Beechcraft Pilot – Kentucky

For decades, Daniel O’Renick has been a man on the move, equally comfortable at the controls of a corporate jet or behind the wheel of a semi-trailer truck.

As a member of JetPro Pilots’ crew of aviators, Daniel has regular flight assignments these days. But as recently as the COVID years, when those opportunities were much fewer and farther between, he turned to trucking as a steady source of income.

“It’s always helpful to have a couple of skills in your pocket,” Daniel noted in a recent conversation. “You never know when you’re going to need them.”

Daniel grew up in western Oregon and now lives in Custer, Kentucky, not far from Louisville.  He usually flies King Air 350s from Bowman Field in Louisville, primarily for one contract employer. His introduction to flight came when, as a child in the mid-1960s, he became a fan of the TV series “12 O’Clock High.”  The show followed the exploits of an Eighth Army Air Forces heavy bomber group in the European Theatre during World War II.

“My eyes would bug out of my head,” he recalled of watching the vintage combat footage and the studio recreations of the crew at work. “I couldn’t get enough of it.”

Not surprisingly, Daniel joined the Air Force after high school and for much of his six-year enlistment was stationed at Bergstrom AFB, near Austin, Texas. He worked on RF-4C Phantom reconnaissance craft most of the time and, in his off-duty hours, joined a flying club on the base to prepare for a career after the service.

Daniel met his wife, Debbie, in the Air Force and when they both returned to civilian life the couple moved to Kentucky to be near her family. He began training in Cessna 150s in September 1974, then took advantage of the GI Bill to earn certifications necessary to begin work as a pilot in 1979.

After a brief time working for the airlines, Daniel returned to flight training and aerial photography while he and Debbie began their family. He also discovered that he could fill his aviation downtime with trucking jobs, and juggled both pursuits for several years.

Daniel’s aviation work eventually led him to Learjets and, in late 2016, into the King Air 350s.  COVID disrupted his regular contract work, but a former colleague tipped him off to JetPro Pilots around the time the pandemic was winding down. He has flown dozens of domestic assignments with JetPro since January of this year.

“They’re very professional,” he said of his new partners. “They’re super-diligent in getting their pilots paid, and that’s very important to all of us. They’ve been good to me.”

The O’Renicks have reared three children and now have 11 grandchildren, so they lead an active life — most of it at home, but an important part of it in the air.