With 42 years of flying experience, Rick has accumulated over 30,000 flight hours in more than 100 different types of aircraft. Rick´s career started in the USAF flying the F-4 Phantom, and in 1996 he retired from the Nevada Air National Guard with over 4,000 hours in the Phantom. In addition, he has accumulated nearly 1,000 hours in various Russian MiG fighter aircraft, such as the MIG 15, MIG 17 and MIG 21. During his career, Rick also flew many other classic military aircraft such as the F-5, F-86, Hawker Hunter, T-37, T-38, L-39, L-29, Iskra TS11, Fouga Magister, Casa Seata, Tucano, etc. Rick is currently working for the American Airlines as an Airbus A320 Captain and is also qualified in many other types of aircraft, including the Westwind, AC1121, Citation, Epic jet, BAe 146, Fokker 100, DC-9, MD80, B727, B737, etc. During his extensive career Rick was a National Championship Air Race Jet Gold winner in both 2011 and 2012, a Sport Class Gold runner up in 2003, a Sport Class Bronze winner in 2012, a Jet Gold runner up 2013 and 2014, as well as setting 7 FAI World Speed records in aircraft like the F-4, MIG 15 and Glasair 3. Rick is also the Chairman of the Board for the Sport Class Air Racing Association and President of Racing Jets Incorporated for the Reno Air Races. Previously Rick served as both ‘Air Boss’ and Director of Operations for the National Championship Air Races. Rick is also the Director of Operations and Training for the ARC - Air Racing Championship, Europe, as well as the Race Instructor and Pace Pilot.
From Reno, Nevada, Bob Mills, has over 38 years of flying experience, and more than 18,000 hours of flight time in a wide variety of military and civilian jets and propeller driven aircraft. Bob is a veteran of the inaugural 2014 ARC - Air Race Championship in Cascais, Portugal, where he trained the initial batch of racers in all aspects of Pylon Racing, and raced an Extra 330LC to a second place finish in the Extreme Class. Bob is the President of the Sport Class Air Racing Association for the Reno Air Races, and flies the Rocket Six Racing’s modified RV Super Six in the Sport Class, and also races in the jet class, flying Reality Czech, an L-39, affectionately known as "Kermit". Bob also flies as a Reno Air Race Pace Pilot, and is a Sport Class Racing Instructor and F.A.S.T. Check Pilot. In addition, to racing at Reno, Bob also races in the Sport Air Racing League, in various races across the United States and Canada, in the Sport FX Class. He is also the President/Administrator of Formation Flight Incorporated (FFI), a US national formation airshow pilot credentialing organization, as well as a Flight Lead for the West Coast Ravens RV Formation Squadron, flying his RV in airshows across the western US, and a member of the world record-setting 49 aircraft formation flight of RVs in 2013. Bob served in the US Navy and Navy Reserve for 30 years, retiring as a Captain in 2011. He flew the F-14A Tomcat and was an Instructor Pilot in the TA-4J Skyhawk. Bob also served as a Naval and Coalition Air Forces Command and Control Expert, and undertook three command tours in the Navy. Bob is currently a Captain with Southwest Airlines, flying the Boeing 737 aircraft. He has also flown as a Corporate Pilot, an Air Ambulance Pilot and a Commuter Airline Pilot. Bob holds a Multi-Engine Airline Transport Pilot Certificate with numerous Type Ratings, a Single Engine Commercial Pilot Certificate, and is also a Certificated Flight Instructor. Both Bob and Rocket Six Racing are proud sponsors of the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund (www.semperfifund.org), a nonprofit organization set up to provide immediate financial support for injured and critically ill members of the U.S. Marine Corps, and post 9-11 veterans of all U.S. Armed Forces who serve in support of Marine forces and their families. Bob and his racing team are sponsored by 51 Aero, producers of state of the art air-to-ground telemetry equipment, Anti-Splat Aero, manufacturers of innovative products for Experimental Aircraft, and IS Racing, an independent provider of colorful racing support.
From Houston, Texas, Mike Steiger, truly comes from a flying family, as his parents were both pilots. With flying in his blood, Mike started young, soloed in many types of aircraft at the young age of 16, and has been flying for over 40 years. From model airplanes to full size airplanes, he flies or plays with them all. He has also earned his aircraft maintenance certificates, and currently is an aircraft maintenance inspector. Mike attended Parks College of St Louis University from 1983-1986 and was the top pilot in the University's NIFA flight team from 1985-86. He flew for the University's flight demonstration team as the flight lead, and also flew with the US precision flight team in 1985. After graduation Mike instructed basic and aerobatic flight students, and competed in amateur aerobatics competitions from 1985-88, placing in the top 3 in over 20 different competitions. In 1988 Mike joined the USAF and the Puerto Rico ANG as a pilot. He flew the A-7D Corsair and the F-16 Fighting Falcon in his unit, where he was also a weapons officer, and logged over 1,500 hours in the F-16 from 1988-1998. While in the USAF/ANG Mike also flew and instructed at American Eagle Airlines in the Shorts 360 and was a check airman until 1997. He then joined Delta Air Lines in 1997 and has flown the B727, MD-88, B757, B767 and currently B747. Since 2005, Mike has been flying for the Commemorative Air Force in Houston, where he restores and maintains WWII aircraft. Currently Mike flies a Yak-52, Boeing Stearman PT-13/17, Fairchild PT-19, T-6 Harvard, T-34 Mentor, T-28 Trojan, Lockheed C-60 Lodester, B-17 Flying Fortress, and numerous other classic aircraft in the Houston CAF Squadrons. Mike is also a CAF TRARON formation check pilot. Mike teaches airshow formation flying in warbirds, and has performed in about 50 airshows a year, providing flight demonstrations in various types of former military aircraft from all different countries. Mike has also done a wonderful and amusing clown act in a J-3 cub in many airshows since his college days. In 2008 Mike joined the Ed Noel racing team (NART) as a ground crew member for his Reno racing jets. In 2012 Mike started racing jets in Reno with the team, placing in the silver and gold events. Since 2013, Mike has been teaching formation and pylon racing to race rookies in preparation for the Reno National Championship Air Races. Michael has over 16,000 hours in 130 different aircraft, and is a race instructor for the ARC - Air Race Championship. In the inaugural 2014 race in Cascais, he raced a Yak 52 to a fifth place finish in the Vintage Class.