October 7, Jon Wood lost his life in his Edge 540 while practicing aerobatics. Jon was a very big part of the MGAS team as our ferry pilot and crew chief.

Flying was Jon’s life. He was an aviator with a passion for flight that burned deep in his soul. He was happiest when in the air; you could see it in his face.

To many, Jon was a quiet, unassuming guy. But once you got to know him, you quickly realized that he was a very funny and incredibly caring person who had a passion for life. One night while we were leaving the Manassas airport, Jon abruptly stopped the car, jumped out, and went running. I had no idea what he was doing, stopping the car in the middle of a busy road. Turns out he was rescuing a slow moving turtle in our path before it got run over by a car. That was Jon!

He recently competed for the first time in the US National Aerobatic Championships to further his knowledge and experience with an eye towards eventually achieving his dream of becoming an airshow pilot.

I will forever miss his ear to ear grin as he flew along side me in the CAP while on cross country trips to shows. He often joked that the only reason he worked with me was to fly “the plane”.  He will be missed by many!