Page 8 - Volume 13 Number 4

college, an eye-opening experience. It was at the Addison Airport just north of downtown Dallas that he says he fell in love with the King Air – for its rugged look and the comfort, speed and power that pilots boasted about.
The real push into aviation, though, came from an experience flying with his wife’s cousin, Bill Borgsmiller, who founded the ACI Jet facility at San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport about midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
“Jen and I were just married and we had come to San Diego,” Miller remembers. “Billy flew down to Carlsbad in a client’s Citation II and he told us to come to the airport and go to dinner with him. He said, in the Citation we could either fly down to Cabo San Lucas in an hour or an hour and a half or we can fly up to San Francisco or over to Phoenix. Both of our mouths hit the floor. So, 20 years ago we went to Roy’s restaurant in Pebble Beach. I got to sit in the front and as soon as I experienced that, I told my wife that I have to learn to fly. We immediately got our pilot’s licenses back in Texas, then I got my instrument rating and we started flying from there.”
They became pilots in 2003 and in 2005 they purchased their first aircraft, a 2005 Cirrus SR22. The Millers put nearly 500 hours on the airplane, including cross-country flights, before selling it in 2007.
“From that point, my wife and I had five little girls over the next 10 years, so I put my head down in business and started working really hard,” Miller said. “Over those years, we leased a lot of different airplanes: a Beechcraft Baron, a Beechcraft Bonanza and a Turbo Commander. We started working our way up and bought our first turbine-engine aircraft when I was 40, which was five years ago.
“Our first true turbine was a Citation 501, and I’ll never forget making that purchase. Then after we recapitalized one of our companies, we bought a Gulfstream 100. Next, we bought the Lear 60 and, finally, we bought the King Air, the airplane I always wanted.”
Queen of Kings
At the height of expanding iStorage into 12 states, the jets fit Miller’s travel needs, which included frequent trips between San Diego and Tampa. Now, when needed, he flies to Florida on commercial airlines. The King Air is ideal for most of their missions that take them throughout California, surrounding states and down to Mexico.
On the business side, the Millers use the King Air for meetings related to real estate acquisition and companies in which they invest. Personal use includes taking the
6 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
APRIL 2019