Matthew Gionta

CTO & VP of Engineering
_

Matthew Gionta began his aviation career while helping friends construct an experimental airplane. After earning his BS and MS in Aerospace Engineering at SUNY Buffalo, Matthew joined Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites and spent his initial six years as Project Engineer for 11 programs including three whole aircraft: Raptor, Proteus and the Williams V-Jet, the predecessor to the Eclipse 500 very light jet. During the next seven years at Scaled, Matthew served as Chief Engineer and Vice President of Engineering, responsible for the technical success of all of Scaled's programs. His team developed the world record-setting Virgin Global Flyer, the Ansari X-PRIZE winning SpaceShipOne, and many other air vehicles. He has overseen the design and construction of numerous other aircraft, earning the Aviation Week "Laurel Award" for bringing two new aircraft to flight in under 15 months.

Jon Karkow

Lead Aero Engineer
_

Jon Karkow spent 21 years in aircraft development at Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites and over that time rightfully earned the reputation as the most accomplished aeronautical engineer and project engineer in the history of Scaled. He led more than 20 aircraft programs and five complete airplanes including the record-breaking, around-the-world Virgin GlobalFlyer that won him a 2006 Aeronautics Laureate Award from Aviation Week & Space Technology. Most recently, he served as the Technical Program Manager for Richard Branson's commercial space program SpaceShipTwo. A licensed airframe and powerplant mechanic, Jon received a BS in Physics at Kenyon College and a BS in Aeronautical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is an active pilot and experimental test pilot with instrument, multi-engine, seaplane, helicopter, and glider ratings.

James Crocoll

Lead Mechanical Engineer
_

The son of an aircraft engineer, Jim Crocoll recalls his days as a kid watching air races at Mojave airport. After earning a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Cal Poly Pomona, Jim joined GE Aircraft Engines as a design engineer. During his 8 years at GE he designed engine test support hardware and eventually became lead engineer for mounting the GE90, the world's largest aircraft engine, to GE's 747 flying test bed. In 1997, he joined Scaled Composites where he became involved in all phases of design, analysis, manufacturing, and testing as a design and project engineer. Much of his project work over his ten years at Scaled was confidential, but his last commercial project involved designing the main landing gear for White Knight Two, Virgin Galactic's planned commercial "spaceliner" launcher.