Profile: John Larson

As the son of military man, John Larson traveled around the world at a young age and has loved traveling ever since. Larson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in August of 1952 and has been flying since he graduated high school. Because his father was in the military, he attended high school in not only the United States, but in Germany and Portugal as well. Larson’s father retired in Iowa around the time that he graduated High School and Larson didn’t want to live in that area forever. “I learned how to fly so I could travel around”, said Larson. Larson flies both planes and helicopters and has been flying professionally since 1985 and kept keeping track of his flying hours after he hit 10,000. Although he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, his true passion was flying so he continued to work in that field. “My first job was as a pilot for an insurance company in Iowa”, said Larson, “to promote business”. Larson now works as the chief flight instructor at Corvallis Aero Services with students whom he teaches to fly both planes and helicopters. He also states that he works as a “corporate pilot flying for a major construction company in the west U.S.”.

“I have been to 34 countries. I’ve flown people, cargo, air ambulances, been the repo man, and retrieved and delivered air-crafts in distress in other countries”, said Larson. Some exciting encounters were when engines blew up twice when he was in flight. One time was in Ohio and the plane had two engines so Larson could maneuver the aircraft and land it safely. “The other time I was flying a single engine plane over the Gulf of Tadjoura in the Indian Ocean and needed to maneuver the plane into Africa for an emergency landing.”

Some of Larson’s proudest moments took place in Iowa as well as around the world. “When I was a student at the University of Iowa the president of the University would come and ask the instructor if It was okay to leave class to fly [The university president] to a meeting in Chicago”. Other proud moments include “successfully delivering planes into central Africa for missionary work” and flying presidential candidates during the Iowa Primaries. Larson is also proud of being able to fly air ambulances. Even though he said he felt like he wasn’t doing a lot, he liked to be able to help even if it was in a small way.

By the way Larson speaks of his experiences and all that he has done, you can tell he is passionate about flying. “It’s a great life,” said Larson, “I get to do many things I wouldn’t have been able to do if I’d taken different paths.”

At a Glance:

Who: John Larson
What: Flight Instructor at Corvallis Aero Service
Where: Corvallis + 34 countries
Why: Pursued his goals and lives the life he loves because of it.