About Firefly Aviation X

In his early teens, Josh would ride his scooter to the local airport on weekends and hang out with pilots. Inspired by his passion, they were always willing to take him along on flights and began teaching him to fly.

In high school, Josh joined the Civil Air Patrol as a cadet and further built upon his foundation of education in aviation. It was there that he was first exposed to emergency services, providing ground search and rescue for downed aircraft. In an effort to gain more experience and community involvement, he began volunteering at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. The volunteer coordinator, Alice Shands, instinctively placed Josh in the emergency room. Enthralled by his new interests, he searched for other opportunities to become involved in emergency work. In January of 1990, at the age of 17, he joined the local volunteer fire department. His fascination with the fire services soon sidelined aviation. He became a paramedic in 1993 and soon after did contract work in Sarajevo, Bosnia during the war there as a firefighter/paramedic.

In 2000, he was hired by the Little Rock Fire Department. One day while driving, he saw a strange contraption flying in the sky. After doing research online and finding out that it was a powered parachute, he knew he had to have one. “As soon as we got in the air, I instantly knew this is what I wanted. My love affair with flying was suddenly re-ignited!”

Now an FAA Certified Flight Instructor for Powered Parachutes, he loves to share the joy of flying with others. “It’s not enough for me to just go flying by myself. I absolutely love sharing the gift of flight with others. The reaction I hear from my passengers over the headset is magical.”

Josh also owns an airplane but says, “Flying in the airplane is fun, but to truly experience the beauty of flight, the powered parachute is one of the best ways to do it. Youre out in the wide open flying low and slow!”

When trying to come up with a name for his new company, “It just made sense to combine my two favorites into the name and Firefly Aviation just fit!”