Club Officers

Hello! My name is Ron Hanks, I live in Meridian, Idaho with my wife Becky and our pup Tule.. I began flying in 1970 and following graduation from college became a Navy fixed wing pilot in 1974. Following my Navy tour in 1980 I hired on with the Alaska Dept. of Natural Resources where I managed aviation operations supporting firefighting, forest management, and search/rescue on a statewide basis. In 1988 my family and I returned to California to work in the Fed. Bureau of Land Management as a pilot and Regional Aviation Specialist. My BLM job next took us to Washington D.C. as the Chief of BLM Aviation Department, then advanced to the Department of Interior (DOI) in Boise as a National Aviation Safety Officer serving 5 Bureaus aviation programs, and finally to the U.S. Forest Service in 2002. In 2014 I retired from my position as the Chief of Aviation Operations for USFS in Boise, ID. After leaving the Fed I took a position with Treasure Valley Community College as the Dean of their Aviation Training program and finally retiring (again) in 2022.

Over the years I added several pilot ratings including ATP and CFI for airplane single engine, multi- engine, instrument and glider; also have commercial ratings for helicopter and seaplane. I now act as the VicePresident of the Aero Head Soaring Club, enjoy soaring, flying my Luscombe and figuring out what to do with the newly acquired time in retirement!

R.G. “Ron” Hanks