Illinois Field Directors

Field Director: Tom Hickson

Call Tom: 815-222-9209

Tom lives in northwest Illinois where he enjoys flying to

the many lakes in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Ontario Canada. With his first flight at age 8, he knew flying was his passion. Having grown up around water his whole life, it was only natural to combine his 2 passions together in 2001 when obtaining his seaplane rating. Tom has been flying for over 28 years and holds an Airline Transport Pilot license in both the United states and Japan. Holding multiple type ratings, instructor ratings as well as being a qualified mechanic with inspection authorization shows his dedication to aviation. Tom has flown numerous types of airplanes. Anything from a J3 cub to a jumbo jet. His experience extends across the board from banner towing, flight instruction, corporate, cargo and airlines. Currently Tom operates a Cessna 180 on Edo amphibious floats and has done so for the last 10 years. Living at an airpark, his wife and daughter are also surrounded by aviation. Tom’s daughter took her first seaplane ride being just a few months old and has now caught the bug as well. His dedication to promote seaplane safety and awareness is very apparent. As he always says, “You’re not having fun unless you’re getting wet.”