Mark Noah
Founder / President / Director / Pilot

Mark, who founded "History Flight" to preserve and to honor American aviation history, is a certified airplane fanatic with over 10,000 hours of flying time in everything form the T-6 to the B-767. Mark is an Aviation Historian with a BA with Honors in history from Emory University in Atlanta. Mark is a CFI and CFII, and holds type ratings in the B-727, B-757, and the B-767.

Mark is also a member of the MIA recovery group "The Bent Prop Project." Check out www.BentProp.org.

Mark with the wreck of a Japanese Zero deep in the jungle of Palau, in the western Pacific.		Mark with Jean Gonthiez, a Free French Air Force pilot, who learned to fly in the T-6.
Mark in the History Flight B-25 with his son Phineas Francis Noah, whose middle name was named after a WWII MIA

John Makinson
Chief Pilot / Flight Instructor / Director of Maintenance

John started flying on the family farm in Manitoba at the age of 10.  With his head always in the clouds, he soon had his Commercial Pilot certificate, with both land and seaplane ratings.  He took his skills to the Canadian Arctic, where he found himself both flying and maintaining bush planes.  The ability to repair your own aircraft while out in the bush is essential to the survival of a bush pilot.  Soon his passion of flying took him to the wilds of Alaska, where he continued his advancements.  While in Alaska, he earned his Airframe and Powerplant mechanic certificate, with the addition of his Inspection Authorization shortly thereafter.  Alaska was the real test for a bush pilot, landing and taking off of glaciers and mountains and operating out of landing strips as short as 500 feet long.  He delivered various goods ranging from food to gasoline to dynamite.  Alaska is probably the only place you can fly a wheel plane, a ski-plane, and a float plane all in the same day.  From Alaska, John found himself in south Florida, and got involved with World War Two cargo planes like the DC-3 (C-47) and the Beech 18 (C-45) that flew freight to the Bahamas.  On his way back to Alaska, John’s childhood fantasy came true; the opportunity to fly World War Two fighter type aircraft. 

Now, he is a modern day Barnstormer, sharing his dreams with the public, giving them the opportunity to fly with him to get a glimpse of history.  John flies in memory of those who fought and died for us all. 

"Tiny" Harold L. Mize
Pilot / Instructor

Harold L. Mize learned to fly at a small grass airport near Lake Charles, La. while attending high school. By working after school at the airport he earned his flying time and private pilot certificate. After graduation from LSU and commissioning from the AFROTC program, he entered the Air Force in the very first of the UPT (all officer and jet training) pilot classes. After graduation he was selected to qualify as a jet instructor and spent his time in the Air Force training students in the T-37, T-33 and T-38 aircraft.

Upon leaving the Air Force to pursue an airline career, H.L. Mize resigned the Air Force commission to accept a Navy Officer commission and fly in the Navy reserve program. There he flew T-1-A, T-33B, T-38B, A-4, F-8 and F-4 aircraft - retiring with the rank of Commander.

H.L. Mize flew a total of 33 plus years for airlines, and worked his way up to Captain with three different airlines. The first was Braniff International, then Piedmont, and then US Air. In between airline jobs, he also managed to crop dust as well as keep flying in various types of small aircraft. Flying continues to be a passion in his life.

Capt. Jimbo
Pilot / Instructor

Capt. Jimbo attended Plant High School in Tampa, Florida where he was the quarterback for a championship football team. After graduating from Florida State University, where he was a noteworthy wrestler, he entered Naval Flight School at NAS. Pensacola. He flew the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk as a Tactical and Nuclear Weapons delivery pilot for Marine Attack Squadron 331. During the height of the Viet Nam War, the push to train pilots was frantic to say the least. While on a training flight with a newly winged pilot in the fleet, Capt. Jimbo was forced to make a high speed, low altitude ejection from 50 feet at 400 mph.

Because of the permanent injuries he sustained, Capt. Jimbo was honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1973 at the rank of Captain - - thus Capt. Jimbo. While undergoing many surgeries and years of physical rehabilitation, he worked as a Territory and District Sales Manager for Monsanto, Shell Oil and DuPont. He augmented his professional career by completing his MBA in Industrial Management and started a small barnstorming business on the side with his first old Navy Stearman. While giving rides and towing banners, Capt. Jimbo has amassed over 3,500 hours in tail-wheel aircraft. Probably 50 percent of his flight time has been inverted. He has flown over twenty-five different types of military and general aviation airplanes including T-34s, T-28s, T-2s A-4s, AT-6/SNJs, Stearmans and P-51 Mustangs, in addition to Pipers, Cessnas and Mooneys.

