Delta Virtual Airlines Staff Roster

Delta Virtual Airlines STAFF ROSTER
Senior Staff
Joe Burner President (CEO)	Joe_Burner@DeltaVA.org	Joe Burner is the President and CEO of Delta Virtual Airlines, and the Chief Pilot in our new A350 program. Joe's flight simulation began back when he was a child. Many years later in early 2015 Joe discovered an article online about virtual airlines. It is here where Joe discovered Delta Virtual Airlines. Joe was so intrigued by this, and on April 23 2015, Joe joined Delta Virtual Airlines in the CRJ program. He then moved up to different programs such as, A320, 737, 757, 767, 777 programs where he spent the longest in 777 program. When Joe is not flying in the virtual skies, he is usually spending time with his wonderful and amazing wife, and their dogs Hershey and their newest addition Kit. Joe is currently a student pursuing a degree in computer programming, software development. Joe's hobbies outside of flight simulation include, weight lifting, hiking, fishing, camping, hunting. Joe, a native from Virginia, he moved to Utah six years ago to be with his amazing wife. Joe is also a converted Utah Utes fan. Go Utes!
Chris Frasure Vice President (COO)	chris_frasure@deltava.org	Chris is our Vice President, Chief Operating Officer (COO), for Delta Virtual Airlines. Chris served as an Assistant Director of Operations and was our former Chief Pilot for our A320, 757, and MD-11 programs.
Luke Kolin Vice President (Information Technology)	luke@deltava.org	Luke Kolin is our Vice President of Information Technology.
Eric Dziura Vice President (Training)	Eric_Dziura@DeltaVA.org	Eric Dziura is our new Vice President of Training and Flight Academy. Eric returned to flight simulation in earnest in 2015 with P3D. Since then, he has accumulated over 5000 hours of online flying (VATSIM and IVAO) flying with several virtual airlines and a variety of freeware and payware aircraft. He currently uses P3DV5.3 and MSFS2020. In the real world, Eric served in the US military for 21 years, including 850 hours in the McDonnell Douglas F-4S Phantom (Radar Intercept Officer) and 150 carrier landings aboard the USS Midway (CV41). He has a masters in aeronautical engineering and was a college professor for 20 years. Eric and family in Oregon live near KMFR.
Jim Pray Vice President (Human Resources)	hr@deltava.org	Jim is our Vice President and Director of Human Resources. In addition was also a CFI in our Flight Academy. He has had a love of airplanes since childhood. Jim became interested in simming several years ago but became hooked when he found Delta Virtual Airlines. He has 4 grown children, seven grandchildren and lives with his wife in Mesa AZ.
Administration Services
Alex Schlesinger Delta Fly! Editor in Chief	Alex_Schlesinger@DeltaVA.org	Alex is our Editor in Chief for the Delta Fly! newsletter. He's been an avid flight simmer since Flight Simulator 5.1, these days spending his time between MSFS and X-Plane 11 (and now figuring out X-Plane 12). Also, sometimes you can catch Alex online as a tower controller in the Boston vARTCC class C/D airports (a great time to work on VFR skills or get used to the VATSIM environment before hitting the major airspaces). Alex brings 10+ years real world Communications experience to Delta Virtual Airlines and looks forward to working with the DVA community to make great content for Delta Fly! Alex was born and raised in New England, likes his oysters raw and his lobstah rolls with Mayonnaise (sorry not sorry Connecticut).
David Keech Director	David_Keech@DeltaVA.org	A DVA veteran, provides administration advice and services. David lives in Charlotte, NC with wife and son. He enjoys long walks, puppies and thinks mean people are icky. :)
William Chambers Director	William_Chambers@DeltaVA.org	Will takes aviation seriously with more than 15 years flight simming starting with MS-DOS Flight Simulator to constructing a full-scale B737 flight deck in his basement. Delta Virtual Airlines is home for the past 5 years where he headed up for a period of time the combined B757/B767 program. For the past 2 years, Will was the chief pilot of the 767 program. Will and his wife live in Birmingham where he is a prosecutor for the Department of Justice.
Chief Pilots
Salem Gbian Chief Pilot (A330)	salem_gbian@deltava.org	Salem Gbian is the Chief Pilot in our A330 program. After earning his FS ratings, he began his virtual flying career at Cyberavia (the first French virtual airline) as an EMB-120ER First Officer and later got promoted to First Officer in the B737-800 and then became a Captain. He got hired by DVA in 2009 as a B737-800 First Officer and worked his way up through the B767, B747, B777, and A330 programs. A lifelong aviation enthusiast, he holds a real world Private Pilot Licence ( PPL(A) ) with a night rating endorsement. He is a Junior Software Engineer with a Bachelor degree in Computer Software Engineering.
