Please meet our extra-dedicated members who volunteer their personal time to oversee club operations.
Gil Kirkpatrick
I started flying gliders in 1980 in Warrenton, VA. After a brief flying hiatus, I got my private glider certificate and later worked weekends as a commercial pilot and CFI-G at the Plymouth, MA airport during the 80’s and 90’s. After getting married and moving to Phoenix, AZ in 1994, I got my SEL certificate flying Cessnas out of Sky Harbor. I raced gliders cross country from the Sonoran Desert all the way up to the Grand Canyon, and I was President of the Arizona Soaring Association for a while. My wife and I (now with three kids) moved to Australia in 2009 where I flew LSAs and ultralights, and also served as the Vice President of the South Coast Recreational Flying Club based at Jasper’s Brush, NSW. Personally, Kiry and I have been married for 27 years, and have three children. Molly and Scott are attending the University of Wollongong in Australia, and my youngest, Ryan, is attending the University of Idaho up in Moscow. Professionally, I’m an executive for a small software company based in Australia specializing in network security, identity, and access control. I've served on the PAC Board for the last two years and have developed a good working relationship with Janna and the other Board members. We've had good success getting our financial and administrative house in order and can now look to the longer-term health and growth of the club. My two main areas of interest are to 1) increase the amount of social flying we do (as distinct from training flights), particularly to back country or near-back country strips, and 2) to increase the selection of aircraft we have available to club members.
Read MoreMichele Kemper
I come from the heart of Ohio, but if I had had a choice, I would have grown up in the mountains of Idaho! I made the best of my time in the Midwest, including playing Division 1 ice hockey for THE Ohio State University.
Inspired by my family of military aviators, I took my first flight and the stars aligned: I knew I wanted a career in aviation. While earning my private pilot's license in Ohio, I honed my navigation and pilotage skills flying from one farm field to the next. I pursued my instrument rating while getting a taste of density altitude in Colorado, and then found my way to Idaho in 2015 when I became Store Manager for The North Face and joined Ponderosa! I finished my instrument rating at KBOI, followed by commercial, then CFI. I trained with Tom Mahoney in the backcountry, and enjoy mountain flying with the narrow strips and short approaches!
I spend my free time flying, hiking, mountain biking, backpacking, skiing, running, upland hunting or big game hunting with my husband in the mountains. Sometimes we do a combination of these at the same time! I am eager to pass on my knowledge and passion for aviation while flying smart and safe.
Robert Walsh
I was lucky to have some exposure to airplanes when I was growing up. My mom took me to the Oshkosh airshow when I was 10 and I was hooked! P51 Mustangs, and other airplanes flying all around did it! That started me on the path to earning my pilots license at 18. After that I was able to fly a little bit, including a few trips for work after college. Work and life pulled me away from GA flying for many years. I worked in different business development roles in Silicon Valley in the research, data storage, and fiber optics industries for publicly traded and startup technology companies. That kept me in the air travelling constantly in the U.S. and overseas, but not in GA aircraft! Long before I moved to Idaho I bought a copy of the famous backcountry book "Fly Idaho." I knew someday I would take advantage of it.
In the fall of 2021, I came over to Ponderosa and was happy to find a place where it could all come together. I was ready to make up for lost time! I took a long break from flying and things had changed A LOT. But after a few months, I got up to speed, worked through the instrument rating, followed shortly thereafter by the commercial pilot certificate. Currently I'm working on my CFI rating and hope to be working as a CFI at Ponderosa in the near future.
Since I am at Ponderosa on a daily basis, I see the challenges of running the operation and help out where I can to make things run more smoothly. My background lends well to helping manage and guide the club moving forward. I've been involved with other boards including a non-profit organization in the valley. I'd like to see the club prosper and grow through good ideas, innovation, and member involvement.
I finally got to take advantage of the "Fly Idaho" book in the last couple of years with the help of the club's great instructors and have been to several of Idaho's great backcountry strips. Among other things our club is in the unique position to be able to take planes to the backcountry! I've also recently become a partner on a 1955 Piper Super Cub and hope to continue the adventure! I would enjoy having the opportunity to continue to serve Ponderosa in a new role as board member.
Shawn Dulin
Like many people, I have had a lifelong desire to be a pilot. In 2017, I decided it was time to make it happen, so I joined Ponderosa Aero Club and began my journey. With the help of our knowledgeable instructors, and the support of my lovely wife, I received my Private Pilot’s License on January 20, 2018 in Cherokee 2171Y.
Since that time, I have received my complex and high performance endorsements and am currently working on my instrument rating. With the opportunities Ponderosa provides, I hope to continue to learn and enhance my back country flying skills. Ponderosa has helped me achieve this lifelong goal, and I will use my new position as a board member to give something back to the club.
Professionally, I am the Lead Airport Designer for a local civil engineering firm where we serve as airport engineers for numerous airports in Idaho and neighboring states. I am experienced in all aspects of airfield design as well as airport master planning. Being involved in many different local airports provides me with a broader understanding of the challenges GA faces, as well as insight into how other communities address similar challenges.
I am excited for the opportunity to share my perspective and expertise with Ponderosa.
Jennifer Steffen
I grew up near Seattle, and was surrounded by airplanes from a young age. My dad and I took a few glider lessons together in eastern Washington, and my bedroom walls sported a really cool 747 cockpit poster and, of course, the ubiquitous Top Gun magazine tear-outs (it was the 80s!)
I began flight lessons during our year at Osan Air Base in Korea. It was very different flying, I would later find out: lots of special VFR, poor visibility, and lining up to wait for A10s, F16s, and U2s. We moved to Tucson, AZ, before I was able to complete my private pilot’s license, but once we were stateside, I found a flying club at Ryan Field and resumed training.
Arizona flying was completely different from Asia flying, and I was so thankful to see the mountains from 100 miles away. My new instructor found it humorous that I had more actual instrument time than she did! I got my license when I was 6 months pregnant with my first child (you can imagine my DPE's reaction when he met me for my checkride!) and then took many years off from flying.
We moved to Boise in 2018 after my husband retired from the USAF, and I picked up flying again in 2020 at Ponderosa. I plan to teach here and work my way to bigger airplanes with more buttons and switches.
I hope to see you at a PAC event soon. Blue skies!