Pilot Perspectives: Patrick Romano

Nearly every pilot that makes it to 10,000 hours of flight time has an interesting story, but few are as impressive as that of Patrick Romano.

Having formed a successful aviation management company just after college, a young Romano quickly set himself on a path to logbook — and business — success that would be the envy of most pilots: 6,000 hours of flight time, multiple type ratings, and legitimate flight experience in everything from corporate aircraft to helicopters. While still in his 20s, the aviator/entrepreneur had amassed the experience of someone twice his age.

And while admittedly grateful for the opportunities he had to both build a business and experience so many different types of aircraft, as many professional aviators will tell you, flying for a living is a lot different than flying for fun.

So, after several successful years, Patrick made the decision to sell his business, while openly wondering what the next stage of his career would hold and if it would include aviation.

It was around that same time, on a cold and dreary January day, when his uncle attempted to coax him into an afternoon flight. Patrick recalls thinking that he “really wasn’t interested in aviation at all.” He also was pretty sure that his uncle “was genuinely trying to mooch a free BFR,” he added with a laugh.

Fortunately, for Patrick — and ultimately the aviation community — his uncle succeeded and selected a rather spectacular destination: Cache Creek, Oregon.

As the pair made their way from Spokane, Washington, along the Snake River and into Eastern Oregon, Patrick was stunned by the area’s natural beauty.

Circling an unnamed strip for landing, he says that’s when a revelation hit him: “This is why people fly airplanes!”

“This is why people fly airplanes!”

Renewed with enthusiasm for flying, Patrick, also an avid mountain biker and outdoorsman, says he barely let a month go by before he bought a Maule M-7 so he could haul his gear into the backcountry and begin exploring on his own terms.

Flash forward to today and, save for the occasional flight with his wife Lindsey, a corporate pilot flying Cessna Citations, Patrick hasn’t flown commercially since he sold his first company nearly a decade ago.

That’s not to say he hasn’t spent a lot of time in the air.

Having moved on to his second entrepreneurial venture as a franchisee of Domino’s Pizza throughout the greater Denver Area, the not yet 40-year-old Patrick has racked up an additional 4,000 hours of flight time, almost exclusively in the backcountry.

No longer a professional pilot in the traditional sense, he is still very much active in the aviation community, dedicating much of his free time to volunteering with the Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF) as the organization’s Colorado liaison.

Noting that in Colorado alone, the RAF has protected more than a dozen remote strips — with another two-dozen in the works — Patrick is quick to highlight that, thanks to his fellow liaisons, the organization has been just as successful in other states.

“They’re just the type of people that get stuff done,” he says of his counterparts, while emphasizing the group’s commitment to educating aviators on technique, safety, and etiquette.

As part of RAF’s safety and education committee, Patrick notes that while “there are some very good backcountry instructors out there,” it can still be intimidating for newcomers.

Which is why, in part, he was inspired to found BackcountryAviation.com and to film his popular YouTube series STOL Tips.

“I made those videos to try and teach safety first and foremost,” says the CFI, adding that one of his personal outreach objectives is “to try and teach the teachers” so that the knowledge can spread and so that more pilots, new and experienced alike, have the opportunity to enjoy this type of flying.

Having recently added a Turbo Cessna 206 to his line-up of airplanes that also includes a Piper Super Cub and the Maule M-7, Patrick is quick to emphasize that while, in certain situations it can be helpful, you don’t really need much of an airplane to get out there and to start landing at beginner level grass and dirt strips.

Relating the story of a friend who owned a low-powered tricycle gear airplane, Patrick recalls how his friend kept talking about how one day, with a better aircraft, he’d get out to the mountains and do some fly-in camping.

“You don’t need to wait dude, let’s go,” he told his friend. “There is a whole lot more out there than the $100 hamburger.”

What I Fly

A 1976 TU206F. Mine has an STC where it’s 310 horsepower for about five minutes and then 285 after that.

Why I Fly It

Primarily, it’s for loading stuff like bikes and kayaks. It wasn’t so much about hauling more weight, but my wife and I wanted something that could go faster, was a more stable IFR platform, and had larger doors to accommodate our gear. Also, we wanted something that could still visit a high number of backcountry strips.

How I Fly It

Its primary mission has been longer trips. And for me, managing a big turbo engine trying to squeeze it into as short a strip as possible has been a lot of fun. Then there’s the utility. The first trip I took in it was to fly an 800-pound diesel engine from Denver to Dallas nonstop.

Operating Costs

Flying Advice

From a backcountry perspective, I would say there is absolutely no substitution for practice and repetition. No matter how knowledgeable you are, it comes down to muscle memory. So, get out and get out often. Practice a lot.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained is an ethic that resonates with aviators and entrepreneurs alike. Sure, good things can come to those who wait but, whether it’s a new place to land or a new business, there is always an opportunity to be had.