Jay Marin Chief Pilot (B717)	Jay_Marin@DeltaVA.org	Jay Marin is an Assistant Events Director, Our Chief Pilot in the new B717 program and he is our former Chief Pilot of our DC-6 program and he provides dispatch services. He started using the flight simulator with the release of FS 5.0 and has been enjoying the world of simulation for many years. He is amazed at how the simulation has evolved. Jay served 4 years in the US Army and while stationed in Ft Wainwright, Alaska, took his VFR private pilot certificate. After leaving the military he advanced to VFR ME certificate. Most of the flying was done in a Piper Aztec. Jay does not fly any longer as is unable to obtain a medical certificate due to some medical issues. Jay is also a retired ATC. Jay enjoys listening to a variety of music, the outdoors and relaxing with family and friends. Jay joined DVA in 2012 and has been enjoying it ever since.
Scott Simmons Chief Pilot (B737)	Scott_Simmons@DeltaVA.org	Scott is an Assistant Director of Operations, and the Chief Pilot of the DVA 737 team. His passion for aviation started when he built a 29¢ model of a P-51 Mustang in the early 60s. After high school he moved to California and began flying R/C airplanes. He flew R/C sailplanes competitively on a local and national level in the 70s and was the president of the local Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) chartered club, the Hemet Model Masters. While working weekends for a R/W sailplane operation at Hemet-Ryan Airport (HMT) he soloed in a C150 and was very close to obtaining his PPL but had to stop due to full-time work demands. He's been 'simming' on and off since FS 1.0. In 2009 he built a quad-core system just for FSX and a few months later discovered VATSIM and DVA and was hooked on online flying. 6,400+ flights, 13,200+ hours, & 4.8 million nautical miles later, it's more fun than ever. In the real world he's been the Assistant Network Admin for the City of Moreno Valley, CA for over 22 years.
Ken Webber Chief Pilot (747)	Ken_Webber@DeltaVA.org	Ken is the Chief Pilot in our 747 program and an Assistant Director of Operations. A flight sim enthusiast dating back to the "Original Microsoft Flight Simulator' for the Commodore 64/Atari880 computer. A student pilot taking Part 141 Private Pilot Instruction, as well as a Long-haul Truck Driver using his job to fund his Aviation and Flight Sim hobby. Joined Delta Virtual in September 2015.
Gregory Bogosian Chief Pilot (B757)	Gregory_Bogosian@DeltaVA.org	Greg Bogosian is the Chief Pilot in our B757 program. His flight sim history begins with FS 2004 in 2007, FSX and later, FSX: SE. He is a retired US Navy E6 working at a small part 121/135 airline in Centennial, CO as Operations Manager. He also enjoys ATC on the VATSIM and IVAO networks. He lives with his wife April and daughter in Colorado Springs, Co.
Peter Kerpel Chief Pilot (B767)	Peter_Kerpel@DeltaVA.org	Peter Kerpel is Chief Pilot in our B767 program. Peter is 58 years old a sound engineer producing rock and pop music. Started to use simulator programs in 1984. ZX Spectrum, Atari ST and PC. Flew almost all versions of FS. He is a real life glider pilot. Owns an SPL/TMG licence. Recently takes lessons with different types of Cessnas to obtain a PPL license
Oliver McRae Chief Pilot (B777)	oliver_mcrae@deltava.org	Oliver was introduced to flying at an early age as his father is a Captain for Air Jamaica. This developed a love for flying that has held to this day, even through the decision not to become a pilot.
Alex Rogawski Chief Pilot (CRJ)	Alex_Rogawski@DeltaVA.org	Alex Rogawski is the Chief Pilot in our CRJ program. He was first introduced to the world of flight simulation with FS2000 and soon became hooked on the sim, moving through FS2004, FSX and finally Prepar3D. A few years later, he joined DVA after becoming a bit more serious with his hobby and has loved it ever since. In the real world, he is a business student in the Boston area with hopes to become a real world pilot when he can find the time to finish up his PPL.
