Meet the Pilot
Trey Hayden is a fourth generation aviator with 40 years as a licensed pilot. He attended his first fly-ins strapped in a carseat in the family’s taildragger. He literally grew up at the airport from the age of 10 when his father’s dream of living in an airpark community and having a hangar in the backyard was fulfilled. Being the airport kid and getting to fly on his Dad’s lap in the back seat of an open cockpit bi-plane and various other airplanes led to him soloing at age 16 and earning his Private Pilot license at 17 while working at a nearby airport during high school. He received his BS degree in Professional Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
His desire to make flying a career led him to join the military where he graduated from Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School and later earned his Naval Aviator Wings of Gold. He retired after 29 yrs of service as an active duty Navy flight instructor teaching the next generation of Naval Aviators. He has accumulated over 8,600 flight hours in over 70 different types of military and civilian aircraft, including over 550 day and night landings aboard US Navy aircraft carriers.
He has earned an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate and his ratings include single and multiengine land airplanes, rotorcraft, and single engine sea airplanes. He is also a Certified Flight Instructor rated to instruct in single engine and multiengine airplanes, and instruments, but he enjoys tailwheel instruction the most. He has been involved with aircraft maintenance and restoration as an FAA licensed mechanic, and holds A&P (Airframes and Powerplant) and IA (Inspection Authorization) ratings.
Trey and his family attend fly-ins throughout the year and have flown to EAA Airventure in Oshkosh, WI numerous times and volunteer with the Warbirds of America, Commemorative Air Force, and the Antique Airplane Association. Trey also owns Texas Warbird Adventures, where he offers flights in his North American T-6 Texan/SNJ-4 WWII Warbird in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.