EAA Sport Aviation - March 2011

Ken Griffey Jr. (EAA #1028993)
Major League Baseball player
Private piot working towards instrument rating
Sport Aviation reader

Meet Ken Griffey Jr.

Ken is a newly minted EAA member, but he’s not new to flying. His dad starting
flying in the early 80s, and would take the family up after school. At age 3 6,
Ken decided that it was time for him to learn to fly. “I saw that it would be a
huge advantage for our family to get places, like visiting our kids in college.
So, I got my private in 2007, and I’m currently working on my instrument.”
Ken experienced Oshkosh for the first time in 2010 when he flew up in
his Cirrus SR-22T. “I was overwhelmed with the event. At Oshkosh, it didn’t
seem to matter if you owned a $50 million jet or a homebuilt. You were all
treated the same. That was so different and out of my element. In my profession,
everyone is in competition with each other. In the aviation world, the only
competition is making the industry safer and better.”
Ken and his wife Melissa get away from the daily hustle in Orlando by
taking their SR-22T to the Bahamas. “It’s about a one hour and 15 minute trip.
Melissa also has plans to get her private.”
“This fall, we have a bi-week during football, so I’m going to take boys the
up to see their cousin play football in Pittsburgh for the weekend. We couldn’t
do that with a car and be back in time for school.”

Why Ken reads EAA Sport Aviation.

“I read Sport Aviation because of the in-depth knowledge. There are pros and cons about the products, and you can make informed decisions that way. That’s why I joined EAA. The more knowledge you have the better pilot you’ll be. I never want to stop learning about aviation, and being a part of groups like EAA helps me learn as much as I can and stay on top of my game.”

“I never want to stop learning about aviation, and being a part of groups like EAA helps me learn as much as I can and stay on top of my game.”
On average,
80%