The Addiction: How AeroAddicts™ Was Born

My aviation addiction started long before I ever sat in a cockpit. As a kid, I watched my father build remote‑control airplanes in our garage. He would build and I would fly them or crash them! We spent years building, flying and traveling the country to R/C shows. One of the highlights was attending the old Byron Aviation R/C airshows, a place that felt larger than life to me. That’s where the spark ignited.  

In high school, I found one of my father’s old logbooks. He had started flight training but stopped after a few hours because life got in the way, just like it does for so many people. Seeing that logbook changed everything. It made me think, I could do this. I could finish what he started.

After graduation, a family friend and I began flight training together. We attended ground school at a local college at night, and our flight lessons were scattered across different instructors and schedules. I didn’t understand the differences between flight schools back then — I just knew I wanted to fly. I was fortunate to learn from some incredible instructors along the way.

I earned my fixed‑wing private pilot certificate in the early 2000s and later added my instrument rating. But airplanes were only half of my passion.

We had another family friend who owned a Rotorway helicopter and a Bonanza A36. He was always offering rides or stopping in while flying around, and every visit was like gasoline on a fire. He fed my obsession with flight in a way no one else ever had. Over the years, he took aviation to a level I had never seen before — moving from the Rotorway to an Enstrom, then to an R44, and eventually becoming the owner and pilot of one of the most well‑known TBM Avengers in the country. His journey became the roadmap so many of us dream of following.

I was always drawn to helicopters — the complexity, the challenge, the precision. Eventually, I pushed through the doubts and started helicopter training in Mattoon at CIA. The instruction was exceptional, and I earned my helicopter private certificate.

A few months later, tragedy struck. One of my favorite instructors — someone who shaped my flying more than he ever knew — died in a helicopter crash. The loss of a good friend and instructor hit hard, and it affected my flying for many years. I stepped away, even though aviation never stopped pulling at me.

Nearly twenty years after earning my private license, something shifted. I watched a YouTuber in Texas building his own aircraft, and it triggered a realization: I had invested too much time, training, and passion to let aviation fade away. 

My wife supported the dream, and together we purchased a Zenith 750 SD kit right after COVID hit the country. That decision brought aviation back into my life in a way that felt new, focused, and meaningful.

I’ve been fortunate to experience aviation from so many angles — R/C flying, fixed‑wing, helicopters, homebuilding, and the community that surrounds all of it.  

Through all those experiences, one thing became clear:

Aviation people are everywhere, but they’re hard to find. 

That’s why I created AeroAddicts.

AeroAddicts is built to bring aviation together in one place. On a global map, individual profiles give you the ability to list as much or as little as you want. These settings allow people to connect with you — or allow you to find exactly who or what you’re looking for. Whether you want to share your certifications, your aircraft, your home airport, your interests, or simply your presence in the aviation world, AeroAddicts gives you full control over how you show up.

The goal is simple: make it easy for aviation people to find each other, support each other, and grow together.

I wish my father could see what started as a remote‑control obsession has become today. His passion sparked mine, and now AeroAddicts exists to help others find theirs.

 I have the amazing opportunity to build this community with my family involved. The chance for the passion of aviation to be ignited once again. Please sign up today and let us all come together!

Thank you,

Kent Berg