All I ever wanted to do is fly," reports Steve Thompson. Thompson who recently joined Business Aviation School of Aeronautics as a Flight Instructor is an accomplished pilot with nearly 15,000 hours of flight time.

Steve started flying right after high school in Larchwood, IA. In 1957 he bought a plane, a 1946 Taylorcraft, for $165 for his ¼ fractional share. In 1964 he gained his commercial, instrument and instructors licenses and started instructing. In 1975 he started an aircraft paint shop with Doc Walker in Tea, SD, and instructed full time until 1979.

Steve started flying for Red Baron, with corporate offices in Marshall, MN, in 1979. His work included the seasonal work of flying Stearman planes in promotional and banner flying in different locations across the nation. In the off months he flew King Air for the corporate office executives. By 1984 Red Baron had 4 Stearmans and started flying formation aerobatics in air shows and also promotional flying of customers. The theory of the practice of "flyin’em and then sellin’em" seemed to be successful marketing tool. The past 10 years Steve has been chief pilot for Red Baron, and with 26 air shows per year and the promotional flying has stayed very busy in the air. After twenty years he is now choosing to work part time for Red Baron (enough time to still keep his edge for formation flying), allowing him enough time to come back to teaching new pilots.

Steve’s duties at BA will include every aspect of flight instruction. Steve is excited about the new Cessna Pilot Center which allows students to move at their own pace and is flexible for each individual’s schedule. The interactive computerized instruction allows the instructor to tailor the instruction to each student pilot.

Steve and wife reside in Sioux Falls. Together they are building their own plane. This is a project they have been working on for 10 years. Though not a new activity for the Thompsons, the learning curve of previous planes they have built does apply. Steve reports the first plane he built took four years and the second took three years, but the plane they are working on now is more complex composite aircraft.