Page 12 - Volume 15 Number 11

When possible, Johnson also uses his King Air for charitable flights. Last December he helped transport 30 sea turtles, which had been cold-stunned, from the New England coast to Florida for rehabilitation and is seen here (right) accepting the boxes onboard his aircraft. (Credit: Lauren Owens Lambert)
business acquisitions. Johnson has even been known to fly products to deploying military when shipping can’t make the deadline.
“Having the airplane was especially helpful during COVID; we were growing the business at a terrible time in terms of traveling and meeting face-to-face,” Johnson said. “But having the airplane and being able to avoid the exposure to others that comes with flying commercially was a huge help, whether it was moving employees between sites, flying in CEO candidates or meeting with critical suppliers.”
In 2021, TacMed brought on a CEO to handle day- to-day operations. Johnson’s title is founder and co- chairman of the company, and he handles most of the flying. There are several other employees who happen to be instrument-rated pilots and can help out when needed.
Johnson flies the King Air about 200 hours a year, predominantly for TacMed and his own real estate holdings. He also uses the aircraft for occasional family trips and tries to fit in charitable flights when possible.
10 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
After reading about the nonprofit Turtles Fly Too in King Air magazine last December, Johnson and one of his daughters volunteered to fly 30 Kemp’s Ridley and loggerhead sea turtles on Dec. 22. The turtles were rescued after being cold-stunned along the New Eng- land coast and needed to be delivered to two Florida rehabilitation facilities (Clearwater Marine Aquarium and SeaWorld), where they could continue to recover and eventually be released into the ocean.
Johnson removed all the seats in the C90GT to make room for the special cargo – which travel in banana boxes – and the mission required 11.5 hours of flying in one day. He’s hoping to do more turtle missions this winter, and he’s also registered to fly in the June 2022 Special Olympics Airlift (see sidebar on page 12) coordinated by Textron Aviation.
He’s having a blast flying the King Air after moving up from a series of Piper aircraft.
“I started with a 1976 Piper Archer and kept step- ping up from there,” said Johnson, who has amassed 1,500 hours since getting his pilot license in 2008. ›
NOVEMBER 2021