About Us

---

The High Flyers group started casually almost 10 years ago with no name.  Dailey McPeak bought a new SR22 in 2006 and made friends with fellow pilots most of whom owned Cirrus aircraft as well.  He suggested that a group of 4-6 pilots meet at Patio Café for brunch for the camaraderie, networking to resolve Cirrus maintenance issues and education of flying a Cirrus such as the active debate whether it was better to fly rich of peak or lean of peak.  We enjoyed each other’s company so much and learned from each other where we had gone for various Cirrus maintenance issues, that we decided to have another brunch one month later.  This continued monthly in season for the past almost 10 years.  We started so informally that none of us exactly remember the first time we got together for brunch.  A few times over the years, Dailey organized fly-ins such as 18 of us met at Island Fish Company Restaurant in Marathon.  However, we did very few fly-in lunches because of logistics.  Not everyone was IFR certified and current, so we needed a clear VFR day for the proverbial $100 hamburgers.  Within a year or so, our group would average 12-15 people at each brunch including non-Cirrus pilots.  Bruce Burkhard, for example, flew B-52 bombers from Guam during the Vietnam war and flew for Northwest Airlines for about 25 years or so after that.  He came to most of our early brunches since he flew with me almost every month as an unpaid instructor and dear friend.  

Over the years, our group became more well known and Dailey organized the group e-mail distribution list.  When announcing the next brunch, his greeting varied between “Hi Flyers” and “High Flyers”.  As a result, that eventually became the name of our informal organization.  As you know, there are no membership dues, no organized structure, and no president or other officers.  Dave Huber and Randy Morris became the ambassadors for the group.  They welcomed guests to the meetings, helped with name tags, donations for food, etc.

A couple of years ago, Jerry Wilke came to one of our Patio Café brunches.  With his 37 years in marketing for Harley Davidson nationally and internationally, he brought a new level of expertise to our organization.  As a result, it grew exponentially with superb speakers from Cirrus (Tom Arnold, Nate Delaney, Keith Smith) and Jim Ewing talking about flying the Flying Fortress.  Terry Spurlock presented a talk on the damage from the hurricane in the Caribbean Islands.

During this time, the number of Cirrus drivers in the Naples area has significantly increased.  We probably have 15 Cirruses based at APF.  We have members based at Page Field.  We have had members from Marco Island (MKY).

Currently, High Flyers consists of about 75 members.