Calendar - Event View

On April 16th of this year, the Colorado Wing of the Civil Air Patrol was called on by the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office to provide aerial search assistance for a missing person last seen near Glen Haven. The presentation covers context, a brief overview of CAP mountainous aerial search planning and execution, flight conditions faced, search results, and lessons learned — inclusive of lessons for those of us who find themselves in the backwoods and mountains of Colorado.

Capt. Martin Kelly earned his private pilot certificate in the benign skies over New Mexico while attending engineering undergrad school. Professional responsibilities in Texas, Alaska, and California limited his flight time until he attended MBA grad school in Arizona, where he added a multi-engine rating. Monthly flights to the Grand Canyon and other wonders of the area were subsequently curtailed with a post-grad project in Trinidad and Tobago, brief professional stints in Colorado and western Canada, marriage, and then subsequent foreign postings in the UK and the Middle East with two wanderlust Kelly family members added along the way. Since a return to Colorado in 2011, most of his flying time has been among the Fourteeners of Colorado as Mission Pilot for the Civil Air Patrol. Martin is now “semi-retired” and serves as the Emergency Services Officer for CAP’s Jefferson County Senior Squadron based at KBJC.