The Company

In the ad that we ran in the San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune and on the www.Barnstormers.com website, we posed the rhetorical question “Who Are You Guys?” Well, folks, here we are in living color.  Flight Sciences has been in existence since the 1990s and is presently constituted as a General Partnership consisting of Mike Antoniou, Brad Stahl and Jeremy Eaton (although that relatively informal arrangement is likely to change as a result of this funding effort).  The business of building and flight testing the prototype aircraft will be most efficiently accomplished utilizing a company structure that minimizes “legal” paperwork.  A General Partnership consisting of the present principals and investors is probably the best way to minimize the “legal” stuff.  On the other hand, there must be legal and financial protection for all those involved and this requirement leans toward incorporation.  We’ll be discussing this at our meetings following this fund raising effort.

Mike and VERY patient wife, Maury Anne, in the Wind Tunnel.  Mike has    an  extensive background in both military and civil aviation. His credentials include a B.S. (cum laude) in Aeronautical Engineering (1987) from Cal Poly University and graduation from the United States Naval Test Pilot School (1963). In addition, he is an FAA Designated Engineering Representative (DER). Mike has accumulated approximately 10,000 hours flight time in a wide variety of both civil and military aircraft and holds an Airline Transport Rating. He also holds the Distinguished Flying Cross and has been retained as a consultant by the FAA, NASA, DOD and numerous law firms as an expert. In his position as Chief of Flight Test for American Aviation Corporation, he was responsible for the flight test certification of the American Aviation AA-1 Yankee.  He has been contracted to Denel Aviation (South Africa) to assist in the development of the Rooivalk attack helicopter and to Agusta Helicopters (Italy) to assist in the civil certification of the A-109, A-119 and EH-101 helicopters.  For the past six years, Mike has worked almost exclusively on the development of Phoenix.

Brad graduated from Cal Poly University in 1984 with a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering. He took a position with Lockheed Aircraft Corporation where his work involved the test and evaluation of missile hydraulic control systems.  In 1985, Brad joined Flight Sciences as one of the principals and founders of the company. In 1990, he founded Piranha Propellers, Inc., a company which produces and markets composite propeller systems for the recreational boating community, with world-wide distribution. He is the president and CEO of that very successful company.  Piranha Propellers maintains extensive manufacturing facilities in San Luis Obispo, California.  Brad has engaged in engineering flight tests, as a flight test engineer, in numerous programs conducted by Flight Sciences for various clients.  He is an active instrument rated pilot and uses his Beechcraft Bonanza for long range transportation.  As you can see from the picture, he’s the hands on guy who gets things done.  

Jeremy was born in England and now resides in South Africa.  He is a first class, self-made businessman and entrepreneur.  His formal education was interrupted by induction into the South African National Defence Force and combat duty in the war in Angola.  However, after returning from that conflict, in 1995 he created Press Support (Pty) Ltd, a company devoted to the delivery of newspapers and magazines, throughout South Africa, for the major media production companies in the country.  He, virtually single handedly, built the company from scratch so that, today, Press Support employs approximately 250 people and delivers the bulk of the paper media in the country.  Jeremy is the CEO of that very successful company and will provide business oversight for Flight Sciences while Mike and Brad are busy with the engineering.