Matthew Whitaker Chief Pilot (ERJ-170)	matthew_whitaker@deltava.org	Matthew Whitaker is the Chief Pilot in our ERJ-170 program. His love of aviation began when he was 6 and he got to sit in the cockpit for an hour on a Reeve Aleutian Airways 727 flight from Anchorage to Adak, Alaska. From that moment on he was hooked. A 8 year Air Force veteran, he has been flight simming since 2003. He joined Delta Virtual in 2004. He has a Bachelor of Science and Master of Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and resides in the Omaha, Nebraska area with his wife and two kids. He currently works for the Federal Government and when not flying online, he can be found either camping or fishing with his family.
James Stone Chief Pilot (MD-11)	James_Stone@DeltaVA.org	James Stone is the chief pilot in our MD-11 program. My love of flying flight sim started in the early ’80s with the ole Commodore 64 SubLogic, while I was stationed at Minot, ND. I learned how to fly without a joystick. I kept flying off and on until I bought SubLogic Jet, which was an F-16. I enjoyed this (Jet) for a while. I then got SubLogics New Facilities Locator. I bought Air Transportation Pilot and both East and West scenery which allowed me to fly from coast to coast. Then there were several other flight sim’s that came out which were military aircraft and helicopters also flew some in Pro Pilot 99, then Flight Sim 2000 came out. So I went back to flying Flight Sim again. Then I upgrade each time 2002/2004/2004(9.1), then upgrade to Flight X, but could not fly it. So I continued to fly 2004 and I then finally got a computer that would handle Flight X. So now I fly both FS2004 and FSX. I am retired from the Air National Guard as a Chief Master Sergeant (E9) with over 22 years. My civilian job was a firefighter; I retired as a Fire Captain with just over 27 yrs. I have two great sons and a wife that has put up with me flying for over 32 yrs.
Christopher Ferguson Chief Pilot (MD-88)	christopher_ferguson@deltava.org	Christopher Ferguson is the Chief Pilot in our MD-88 program. He's worked for Delta and American Airlines at JFK as a ramp rat. He caught the aviation bug back in 2010 when the Captain of a UPS 757 invited him up to the flight deck. Born and raised in NYC, he now lives in Dallas, TX where he hopes to start flight training at KGPM. When he's not flying, he's out delivering packages for FedEx Express. He hopes to one day become a pilot for FedEx or American Airlines.
Scott Brandenburg Chief Pilot (A320)	Scott_Brandenburg@DeltaVA.org	Scott Brandenburg is our Chief Pilot for the A320 program. His simulator career started in 1983 on the Timex-Sinclair 1000, then to a Commodore 64, and now a high-octane system that does a pretty good job at it. His real-world career path has taken him 30+ years in commercial and military aviation/aerospace. He was aircraft mtc / qa for Delta Air Lines from 1990-2006, and has worked at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics (C-130J assembly, C-5M flight line quality), L3 Technologies (now L3Harris) as a Senior Supplier Quality Engineer, and is now with Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. When not flying in the sim, he's most likely flying somewhere in the real world, likely with camera in hand.
Andrew Vane Chief Pilot (727)	Andrew_Vane@DeltaVA.org	Andrew Vane is our Chief Pilot in the 727 program here at Delta Virtual Airlines. Andrew and his wife are a homeschooling family with 4 young adults now, the oldest a CFII for a flight school in NC. Andrew has been flight simming off and on since 1983. When not piloting the mighty 727, he is a water/sewer designer for private consulting firm in Charlotte, NC.
Craig Trudell Chief Pilot (DC-6)	Craig_Trudell@DeltaVA.org	Craig Trudell is our Chief Pilot in the DC-6 program.
Kris Goodrich Chief Pilot (DC-8)	Kris_Goodrich@DeltaVA.org	Kris Goodrich is our Chief Pilot in the DC-8 program and an ACARS Dispatcher. His passion for all things aviation started at a young age with exposure to all types of Military, GA, and Commercial aircraft in the skies of the San Francisco Bay Area. He started his flight simulator hobby with FS II on the Apple IIe and Commodore 64. Kris is a regional truck driver for an LTL carrier and enjoys home time with family, and working on his hobby farm.
