RAF ADDS LIAISON DOUGLAS LUMGAIR IN CA
Douglas Lumgair grew up in San Diego with summers in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where his great love for the outdoors took shape through backpacking, fishing and horsemanship. “At age 17, I set out across the country and Alaska, working various jobs and building real-world experience,” he says. By his mid-20s, with some “hard-earned wisdom from his travels,” he pursued a business management degree. A serendipitous vocational placement test revealed his natural aptitude for aviation – a field that promised what Douglass calls, the “perfect blend of adventure and technical challenge.”
Douglas immersed himself in the aviation world earning his A&P license and PPL with love for aircraft restoration. He often traded extra maintenance work for precious flight time.
“Everything about aviation resonated with me – from the details of maintenance to the continuous learning and pure joy of stick-and-rudder flying,” he says. His favorite pastime was gaining experience backcountry flying all around the Southwest and Baja in a mix of aircraft. “I was thrilled to be instructing and flying in a number of aircraft, including Stearmans and Twin Beach D-18s. The desire for new adventures and challenges drew me to fly my Cessna 170 up to Alaska for a season where I worked in Ketchikan as an A&P and Cessna 206 pilot.”
Back in Southern California in the mid-90s, he explains, “life took an interesting turn. While flying a C320 for owners of a winery and vineyard estate in Sonoma County, I was asked to step in as general manager.” He stayed in that role until retiring in 2022, spending his spare time continuing his passion for backcountry flying and instruction.
In 2014, he’d taken on the restoration of a wrecked Husky on amphibs and had it in the air by 2016. Since then, he’s flown it extensively on wheels and floats throughout the western US, British Columbia, Yukon, and Alaska. “I love giving instruction in tailwheel and backcountry flying, helping pilots find the techniques that work for them,” he says.
Douglas lives in Sonoma County with his wife Julie, who shares his enthusiasm for flying adventures and the aviation community.
He joins RAF California Liaisons Rick Lach of Kernville, and Katerina Barilov of Santa Paula, and says, “I’m thrilled to join the RAF. I’m excited to collaborate with fellow enthusiasts who share our dedication to promoting, enjoying, and preserving recreational aviation.”
Douglas can be reached at dlumgair@theraf.org.
Submitted March 13, 2025
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