Friends of Aviation Board Of Directors

We were incorporated as a non-profit organization under the State of California as of February 17th, 2009.

Nick Rahkonen - President/Founder of Friends of Aviation

Nick Rahkonen has been a pilot  since  the  age of  15, when he started out as a Glider pilot in Sweden and he has always been very passionate about Aviation. He started up Friends of Aviation with the hope of improving communication and cordination within the Aviation community and to make it more possible for people to achieve their dreams in Aviation.

He is an active member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilot's Association (AOPA), the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) and the Civil Air Patrol in addition to being the President of Friends of Aviation.

He is a fully trained Senior Business consultant has consulted more than 500 business owners and organizations in the US, Canada and Europe. He has also delivered workshops in the areas of Marketing, Management by Statistics, Business and Organizational Planning as well as Finances.

He was born in Gothenburg, Sweden, but has been residing in southern California since 1984.

James Smith - Chairman of Friends of Aviation

James E. Smith is a veteran Business Consultant and aviation enthusiast. He has consulted over 1700 business owners throughout his career in a multitude of different fields.

Some of his clients include congressmen and candidates for congress, doctors of all types, as well as accountants and engineers.  He has also delivered workshops in the area of management for many years.

His extensive knowledge in organizing groups and businesses is and will continue to be a great asset for Friends of Aviation and we are glad to have him as part of the team to help guiding us towards our goals.

Kevin Rush - Treasurer/CFO of Friends of Aviation

Kevin Rush earned his degree of Master of Business  Administration in the state of Texas in 1990. He has worked extensively in the field of organization and finances since that point in time and has a vast amount of knowledge in both of these fields.

He has been working as the Controller/Chief Financial Offier for a major Movie Production company in Los Angeles for the past 9 years with great success.

Kevin comes from a family of flying and has always been passionate about the subject. We are very pleased to have him as part of our Board of Directors.