Richard Binkley

Richard Binkley is the Chief Pilot for FlightGest Aviation. He holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate and a Flight Instructor certificate with instrument and multi-engine instructor ratings. He has been flying since 1987 and has over 5000 hours of flight experience. Richard earned a B.S. degree in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to his aviation career, he worked as a computer programmer and network analyst.

Ken Menzie

Ken Menzie is the Assistant Chief Pilot for flight training and has been with FlightGest since December 2005. He is an FAA Certified Flight Instructor - Instrument and holds an Advanced Ground Instructor rating. A former US Air Force pilot, Ken has 5,000 hours of single and multi-engine flight time with over 1,200 hours of flight instruction experience. In addition to serving as our Assistant Chief Pilot, he flies the Cessna Caravan in our charter operations. He is a member of the Civil Air Patrol and Angel Flight.

Jesse Collum

Licenses/Ratings: Commercial SEL, MEL, Instrument, Flight Instructor, CFII.

Jesse does primary and advanced flight training in SEL airplanes. He also gives advanced training in the glass cockpit Cirrus airplanes, the SR 20, SR22 and is qualified to give tail wheel airplane endorsements. In addition to his job as a FlightGest instructor, as time permits, he does some volunteer flying as follows serving as a mission pilot, instructor and check pilot with the Civil Air Patrol and he also volunteers as a pilot for Angel Flight, which FlightGest proudly sponsors. Having logged over 5,700 hours of flight time, Jesse has 3000 hours as a flight instructor.

Kirk Rabe

License/Ratings: CFI, CFII, MEI, Commercial Multi-Instrument, AGI

Born in Dallas, Texas Kirk moved to Minnesota when he was three. As a teen, he got to sit in a 747 sim at Northwest Airlines…and was hooked. Kirk’s initial training began in Billings, Montana where he learned flying in the mountains. He continued training back in Minnesota where he received an A.S. in Professional Pilot. Upon completion of his flight instructor certificates, Kirk and his wife moved to Daytona Beach, FL where he taught for two years. It was there he received his multi-engine rating and multi-instructor rating. Not only is Kirk one of our instructors, but he is also one of our Charter Pilots and flies the Cessna 208 for FlightGest Aviation. He loves teaching in the new glass cockpits.

Owen Chase

Licenses/Ratings: Commercial SEL, Instrument, CFI, CFII

Owen started his flight training in 2000 and received his Private license in 2001. He began his training at Lake Ridge Airport in Durham and finished his Private, Instrument, Commercial and CFI work at FlightGest. Owen received his CFI Instrument rating at Airman Flight School in Norman, Oklahoma and currently has a total of 500 hours of flight time. Outside of aviation, Owen graduated from NC Wesleyan with a BA in Business. He has lived in the Raleigh, NC area for the past seven years and enjoys flying and traveling.

Joe Giallo

Joe Giallo has been flying since 1990 and is an instrument rated commercial pilot in single and multi-engine aircraft. He holds Certified Flight Instructor, Instrument Flight Instructor, and Advanced/Instrument Ground Instructor certificates. In addition to his duties as an instructor Joe enjoys volunteering for Angel Flight. Prior to his aviation career Joe worked in the telecommunications industry in product development, sales and marketing. His educational background includes an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration degree.