Our Team. Your Aviation Family.

Introducing our Vertical Vision team: a group of flight instructors and administrators who prioritize your journey in aviation. With expertise and passion, our instructors guide you to new heights.

Founder / CEO

Ed has a zeal and zest for life. Becoming a pilot has been on his bucket list for decades, but when his oldest son took his girl to move several states away it became too much to put off any longer. What began as flight training for himself continued into the formation of Vertical Vision Flight Academy when he saw that things could be made better by not only implementing the best technology available across the board but more importantly by putting the student and the company’s people at the center. Ed is a strange combination of an extroverted people person, engineer, tech nerd, philanthropist, psychologist, DIY’er, and adventurer all thrown into one. He owns businesses in aviation, real estate, and performance diesel automotive, but also enjoys dabbling in financial investments. He loves things that go fast and is always down for an adventure. He holds his Second-Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and has a deep appreciation for martial arts. Traveling to dozens of countries throughout his life has led to a wide love of people and an even greater desire to serve others. Before being bit by the entrepreneurial bug, he led a widely diverse life in the corporate world, the most prominent of which was being able to build and hone the operational and security standards by which not only the Powerball and MegaMillions lottery games perform nationally, but also how lotteries across the globe do the same. Serving the community and giving people another voice to see that their goals can readily become their reality regardless of their past fuels him. He may or may not have been called the human manifestation of the Energizer Bunny(TM) on more than one occasion. While he obtained his undergraduate degree in business administration with a concentration in computer science and holds multiple technical certifications, his far greater life growth has been through his interactions with the world around him. Ed is humbled to offer up Vertical Vision Flight Academy as a different experience, a truly different way to do flight training, and even a deeply different way to…be.

Flight Instructors

Santiago Zapata is a native of Colombia, where he obtained his degree in International Business. Subsequently, he pursued flight training in the United States, receiving most of his certificates at Aviator College, a part 141 flight school located in Fort Pierce, FL. Prior to becoming a flight instructor, Santiago served as an English intern at the college, where he helped students from diverse backgrounds achieve aviation English proficiency. It was during this experience that he discovered his passion for teaching.
Having lived in various parts of the world and traveled extensively, Santiago possesses a deep understanding of different cultures and how to adapt his teaching approach to suit individual needs. Apart from his aviation pursuits, Santiago finds joy in various activities, such as playing the guitar, staying active through exercise, and exploring new cuisines.
GOLD SEAL
The "Gold Seal Instructor" certification is awarded by the FAA to flight instructors who consistently demonstrate a high standard of performance and exceeding typical requirements for a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI). Students of Gold Seal Instructors typically achieve a high pass rate on their check rides. To achieve this certification, an instructor must meet specific criteria like training and recommending a certain number of students with a high percentage passing their practical tests on the first attempt. This often requires an advanced ground instructor certificate as well.

Paul Kraemer is a certified flight instructor with an impressive track record of teaching experience, having amassed around 2,000 flight hours working with students from various parts of the world. Originally from St. Cloud, Minnesota, he completed his comprehensive flight training at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.
Equipped with a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics, specialized in Business Aviation, Paul is a valuable member of the Vertical Vision Flight CFI Team. Within this role, his main focus centers on instructing students pursuing advanced licenses and ratings, including instructing future flight instructors. He also imparts his knowledge in a class dedicated to educating the next generation of commercial pilots. Beyond the world of aviation, Paul finds joy in different hobbies, games, and outdoor adventures with his friends and family.

Rob, a native of Indianola, IA, started his flight journey upon graduating high school in 2017. He joined the University of Dubuque’s flight program and chose to continue his flight journey as a Certified Flight Instructor. That is when he found Vertical Vision Flight Academy and joined our staff in early 2024.

Rob’s favorite aspect of being a CFI is watching other people experience the same feeling he got when he first learned how to fly an airplane or passed a checkride. In his free time, Rob enjoys the outdoors with golf, hunting, and fishing.

Meredith completed the airline career pilot program with ATP in Kansas City and finished with her CFI, CFII, and MEI instructor ratings.
One of her favorite aspects of being a CFI is watching her students progress and helping them hit major aviation milestones.
In her time off from flying, Meredith enjoys staying fit, traveling and spending time with friends and family.

Milton Ventura Toro, another one of our career track students, began his PPL training with Vertical Vision in March of 2023 and completed his CFII in October of 2024. With a love for teaching, learning, and flying, Milton is one of our most worldly flight instructors, speaking English and Spanish and has traveled to multiple countries throughout his life.
Born and raised In Honduras, Milton grew up enjoying simple things like traveling to new places, watching movies, playing sports, and spending time with family and friends.

Casey is one of our home-grown instructors who started here for his PPL and continued through his CFII! A Des Moines native, Casey has been an aviation nut since he was a young lad. He participated in the Civil Air Patrol as a teenager and can name just about any airplane he sees in the sky.
Casey’s passion is vintage aviation and he would love, one day, to be seen flying a P-51 Mustang or even a WACO YMF-5 biplane around the skies of the Northern Planes.
Motorcycles, video games, travel, hiking and enjoying the outdoors are what Casey does when he has more than 5 minutes outside of an airplane.

Davis began his flight training in Iowa at the University of Dubuque. He is originally from San Diego, California but has lived in many different states across the nation.
He enjoys meeting new students and reaching important aviation milestones with them. He’s always thrilled when he sees a students pass their private checkride because it’s such a huge milestone and gateway to their future success.
Outside of flying, Davis enjoys hanging out with friends and family, watching the LA Chargers, and going on random adventures like driving 10 hours overnight on a whim to get meet up with friends at Airventure in Oshkosh, WI.

Is Adam the most interesting man in the world? You tell us! Adam is a native of Orange County, CA and spent 7 years in the United States Marine Corps. Following his service, he spent 4 years as a police officer. Continuing his career in law enforcement, he became a bounty hunter for 14 years. He ran for city council and held that position for 5 years.
He then felt called to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a pilot and moved 2 kids and 3 dogs to North Carolina where he attended Blue Line Aviation Academy and secured his PPL, Instrument, CFI, CFII, and MEI ratings, all within 7 months. He joined us at Vertical Vision in 2023.
Adam loves to see his students go from tentative new students all the way to becoming confident pilots. “It’s like seeing my own kids grow up. I take so much pride in that.”
When he’s not up in the air with students or spending time with his kids, Adam loves fishing, hunting, staying fit, and sampling what our local breweries have to offer.

Bailey is an Ankeny, Iowa native and pursued her love of aviation with ATP Flight School in Jacksonville Florida. She completed the airline pilot career program with her CFI, CFII, and MEI ratings.
Nothing makes her more proud to be an instructor than when her students progress past challenging benchmarks.
In her off time she loves being with her family and friends, going to concerts (Kenny Chesney is her favorite so far!), snowboarding, and traveling any chance she gets.