Board Member
Officially retired from the equipment leasing business, Carson originally became involved in aircraft lending with Piper Acceptance Corporation in 1975, Peoria, IL. Their offices were located just below the control tower next to Byerly Aviation. The offices relocated to Addison, IL later that year. Carson’s aviation experience prior to 1975 started in high school when he started taking flying lessons at the age of 14. He soloed on his 16th birthday and had his private license at 17.
Carson continued flying activities in college at SIU in Carbondale as a member of the Flying Salukis. After graduation he had accumulated around 500 hours of total flying time, mostly flying students between Carbondale and Chicago and other destinations. After joining Piper, Carson covered an eight-state territory out of Illinois and accumulated around 2500 hours of flight time. During that period he also picked up his Commercial, Multi-Engine Instrument ratings.
He left PAC in 1985 to pursue capital equipment leasing at that time with The Chase Manhattan Bank. He has been a volunteer pilot for LifeLine Pilots since 2004 and has flown over 30 missions for the organization.