Kimberly Nagel
Kimberly Nagel was born and raised in the St. Louis metro-east area. Her education has been focused on management and accounting. She was on the Dean’s List and a member of the honor society. Kimberly started at Ideal Aviation in 2012. She was offered a position at FlightSafety International in 2019 which she accepted but returned to Ideal Aviation in 2022 to be closer to home. Although not a pilot, she has had the opportunity to fly many aircraft including Maul, Cessna 150, 172, SR-22 Turbo, Piper Arrow, Pilatus PC-12, Cessna Citation 1SP, and an airship! She also has several simulator hours in Embraer 145, 170, and CRJ 200.
Audrey Harris
Audrey Harris is a St. Louis county native who has spent her entire life around aviation. She is currently finishing her Bachelor Of Science degree at Saint Louis University for Aviation Management. Audrey is a fixed-wing Private Pilot working toward her Instrument Rating when she is not helping customers at the front desk. She has held the position of Office Manager since July 2021.
Tad Wood
Tad earned his A&P in 1991 and added his IA in 1995. He also attended Jefferson College in 1986 where he received his Associate of Applied Science in Business. He is factory trained from Cessna Aircraft in the 208 series as well as Pratt & Whitney Canada in the PT6A and JT15D series engines.
He was Director of Maintenance for a 135 operator for over 25 years and worked as a mechanic and inspector for a 145 repair station for 5 years.
Tad has worked on everything from J-3 cubs to Warbirds (and everything in between) in his 35 years in aviation!
Jim Moseley
Jim graduated Magna-Cum-Laude from Saint Louis University with a B.S. in Flight Science. He is a CFI and CFII and was awarded the 2018 Flight Instructor of the year In the St. Louis area. He also instructs in Southwestern Illinois College’s Aviation program. Jim has been instructing with Ideal since January 2018 and became Chief CFI of the Fixed-Wing program in the fall of 2021.
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Bill Houska
Bill Houska comes from a family of aviators. Bill is a Helicopter CFI with over 20 years of experience with over 15,000 hours of flight time. In 1970 his father, Bill Houska, Sr. founded Metropolitan Helicopters, St. Louis’s first helicopter flight school. Growing up around the business his first helicopter ride was when he was 6 months old and then around the age of 12 he got his chance to start “hold the sticks”. After high school he became a Commercial helicopter pilot and a Flight Instructor eventually stepping in to run the family company after the untimely death of his father. In 2002 he was offered the opportunity to become the Newschannel 5 Pilot/Reporter for Chopper 5. During the next 18 years he worked his way through the company holding the different job titles from Line Pilot to Check Airman to Director of Training to Chief Pilot. Bill is excited about getting back to his family roots in the Helicopter Training Industry to help move Ideal Aviation into the future.