Jon Michael Prenovost Chief Pilot (L-1011)	Jon_Prenovost@DeltaVA.org	Jon has been a flight simulator pilot dating back to the Sub Logic days. He has flown every version of Microsoft Flight Simulator ever published, and even has a fair amount of flight time logged on Sinclair/QL computers. Jon’s passion for aviation began at age five, in Farmington NM (KFMN), when he stood just outside the fence line, some 50 yards away, from a Frontier Airlines’ Convair-580 spooling up its Allison-501 turboprops. The sound (and smell) of those engines coming to life instantly gave him a “shock & awe” experience which has shaped his entire life and given him an unquenchable thirst of curiosity for aviation ever since. In the summer of 2007, After a brief two month stint at the first virtual airline he signed up for, Jon signed onboard with DVA and has been here ever since. For the next 7 years Jon flew about 95% of his flights for DVA from the cab of his 18 wheeler when he was parked up for the weekends all across the USA & Canada. After 21 years, and almost 3.5 million miles logged, Jon left the trucking industry to pursue a career in aviation. Since the winter of 2014 he has worked for largest FBO & MRO in Kansas based at Eisenhower Nat’l Airport (KICT). He is a Linesman on the Private, Business, and Corporate GA side of the field, specializing in Fuel Quality Control and Aircraft De-Icing, for GA, Commercial, and Military operations. Due to a medical condition first identified in 1985 Jon is unable to hold an FAA Medical Certificate, and while preventing him from building a professional career as a pilot it has not held him back from building a career in aviation. In addition to his Linesman position at the local FBO he is also a Certificated Advanced Ground Instructor (AGI), close to completing his Instrument Ground Instructor Rating (IGI), as well as holds a Part-107 UAS Drone Pilot Certification. Jon regularly teaches, tutors, and mentors students at a couple of local flight schools in both Wichita and Newton Kansas within Drone, Recreational, Sport, Private, and Commercial ratings, and quite soon IFR as well. He is an avid Ultralight Pilot, owning his own Pioneer Flightstar, which is hangared and based at Newton County Airport (KEWK). When he isn’t knee deep in virtual aviation Jon enjoys his other hobby of Licensed Amateur Radio Operator (“Ham Radio”), call sign KA7SIF.
Axel Guillebastre Assistant Chief Pilot (A320)	Axel_Guillebastre@DeltaVA.org	Axel is an Assistant Chief Pilot in the A320 program. He caught the aviation bug in 1997 when an Air France pilot invited him in a 737 cockpit to watch the landing in a flight to Sweden. He entered the flight simulation world shortly after with Microsoft Flight Simulator 95 and progressed from there through subsequent FS and P3D versions. He joined Delta Virtual Airlines in 2006. He also has real-world flying experience getting a sport pilot license in 2014. Axel comes from Paris, France, and currently lives in Houston, Texas, with his wife and three kids.
Jim McMannamy Assistant Chief Pilot (A320)	Jim_McMannamy@DeltaVA.org	Jim McMannamy is an Assistant Chief Pilot in our A320 program. He has been a part of DVA since 2003 where he started in the B757 program. Jim is a real world pilot with commercial, instrument, and multi engine ratings, and is also a real world air traffic controller at the Chicago TRACON. He is also a home cockpit builder, and enjoys flying in his A320 sim around the USA and Europe.
Pablo Fraga Assistant Chief Pilot (A330)	pablo_fraga@deltava.org	Pablo Fraga is an assistant chief pilot on the A330 program.
Luke Hubers Assistant Chief Pilot (B737)	Luke_Hubers@DeltaVA.org	Luke Hubers has been a pilot with Delta Virtual Airlines since August of 2009. During this time, he has served as the Director of Events and the B737-800 Assistant Chief Pilot. DVA has been a part of Luke’s life, both personally and professionally. What started as a childhood hobby has since turned into a career. Luke, since joining DVA, has gone from earing his Private Pilot’s License (PPL) and Instrument Rating in high school, to now flying for the Air Force. Since joining DVA, Luke has accumulated a total of 2,757.4 (virtual) flying hours over the course of 1,031 flights.
Kyle Reaume Assistant Chief Pilot (B737)	Kyle_Reaume@DeltaVA.org	Kyle is an Assistant Chief Pilot in our B737 Program. Kyle was always interested in airplanes since early childhood. He first picked the roots of flight simulation when he bought a used Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 CD Disk while travelling in Idaho Falls, Idaho, back in 2008. Kyle slowly built onto the world of Flight Simulation and discovered virtual airlines. That’s when he got hooked onto Flight Simulator officially. He climbed the ranks from Virtual Pilot to Hub Manager to President through various virtual airlines. To Kyle’s interest in web and software technology, he built advanced in-house custom virtual airline systems and ACARS for a few virtual airlines. Afterwards, Kyle had to step down from virtual airlines for a few years after being busy with school and real-world commitments. Now with the newest Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and a custom PC built, he’s kicking in full gear with his favourite aircraft, of course, the B737, and considers Delta Virtual Airlines always his #1 virtual airline home! Outside of Flight Simulator, Kyle resides in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where winters are too long. He works at a large HVAC, Electrical and Plumbing company as a Master Electrician. During his free time, he enjoys spending time with family and friends, travelling, and web and software development. Kyle’s doors are always open, do not hesitate to contact him anytime!
