Meet the team

Patrick Scanlon is not your average shade tree mechanic turned flight school owner! When he could no longer deny his love for aviation he retired from a successful career as a construction operations manager and began flight instructing at Gnoss Field in 2002.

In 2005 he trained at the Cirrus factory in Duluth, MN and became a Cirrus Standardized Instructor Pilot (CSIP) eventually earning Platinum status with Cirrus.

Then in 2006 Patrick took the same passion and drive that made him successful in the world of building construction and founded Scanlon Aviation, LLC.

After earning a Part 135 Air Carrier certificate from the FAA, in 2007 Patrick started doing air charter service with his first Cirrus SR22. It was up, up and away after that, and the next year Patrick took delivery of a second Cirrus that he began using for flight instruction and as a rental aircraft.

This successful progression and Patrick’s emphasis on the business and personal side of aviation attracted the attention of the Cirrus home office because shortly thereafter Scanlon Aviation was invited by Cirrus Design to become a Cirrus Standardized Training Center.

That led to Patrick hiring his first employee to start the Scanlon Aviation Team.

Unhappy with the maintenance he was able to find led him to open his own maintenance shop in 2010 and hire Ken Robbins to run it as Director of Maintenance; thus birthed the Scanlon Aviation Maintenance Facility.

Soon after the start of maintenance operations, Scanlon Aviation became a Certified Cirrus Service Center and, as we say, “the rest is history,” of which we strive to make you a part!

Robert got the flying bug early but he had to wait until well after high school, in 1995 when both time and money finally came together, to start acquiring ratings, certificates, and building flight time.

After several stints as a Flight Instructor and Chief Pilot at various Part 61 and Part 141 schools and academies in Florida and California, he decided to see what the elusive airline pilot world was all about so in 2016 he applied to and was hired by Express Jet/SkyWest as a First Officer on the EMB-145 and ERJ-175.

But as always seems the case, life had other plans; having to commute from the West Coast to Newark, New Jersey, living in a crash pad with roommates, and trying to survive on the kind of measly First Officer pay that was rampant in those days.

But more importantly, with a family and elderly parents needing more intensive levels of care, it became clear that being closer to home would be a necessity and that’s when he returned to Scanlon Aviation in 2018 as Chief Flight Instructor.

Robert is married and lives in Novato with his wife, mother in-law, and three dogs; the family enjoys occasional visits from his two sons who are both attending college in Southern California.

Tim joined Scanlon Aviation in 2019 with a commercial ticket and a CFI with an instrument add on. He currently teaches in both the Cirrus and Cessna aircraft, is a self- described “avid aviation enthusiast” and has logged over 1500 hours since learning to fly in 2009.

He co-owns and flies a 2003 Vans RV6-A that is based in Petaluma. He retired recently after a 30+ year career developing and delivering technology solutions within the health care field.

Tim’s the kind of guy who’s handy to have along with you in case something breaks or goes wrong since he has a “love of all things mechanical” having done a little bit of everything; carpenter, electrician, gardener and automotive technician.

Like many pilots he likes to go fast! In addition to tinkering with aircraft and aircraft avionics, he has restored antique motorcycles, has built and raced go-carts and motorcycles, and restored several old houses.

One of the reasons he loves flight instructing is that he gets to share the joy of flight with others…

Rick’s tag line might be “I take advantage of my family being scattered across the Canadian provinces and several US states because it “provides me with useful destinations for my Cirrus flights!” 

Rick is kind of hard to pin down because, in addition to 3700 hours in his SR22 over a 20 year pursuit and passion for everything Cirrus, covering most of the US and Canada, he does a little bit of everything at Scanlon.

He maintains the training fleets avionics database, he keeps the FlyThisSim simulator up and running, all the while serving as the Aviation Safety Chair of the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association (COPA), and teaching safety courses within COPA.

If you think that the revolutionary Cirrus CAPS system is something worth commenting on you can thank Rick for advocating for that system over a 15 year period.

Rick enjoys the outdoors while “refocusing on what matters in life” which seems to be working with several non-profits and cooperatives.

One of his dubious claims to fame is the fact that he lives close enough to Gnoss Field to be able to walk to work!

Ken is Director of Maintenance for Scanlon Aviation and has been with us for 10 years. He  attended Sacramento Community College of Aviation’s Maintenance program and that led to his 43 years as an A&P mechanic.

For 40 years of that time, he has held a FAA Inspection Authorization. 

For 10 years he was the owner of Pegasair, an aircraft maintenance shop in Healdsburg California. 

He has accumulated 3500+ hrs of pilot time over the years, most of it in tailwheel aircraft and some of that time in a series of Bonanzas along the way.

Ken is married with 1 grown daughter; he’s also a biologist, currently working as a project manager with the Sonoma County Resource Conservation District.

His hobbies are fishing “about anywhere for about anything”

and he spends “as much time as he possibly can in Alaska.”

He and his wife are building a cabin for their retirement and for their daughter to enjoy as well. He enjoys everything outdoors in Alaska except hunting because he “prefers to hunt in the wilds of the Safeway aisles” for his meat.

John is an experienced A&P Mechanic with Inspection Authorization. He’s got such a complete and impressive background and aviation accomplishments that we’d have to tack on a couple of extra pages to list them all ! Suffice it to say, anyone who brings their aircraft into a Scanlon hangar will find themselves, and their aircraft, in good hands!

Just some of what he does is compile reports and determines the applicability of Airworthiness Directives and Service Bulletins to the aircraft. 

Before coming to Scanlon John was the Aircraft Inspector and Safety Manager @ Mangon Aircraft from 2004 – 2014. Since arriving at Scanlon in 2014 he has been an Aircraft Inspector from then to the Present. 

He’s been an Airframe and Powerplant mechanic for 20 years, an Authorized Inspector for 17 years and aprivate pilot for 9 years.  

John says “I always enjoy a challenge and responsibility and that’s reflected in the satisfaction I take in keeping my customers and coworkers safe.”

John lives in Novato with his wife, daughter and two dogs who enjoy taking John for walks!

He enjoys hiking, dogwalking, mountain biking, yoga and golf.

He volunteers his time as a member of the STEM Marin Fund Board that benefits the students of the Biotech and Engineering programs at San Marin High School.

John enjoys working for Scanlon Aviation and for Ken Robbins “because of their commitment to quality and responsibility.”

Devon is originally from South Africa and immigrated with his family to the United States. He started as an apprentice in A&P school, then worked for 3 years as an A&P mechanic and also attended AIM (Aviation Institute of Maintenance) before joining Scanlon Aviation. 

True to any aviation enthusiast with a love for fast travel, Devon is a motorcycle rider! He’s also currently restoring a vintage Ford Mustang. Devon is single.

Before landing at Scanlon Aviation Jenna worked in Event Operations at Sonoma State University for several years.

She’s the newest addition to Scanlon Aviation and is in charge of the aircraft parts department; she also handles the various shop administrative functions.

While Jenna may be the latest employee hired, she just might be one of the most important ones, because we all know the power of first impressions and she might be the one taking your call!