Ken Kalstad
Pilot / Instructor

SAD NEWS: Ken, 59, of Eldorado New Mexico, died the afternoon of December 23, 2009 after his car was struck head-on by a sport utility vehicle that hit an icy spot on the road and crossed the center line. Ken's wife Rebecca was seriously injured in the accident, as were the driver of the SUV and his wife.

Ken Kalstad’s father Henry was a decorated U.S Navy PBY “Blackcat” pilot during WWII. In May, 1942, he began his Navy training in a Stearman biplane; conceivably the same aircraft operated by History Flight today. He moved on to the North American SNJ, History Flight’s other type aircraft, and ultimately the PBY Catalina, joining the squadron VPB-52, and the Pacific War.

History Flight pilot Ken Kalstad graduated the U.S. Naval Academy and served as a carrier-based strike/attack pilot. As a Naval Aviator, he accumulated over 600 carrier arrested landings and flew numerous Naval aircraft, including the A-7E Corsair II and the F/A-18 Hornet.

After leaving the Navy, Ken taught high school in New Mexico for nearly three years before his passion for aviation was rekindled during a tour with Lockheed Martin Skunkworks. There, he was a systems integration, evaluation, and instructor pilot on a tactical aircraft upgrade program.

Since the Skunkworks, Ken has flown numerous piston, turbo-prop, and jet aircraft in part 91 and 135 operations. He is rated in seaplanes, CitationJets and the B-737. But after years on the cutting edge of aviation technology, Ken feels truly blessed to have found his way back in time to where it all began for his father, and so many other fathers; back to open cockpits, radial engines, no frills, seat-of-the-pants, stick and rudder flying. Back to the glory days of aviation. Back to History Flight.

Ken is a Naval Aviation Safety School graduate with over 9,000 hours of mishap- and violation-free flying. His home is in Santa Fe, NM where he serves as a U.S. Naval Academy Blue and Gold Officer. Ken’s mother was a WWII Navy nurse and he has three siblings who are professional pilots in the airline industry. Ken’s sons are both USNA graduates. He flies both the Stearman and the SNJ for History Flight and holds an aerobatic competency card for air show performances in the SNJ.

Nelson Price
Pilot / Instructor

Nelson learned to fly at the Bartow Municipal Airport, a former WWII training facility located in central Florida. While attending Saint Leo University and working on his Associate Degree, he also obtained his Private Pilot's Certificate. After graduating from Saint Leo University in 2000 he continued to chase his dream of a career in aviation. In 2001 he enrolled at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in their Aeronautical Science Program. In 2004 Nelson Graduated from Embry-Riddle with his Bachelor's Degree in Aeronautical Science, a minor in Air Traffic Management, and his Aircraft Dispatch Operations Certificate.

In 2005 Nelson was the first recipient of History Flight's Flight Scholarship Program Award. This award enabled him to finish his Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot Certificate, Tail-Wheel endorsement, Glider Rating, and what has made him famous today, his Upset Recovery and Aerobatic Training. Nelson is currently flying the World Famous N2S Boeing Stearman and enjoys water skiing, and flying on his time off.

Dave Whitcomb
Pilot / Instructor

Dave has been flying for 21 years and has accumulated over 5,000 hours of flight time. He started flying at the age of 22 with an introductory flight in a glider. He soon had his glider license and started giving glider rides at a small airport in Stowe, VT. From there, he earned his Commercial, Instrument, Multi-Engine, and Certified Flight Instructor ratings for airplanes. He also worked for a company that imported Russian aircraft into the United States. He has flown all over the country in many different types of Russian and U.S. aircraft.

Flying the warbirds of History Flight is a dream come true for Dave. Aviation history has always been a great passion for him and he loves to share that passion with others

Matt Benson
History Flight Board Member

Matt has been performing geophysical surveys since 1991. Matt began conducting surveys while attending Western Illinois University, where he mapped archaeological sites along the Illinois River. He went on to earn a Master’s Degree from Northern Illinois University, in conjunction with Argonne National Laboratory. Matt now conducts marine and land-based geophysical surveys around the world.

Matt has always had an interest in military history. His grandfather, Pfc. Wayne Buggs, served in Company A, 192nd Tank Battalion, was a POW who survived the Bataan Death March. Matt enjoys putting his geophysical skills to use helping History Flight continue the search for the remains of those who have not yet made it home.