Andres Honegger Assistant Chief Pilot (B757)	Andres_Honegger@DeltaVA.org	Andres Honegger is an Assistant Director of Operations and an Assistant Chief Pilot in the B757 program. Andres' interest in aviation started in early boyhood: from seeing the JU-52 flying almost on a weekly basis, visiting nearby airports, marveling at the DC-10, Boeing 747 .... finally getting the PPL in 2008 followed by instrument rating a year later. FSX became a tool for practice and that got him hooked on flight simulation; joined DVA and recently upgraded to P3Dv4.x. In the real world, he is working in Silicon Valley as a development engineer for a large laboratory instrument company. Having raised two children, his wife and Andres are now watching their grandson grow and develop (getting spoiled). Other interests include traveling, hiking, and bike riding - enjoying the outdoors.
Jason Boche Assistant Chief Pilot (B767)	Jason_Boche@DeltaVA.org	Jason Boche is an Assistant Chief Pilot of our B767 program. Jason's flight simulation roots date back to the mid 1980's on the Commodore 64 followed up by iterations of Flight Simulator on PC platforms. Jason is located 20 minutes from KMSP and by day is a Principal Datacenter Virtualization Architect working in Presales at a Fortune 100 storage company.
Kevin Hornaday Assistant Chief Pilot (B777)	Kevin_Hornaday@DeltaVA.org	Kevin Hornaday is an Assistant Chief Pilot in the B777 program and Assistant Director of Events. He was introduced to flight simulator when his dad brought home FS 2.0 for their IBM-clone PC. Kevin has been a member of VATSIM since 2007 and DVA since 2009. Kevin began dispatching for Delta Virtual in 2017. He retired from law enforcement in 2016 and is a business officer for a large state agency.
Christian Samuels Assistant Chief Pilot (CRJ)	Christian_Samuels@DeltaVA.org	Christian Samuels is the Assistant Chief Pilot in our CRJ equipment program. At a young age, he caught the Aviation bug and has loved it since. When he got into the simulation scene, he joined DVA. Currently, he is a Certified Flight Instructor. He also goes to school for a degree in Aviation Science and Management.
Chad Rhinehart Assistant Chief Pilot (MD-88)	Chad_Rhinehart@DeltaVA.org	Chad Rhinehart is an Assistant Chief Pilot in our MD-88 program.
Tony Stork Assistant Chief Pilot (MD-88)	Tony_Stork@DeltaVA.org	Tony Stork is an Assistant Chief Pilot in our MD-88 program. He began flight simming at a very young age with MSFS3, and moved on to FS95, FS2000, FS2004, FSX, and finally P3Dv4. Over the years he has very much enjoyed learning the ins and outs of commercial aircraft. Tony has a wife, one son, and recently welcomed a baby daughter into the family! They hail from "scenic" northwest Ohio. It's like the moon, with corn. When Tony is not flight simming, his hobbies include many forms of PC gaming (League of Legends being the favorite), and watching sports such as racing, MLB, NHL, and football. He is also a Twitch streamer and has built an awesome community of folks from that!
Online Events
Daniel Wilbanks Director of Events	Daniel_Wilbanks@DeltaVA.org	Daniel Wilbanks is our Director of Events and has been with DVA since August 2010. Prior to becoming Events Director, Daniel served as an Asst. Events Director, and Asst. Chief Pilot in both the 737 and 767 programs. On VATSIM, Daniel has served as a Deputy Air Traffic Manager, and is a current controller at the Atlanta ARTCC and acting VATSIM Supervisor. In the real world, he is working towards becoming a commercial pilot, obtaining his PPL in June 2018. Outside of aviation, he enjoys gaming, hiking, and traveling, among other things. Daniel lives just outside Atlanta, GA with his wife and dog.
Nathan Cox Assistant Director of Events	Nathan_Cox@DeltaVA.org	Nathan Cox joined the events team as an Assistant Director of Events in December, 2021. Nathan has been a member of Delta Virtual since 2010. On VATSIM, Nathan is a controller at the Atlanta ARTCC. Outside of flight simulation, Nathan's other hobbies include photography, hobby rocketry, and hiking and camping with his fiancée Emily.

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