Flying has been a long-time passion for Jordan

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – It’s hard for Jim Jordan, president/CEO of Schools Financial Credit Union, to remember life without being in the cockpit of an airplane. His father, a professional pilot, taught him how to fly and he got his pilot’s license 43 years ago when he was 16. But his love of aviation dates back well before that. “When I was between four and six years old, I spent a fair amount of time riding in my dad’s lap while he flew a military surplus plane we owned,” Jordan explains. “During those flights I wore a parachute harness without a parachute that was designed to snap into the parachute harness he was wearing. Luckily, we never tested the arrangement.” Jordan’s dad actually flew Royal Air Force fighters during the Battle of Britain in World War II. A Californian, he joined the RAF as a pilot before America got into the war. Some sources calculate at one point the life expectancy of an RAF pilot fighting over England was three weeks. In case Jim Jordan hadn’t inherited a passion for aviation from his father, he could have caught it from his mother. His parents met when his father was teaching her to fly. When they married, she did solo but quit pursuing her private pilot’s license. She declared with two pilots in the family, she didn’t need to stay current. When he was in college Jordan spent all the money he earned from Army ROTC on flying. Although his eyesight didn’t let him qualify for military aviation, after he got out of the service he used the GI Bill to get his instrument, instructors and multi-engine pilot licenses. In the mid-1980s he added a commercial glider license. In 2003 he bought an Aviat Husky, which looks like a Piper Club. He picked it because it would be fun to fly and could still be used for business travel. “On every flight, I thank the Lord for the wonderful opportunity he has given me to enjoy our magnificent world,” Jordan says. “Flying takes the pilot’s full concentration, so it is a great way to get away from the day-to-day stress and strains of life.” -