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Owner’s
Corner
Citation M2
“Ido a lot of contract flying and stay current in Citation 525’s, Phenom 300, Citation X, and the Citation Sovereign. I’m actually getting ready to get
a type rating in the Mustang because I’m determined to get typed in all of the Citation-series jets. That’s the goal that I’m working on right now. Contract flying has been a lot of fun and being in Southern California, the hub of aviation, has been great to rekindle relationships and has really brought me back to aviation,” explained Mathew Keegan of Ladera Ranch, California.
Keegan’s present involvement in aviation is not some- thing he forecasted two and a half decades ago when he first stepped into the cockpit.
“I didn’t come from a family of pilots, but flying was al- ways something I wanted to do. I made just enough money putting myself through school that after paying for classes and rent, any little bit of money that was left over went to my flight training. So, it took me some time, but I got my private pilot certificate the same week I graduated. And I figured that flying was more fun than anything else that I was doing, so I decided to figure out how to do it for a living.”
After moving to Southern California from the northern part of the state, Keegan worked for his uncle, detailing
26 • TWIN & TURBINE / August 2023
yachts. But his eyes were always turned skyward. After a short stint at sea level, he began a two-year internship with American Flyers in Santa Monica. He got his instrument rating, commercial license, and CFII in the first year of the program and then started instructing for the company.
Keegan advised that he worked through aviation during the uncertain times post 9/11. Elaborating, he explained, “I woke up one day and was like, ‘You know what, I don’t