![\"IMG-FLT-Paul-Downing-Reno-Air-Race-2018-5\"](\"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG-FLT-Paul-Downing-Reno-Air-Race-2018-5.jpg\")
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Paul\u2019s father Gregg Downing has been the airport manager at Guymon Municipal Airport in Oklahoma since Paul was a child. Whether he was helping to maintain the planes, gas them up or tagging along for test rides, Paul was constantly surrounded by aviation.<\/p>\n
Paul and his dad share a passion for vintage planes, and have been attending air shows since Paul can remember. Together they fly a WWII-era Beechcraft Model 18, and often take it to air shows to sell rides in the twin-tail, low-wing aircraft.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love flying that thing,\u201d said Paul about the Beech 18. \u201cYou have to manhandle the controls, be extra aware of crosswinds, and be ready for any challenge it throws at you. But that\u2019s what makes it so fun to fly!\u201d<\/p>\n
Can’t fight the feeling<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n A self-proclaimed AvGeek, Paul took his skills and passion to Oklahoma State University where he was the captain of the flight team for their National Intercollegiate Flying Association competitions. That\u2019s where Paul said his competitive spirit began as a pilot, and led him to air racing.<\/p>\n When he received his sign-on bonus at Envoy \u2013 and being the avid aviator he is \u2013 Paul spent most of it on a Lanceair 360 painted with the number 36, ready to race. The flashy, agile plane has the same engine as a Cessna Skyhawk, but because of its aerodynamics flies up to twice as fast, Paul said.<\/p>\n This spring, Paul took his new plane to pylon racing school in Reno where he learned the fundamentals of formation flying.<\/p>\n \u201cI quickly learned that racing is formation flying, just not in cooperation,\u201d said Paul. \u201cI would be flying in tight formation with another pilot, but couldn\u2019t quite get past him. Suddenly it hit me, we\u2019re racing! I\u2019m in Reno and I\u2019m racing a plane. There\u2019s nothing like it.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n However smooth he flew, other\u2019s planes flew faster. He officially placed seventh with a top speed of 223.7 mph, but had a great time doing it.<\/p>\n Back in Chicago, Paul traded in his full-body racing suit for his Envoy uniform, and swapped his Lanceair for a CRJ-700. No matter the time or place, if he\u2019s flying, Paul is right where he wants to be.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As a First Officer, Paul is still learning a lot from the Captains at Envoy who understand the importance of passing down knowledge of the plane and the airline. Paul said that he\u2019s always encouraged by his Captains to be an exceptional leader, and gets a kick out of their excitement to flow to American Airlines.<\/p>\n Yet, in the meantime, Paul is enjoying the journey at Envoy, and is humbled by his fortune to pursue his childhood dreams.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s crazy to me that I get paid to fly big planes to make money for my little plane,\u201d said Paul. \u201cI\u2019m so lucky that my job is also my hobby. I never would\u2019ve imagined I\u2019d have it this good.\u201d<\/p>\n Before he could even drive a car, he could fly a plane. On his sixteenth birthday, Envoy First Officer Paul Downing soloed his first flight. At this point in his young life, flying planes was old hat, like riding a bike or tying his shoes. \u201cMy very first memories are of my dad sitting me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":42118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[105,64,65,66,77,475,144,120,86,51,68,476,92,60,98,80,272,260],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10067"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\nStart your engines!<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Before he knew it, it was race day and Paul was set to take on the pylons. He flew like he wanted to \u2013 smooth, on a good line and level. \u201cSmooth is fast and fast is smooth,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nLove what you do<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nClick here to view photos from Paul’s hangar and the race!<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"