Former Blue Angels pilot featured at Southeast Aviation Expo

Lt. Commander Scott “Yogi” Beare, U.S. Navy (Retired), former pilot for the Blue Angels and author of two books, will be a keynote speaker at the Southeast Aviation Expo, slated for Sept. 27-28, at Greenville Downtown Airport (GMU) in South Carolina.

“Fastest I got was 1.78 Mach, which is 1.78 times the speed of sound, which equals about 1,206 to 1,352 miles per hour depending on your cruising altitude! That’s scootin’ along!” joked Beare.

“It will be incredible for us to hear about his fast flying experiences since not many pilots ever get to go that fast or fly those type planes,” noted GMU Airport Director Joe Frasher.

After Beare began his naval career in nuclear engineering, he soon felt a “higher” calling – literally. He set his sights on his lifelong passion of becoming a pilot earning his navy “wings of gold” in 1985. Spending his last 20 years in the military as a naval aviator, Beare flew a variety of aircraft including the F/A-18 Hornet and F-5 Tiger II, accumulating over 6,000  hours in these high performance fighters. He is a graduate of the famed Naval Fighter Weapons School “TOPGUN,” as well as a combat decorated veteran of Desert Storm where he was awarded two air medals and a navy commendation medal for valor in aerial combat. Beare’s aviation career reached new heights in 1995 when he was selected to fly with the U.S. Navy’s world-renowned flight demonstration team, the Blue Angels.

Retiring in 2004 after completing 24 years of naval service, Beare was recruited to launch the start-up of a newly incorporated high-tech venture. As Vice President, Operations and Manufacturing, he had full responsibility for the strategic planning, development, and management of all corporate operations resulting in phenomenal success, generating $170 million in revenue in only their second year of operation.

Beare’s formal education includes a M.B.A. and a B.A. from George Washington University. He has written two books: “Yogi Beare! Values of a Blue Angel,” an inspiring story of how personal values build character to overcome hardship and drive success; and “The Power of Teamwork,” which highlights key principles of teamwork embraced by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels.

Beare currently flies for Southwest Airlines, and presents keynote addresses and corporate seminars promoting teamwork, performance excellence and values-based leadership. Beare lives in Westminster, S.C., with his wife Shane, and their two children Joshua and Jennifer.

“We hope to grow this event each year and with speakers like Scott coming we may one day be as big as the Northwest Aviation Conference & Trade Show in Washington state; that event has been in existence for 29 years and pulls about 12,000 attendees,” Frasher added.

Sponsors for this year are Trade-A-Plane, Special Services Corporation, Greenville Jet Center, Civil Air Patrol and the Greenville Downtown Airport.

New exhibitors for 2013 are Pipistrel Aircraft and EPIC Aviation, while returning exhibitors include: Cirrus, Michelin Aircraft Tires, James A. Gardner Company, Baldwin Safety & Compliance, Advocate Consulting, Hope Aviation Insurance, Greenville Downtown Airport, Lycoming, Aviation Tax Consultants, LLC., USAeroTech – Professional Aircraft Maintenance Training, PF Flyers, Runway Cafe, Special Services Corporation, Trade-A-Plane, Eclipse Aerospace, CTS International, Champion Aerospace, Skytech, Tempest, Stevens Aviation, Land Rover Carolinas, Premier Aircraft Sales, Diamond Aircraft, SWT Aviation Inc., Cubcrafters, Airwolf Aviation Services, DTC DUAT Service, Greenville Jet Center, Civil Air Patrol, Pilots N Paws, Eastern Aviation Fuels – Shell Aviation, Eagle Aviation, SCAA, SC Aeronautics Commission, SC Aviation Safety Council, SC Historic Aviation Foundation, The FAA Flight Standards Districts Office, Drumm Health Services, Davis & Floyd and Angel Flight.