Growing up a half mile north of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport - ORD (the world's busiest at the time) provided me with endless opportunities to gaze in the sky at all of the arriving and departing airplanes.  I was very active in sports but I easily became distracted every time a plane flew over.

As we say in the industry “I got bit by the bug”. The “bug” is the love of airplanes. I took my first airplane ride sometime in the early 70’s on a North Central Airlines flight from Manistee, Michigan to Chicago, Illinois.

In 1975 I joined the United States Marine Corps and was trained as an Flying Mechanic on the Lockheed Hercules C-130. The training lasted almost a year.  I was not able to become a military pilot because 20/20 vision was required.

While serving in the Marine Corps I was able to take flying lessons in civilian type aircraft. My instructor was an off duty Navy instructor pilot. He flew the P3 - Orion Submarine Hunter aircraft.

In about a year I earned my Private Pilot License. It was after earning my Private Pilot License that I realized I wanted to begin a career in aviation.

From 1977 to 1982 I attended the University of Illinois and Purdue University majoring in aircraft maintenance and professional piloting.  I earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aviation Technology.

In 1990 I decided to take a break from flying to spend time raising my awesome son John and his sister Kari.  After about 10 years I reentered the aviation field flying cargo for Fedex utilizing the Cessna Caravan C-208 aircraft.  

Currently I am a Captain for Silver Airways based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  We fly all over Florida and to many islands in the Bahamas.

Captain Phil Lambrechts - Ocean Ridge, Florida