Wednesday, April 30, 2014

George Karamitis

Karamitis is a Wisconsin native, and his roots in aviation go back to Oshkosh, Wis., now home of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). Karamaitis’s passion for flying began back when he was less than 8 years and would spend hours sitting at the edge of the Oshkosh airport and watch airplanes taxiing and flying.  There he received his first flight by none other than Steve Wittman.

After high school, Karamitis joined the Navy as a radar operator,  where he formed a Navy flying club in Newfoundland and earned his private pilot certificate. Later at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, George formed another flying club and earned his flight instructor rating in 1966. His keen interest eventually led to a flying job for Trans World Airlines, where he flew for 33 years and retired as a captain in 2001.

While working for the airlines, Karamitis was also actively involved in flying general aviation (GA) aircraft, including flight instructing. George has been an avid Quicksilver fan for more than 25 years, owning numerous models following his first Quicksilver purchase, a Sport II, in 1988. Today George operates a Sprint II that he uses for demonstration flights, and continues to instruct student pilots at Lockwood Aviation in Sebring, in a Tecnam LSA.

In 2013, the FAA's prestigious Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award was presented to George Karamitis, at the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, Florida. Wright Masters are honored for 50 years of flight free of accidents, incidents, or citations.


"You can't drive a car for 50 years without getting a ticket or having a fender bender, though, granted you drive more hours than you fly, but I plan to keep flying as long as I can” – G.K. –