about me
I Still Fly The Airplanes I Sell.
Most aircraft brokers haven't sat in the left seat in years. Some never have. I flew this morning.
10,000+
HOURS
CORPORATE
AIRCRAFT
WORLDWIDE
REACH
2010
ESTABLISHED
Background
I started flying corporate aircraft in 2010. That's also where I learned aircraft management - and I've been doing both ever since.
More than 10,000 hours operating corporate aircraft worldwide. That number represents real trips for real owners - international procedures, oceanic crossings, unfamiliar airports, weather that changed the plan, and schedules that couldn't slip. Not time logged in a pattern.
Sixteen years, and the range matters as much as the years do. Single-engine pistons. Light and heavy turboprops. Light, midsize, and large-cabin jets. Up to the most sophisticated Gulfstreams flying today.
That progression is the entire education. A single-engine airplane teaches you what an owner's actual costs feel like when there's no department absorbing them. A G550 program teaches you international operations, crew currency, and what a serious maintenance event does to a schedule and a budget. Most people in this business have only seen one end of that spectrum. I've managed both, and everything between.
My father has been in aviation since the 1980s, so the standards I was raised on were set before I ever held a certificate.
Today:
Captain and Aircraft Manager on a Gulfstream G550 program - full responsibility for the aircraft, the crew, the maintenance relationships, and the owner's schedule.
Founder, Marker Aviation - acquisition and sales representation for turboprops and jets.
What sixteen years of management actually covers:
Crew hiring, training, and scheduling. Maintenance program selection and the arguments that come with it. Insurance placement. Charter revenue programs and what they really return once you account for wear, availability, and management fees. Aircraft deliveries, entry into service, and the first year of ownership when the surprises show up.
I've been on the operating side of nearly every problem a new owner is about to encounter. That's not a sales background. It's an operating background - and it's the reason I'm useful in a transaction.
One more thing worth knowing:
I also develop industrial real estate through a company I founded, with investors and eight-figure project budgets. Most of my aviation clients are business owners, principals, and family offices. I sit on the same side of the table they do - evaluating capital deployment, holding periods, and what an asset actually costs to carry. When we're talking about whether an airplane makes sense, I'm speaking your language, not a broker's.
THE DIFFERENCE
Why It Matters
To You
An aircraft is not a spreadsheet. It's a machine with a history, a maintenance program, a records file, and a set of operating economics that only reveal themselves once you own it.
The person advising you on that purchase should be able to read the logbooks and know what they're looking at. Should know which serial number ranges had problems. Should know what a "fresh" hot section actually means for your next four years of budget. Should have flown the type, or flown alongside people who have.
Most can't. I can.
Operator's Eyes
I evaluate aircraft the way a chief pilot evaluates a fleet addition, not the way a salesman evaluates a listing.
Off-Market Access
Sixteen years of relationships across operators, flight departments, and management companies means I hear about airplanes before they're advertised.
Real Numbers
Acquisition price is the smallest part of what an airplane costs you. I model the whole picture—maintenance programs, crew, hangar, insurance, and realistic annual utilization—before you commit.
No Inventory
I don't own airplanes I'm trying to move. I represent you. Pure representation—no conflict of interest.
How I Work
Marker Aviation serves buyers and sellers nationwide. Piston singles through large-cabin jets — the right airplane for the mission, whatever size that turns out to be.
The best aircraft for you is rarely the one closest to you. I go where the airplane is: market surveys run nationally, pre-buy inspections happen wherever the right facility is, and I'm on site for the ones that matter.
Captain Curt
Strategic Aviation Advisory
