I am a CFI, have approximately 1,400 flight hours, and am a Boeing operations analyst. I overcame the physical and mental trauma of a crushed optic nerve to become a commercial pilot and inspirational speaker. Growing up on my family’s farm in Hokkaido, I dreamed of flying. My mother went to the local library to search for a special aviation high school so I could begin my aviation studies, and I thrived in the aviation-specific high school. However, a car hit me, causing a severe skull fracture, brain swelling, and other damage. Doctors gave me a 50​/​50 chance of survival. In Japan I was considered handicapped. That meant I would not get a job or have a career. My father said to me, ‘Shinji, why not go to the United States and study aviation?’” I attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona. With safety professor Ed Wischmeyer’s help and my parents’ blessing, I navigated the red tape, regulations, and training to become a certificated single-engine land pilot in 2005. I then earned his multiengine certificate and instrument rating. I flew the world w​/​1963 Bonanza P35 “Lucy-N9787Y” in 2021.

Home Airport(s)

S43 – Harvey Field (S43), Snohomish, Washington