Pilots
Tom Anderson
Tom is our Director of Operations. He is a commercial pilot in gliders, single engine airplanes and seaplanes with an airline transport pilot rating in multi-engine aircraft with multiple type ratings. He is a flight instructor with a CFI-II-MEI-G. Tom has logged more than 12,000 flight hours in many different types of aircraft, with over 2,200 hours of flight instruction given. He is also one of our tow plane pilots. Tom’s wife, Jen Stamp, is also an instructor at Sugarbush Soaring.
Rick Hanson
Rick is our Chief Flight Instructor. He is a commercial pilot in single and multi-engine airplanes, single engine seaplanes, and gliders. He holds an instrument rating along with several Type ratings, and is a CFI and CFIG. Rick has logged more than 8,500 flight-hours including more than 4,000 hours as a flight instructor. He resides in Warren, VT during the summers and spends winters in the Boulder, Colorado area.
Luc Zipkin
Luc is our primary tow pilot for the 2023 season. He first came to Sugarbush in 2015 for a scenic ride in the ASK 21 and was hooked. After returning for several Youth Soaring Camps, Luc moved on to powered aircraft, and is now a Commercial Pilot in airplanes with an Instrument rating and more than 400 flight-hours in a variety of tailwheel aircraft. When not flying the towplane at Sugarbush, Luc is a student at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT
Danny Burns
Danny Burns is a commercial pilot in gliders and private pilot in single engine airplanes. He is currently working on his CFI-G. He has been flying at the Warren Sugarbush airport since 2017, when he started as a Line Crew member. Danny participated in the Line Crew program for five summers and then worked as assistant airport manager before becoming a commercial ride pilot. Danny is currently serving as the Secretary of Flight Experience for Youth and is pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering at Olin College of Engineering in Needham, MA.
Steve Platt
Steve is a commercial pilot in single engine airplanes, single engine seaplanes, and gliders. He holds an instrument rating and is a Certified Flight Instructor for airplanes, instruments, and gliders. He has logged over 4,000 flight-hours including over 2,000 hours as a flight instructor. He is a retired IBM Engineering Manager and resides in Warren, VT adjacent to the Warren-Sugarbush Gliderport.
Jen Stamp
Jen is a commercial pilot in single engine airplanes and gliders. She holds an instrument rating and is a Certified Flight Instructor for airplanes, instruments, and gliders. She has over 1,500 total flight hours, over 500 of which have been spent giving instruction in gliders. She is currently serving as President of Flight Experience for Youth. During the weekends and youth camps, she instructs in gliders or buzzes around in a 1941 Taylorcraft (BC12-65). During the week, she works as an aquatic ecologist for Tetra Tech’s Center for Ecological Sciences. Jen’s husband, Tom Anderson, is Director of Operations at Sugarbush Soaring.
Graham Ramsden
Graham joined the club in 1999, and has logged over 1,000 hours of flight time (900 in gliders). When not instructing or giving rides, he floats around the sky in his LS-4. Graham spends his summers in Vermont. The rest of the year he works as a college professor at Creighton University in Nebraska.
Mark Bigelow
Mark Bigelow, a commercial glider pilot and CFIG, is one of our glider instructors. He started flying gliders at Sugarbush in the 1990’s, and has logged over 800 flight hours. Mark resides in Warren, VT for part of the year, and spends the other part in Pennsylvania or in Cape May, NJ.
Tim Larsen
Tim Larsen, a commercial glider pilot and CFIG, is one of our part-time glider instructors. He has logged over 2,300 flight hours and has flown in New Zealand as well as all over the US, including Tennessee, Georgia, West Virginia, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Alabama, and North and South Carolina. Tim recently earned his Eastern Diamond Distance (500 km) soaring badge in Tennessee. After a 20+ year hiatus, he started flying power planes again last year in a 1941 Taylorcraft. Tim resides in Moretown, VT.
Dave Bahnson
Dave Bahnson is a commercial pilot in single engine airplanes, seaplanes, and gliders. He holds an Instrument rating and is a Certified Flight Instructor. He has logged over 3,500 hours of flight time, which includes two trips to Alaska in a C206 with a motorcycle in the plane. Dave is an adjunct faculty member at the Vermont Tech Professional Pilot degree program and a retired orthopedic surgeon. He resides in Mendon, VT.