In each edition of My Home Base, we feature a member of the Jet Linx team from across the country and showcase what they feel makes their Jet Linx location and their city special. In this edition, meet Steve Pooler, Jet Linx Pilot.

Favorite part of your job: The flying!

Describe the Jet Linx experience/team in one word: Family. My experience with Jet Linx has been that it almost feels like family. Whichever Base location I have found myself at, I’ve always been taken in and treated like a longtime friend.

Favorite Jet Linx memory or experience: My favorite memory happened just a few weeks ago when we picked a client in Beaumont and she was so excited to be flying on a private jet. We strive to give every Jet Linx member the best possible flying experience on every flight, but seeing the delight in a first-time flyer gives me great satisfaction!

Favorite thing about your hometown: Although I am assigned to Jet Linx National Operations Center, I live in the Tulsa area and have since 1972. Can’t think of anyplace that I would rather be! There are several museums, good parks and The Gathering Place is nationally acclaimed.

Little known fact about yourself, or favorite hobby: My path to professional flying came in a somewhat strange manner; my dad was an engineer for Boeing and instilled an early love of airplanes in me. We lived a mile from McConnel Air Force base in Wichita and I dreamed of being a fighter pilot, but getting glasses in the third grade caused me to think that wouldn’t be possible. When we moved to Oklahoma in 1972, my sights turned to motorcycles and I began racing flat track. I raced until 1978, got married and applied to the Tulsa Fire Department (TFD). I had taken my first flying lesson in the summer of ‘81 and finally got my private certificate in ‘84. In 1987, I transferred to the crash crew at Tulsa International and decided to get the rest of my ratings. I was then offered a flying job with a drilling company, so I resigned from TFD and started a flying career. I am now in my 31st year as a professional pilot with over 12,000 hours. I also got back into racing and rode vintage flat track from 2003 until I hung it up for good in 2008.