Birmingham Flight Center

BFC Management
(Capability and ambition delivered)

Born and raised in South Florida, Steven grew up flying with his father, Harley Pickett. After high school, he came to Alabama in 1983 to join the united states air force, where he was in the security forces. After serving for 3 years at Incirlik air base, turkey, he returned to Alabama to attend Troy university. His college plans at Troy were put on hold when his daughter was born, so he began pursuing maintenance certification and eventually obtained his A&P certification while serving the Army national guard as a flight engineer for CH47-D.  He later transferred to the Air national guard to serve as a Pneudrolics mechanic. During that time, he applied for and passed the selection process to become a boom operator on the KC-135. While serving as a boom operator, he shifted gears in his aviation career by pursuing his pilot license. Starting with a Cessna 172 (that eventually grew into an entire flight school) he earned all of his certifications up to ATP certification. He then worked full time in a corporate aviation department while serving part time in the Guard.

Type Ratings: BE-300;BE-400;CE-525s;CE-560XL;CE-650; CE-680; MU-300
with sic privileges in the G-1159 and the G-IV.

CFI,CFII,MEI,AGI,IGI, ATP, CSIP

Type Ratings: BE-300;BE-400;CE-525s;CE-560XL;CE-650;CE-680;MU-300 with sic in LR-45.

Chief Instructor

Type Ratings: CE-525s, SIC in CE-560XL, SIC in CE-650, CE-680

Maintenance Professionals (Quality leading safety)

Chris Vanbuskirk

Director of Maintenance

Born in Indiana, Chris recalls fondly his grandfather taking him to watch aircraft depart and land at KIND. He credits these early memories towards his love of aviation. After high school, he attended Embry Riddle Aeronautical University where he began his work towards becoming a pilot as well as discovering a deep interest in maintenance studies. He took the interest in maintenance even further, and after graduating college, he enrolled at Redstone Maintenance College in Denver CO. This prepared him for the challenging field of aircraft maintenance, and he excelled at his first major in the care and upkeep of the Mighty CH-47 Chinook for a major cargo operator. He remained in service to the cargo operator and the chinooks from 2013 to 2019, gaining invaluable skills and experience in dynamic environments and complex systems. Now he is focused on settling down and growing a wonderful family in the beautiful south while honing those skills to keep up BFC’s ever growing fleet of training and management aircraft. In his free time, he likes to watch football (Go Dolphins!), read, play video games, and restore classic firearms.

A&P, I.A. 

Staff Instructors (Professionalism delivered)

CFI, CFII

Spencer Lundy

Born and raised in rural Northwest Georgia, Spencer is a first generation pilot and is excited to be instructing with Birmingham Flight Center. Since his first flight, Spencer knew he needed to pursue his dream of being a professional pilot. He attended Auburn University obtaining a degree in Aviation Management and minor in Business Administration. Upon completion of his undergraduate degree, he attended ATP flight school at the DeKalb-Peachtree airport in Atlanta, Georgia to become a certified flight instructor. In his spare time, Spencer enjoys tennis, theater, and jamming to his favorite bands on guitar. He looks forward to sharing the knowledge he has gained in aviation to aspiring aviators. 
 

CFI, CFII, MEI

Seth Keahey

Seth is from Trussville, AL. He is a first generation pilot and has always been interested in aviation but after watching a movie about a rescue pilot he decided to make a career out of it. Seth attended Auburn University and earned a degree in Aviation Management with a minor in Business Administration. After graduation, he moved to Atlanta where he began flight training full time to earn his certificates and ratings. He is now a Certified Flight Instructor, along with CFII and MEI. Seth is happy to be back in Birmingham where he will be closer to family and friends and be able to share his passion for flying. 

CFI, CFII, MEI

Alex Karnegis

While growing up just South of Atlanta, Alex had been heavily influenced by aviation since a very young age. He first learned how to fly at age seventeen with his father as his instructor. After graduating high school, Alex then attended Middle Georgia State University. There, he earned a bachelor's degree in Aviation Science and Management and completed MGA's advanced flight program in just three years. Now with Birmingham Flight Center, Alex is eager to share his passion for aviation and wants to encourage others to consider a career in aviation.
 

CFI, CFII, MEI

Customer Service Representatives (Front office professionals)

Rebekah Smith

CSR

Rebekah was born and raised in Birmingham Alabama, and is a proud Mom to 5 amazing kids. Outdoors oriented, she loves hiking, fishing, kayaking, and pretty much anything fun and outdoors! Also a big music fan, you can usually catch her at the next big concert or music festival. She is a tremendous asset to BFC, and is always ready to help you handle the accounting side of flight training. She helps make sure that the paperwork is always a breeze! 

Hannah Bryant

CSR, CFI in training

Hannah was born and raised in Birmingham Alabama, and has had a lifelong goal to be a pilot at FedEx with her dad. This drive has carried her through numerous ratings at BFC, and she is a success story here with our team! When not focused on flying, you can often catch her helping with the front office work, and using her earned expertise to mentor new students at BFC, or helping Rebekah process paperwork and schedules. 
 

CFI, (very soon!)

PVT, IFR, CSEL

Part time Instructors (Full time dedication)

Part time Instructor

CFI, CFII, MEI. ATP, FE turbojet

Type Ratings: B-707/720, CE-560XL; SIC in CE-650, CE-525, CE-680