“I do 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 something 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 always 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 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 know if I want to do this anymore. I want to be a pilot, but I just don’t know if I want to be a professional pilot’.”
A little time out of the cockpit was beneficial, as it provided him the time to start his organic commodity business. Of course, after starting this venture, he still had skyward ambitions and was, fortunately, able to balance aviation and growing the company that now has an international footprint.
“As the business did better, I was still flying. But I was flying for pleasure. And as it continued, my budget got a little better, and I was able to buy different airplanes. So, the airplane was also really a practical business tool for me. Fortunately, I had a lot of experience as a CFI, so moving into different airplanes wasn’t terribly complicated for me and I was insurable.”
Prior to the M2, Keegan most recently owned a Beechcraft G58 Baron. He flew the light twin for several years prior to moving higher into the flight levels, even keeping it for a few more years after acquiring his M2. But this memorable highlight of Keegan’s aviation life was followed by the tragedy of natural disaster.
“In 2017, I bought the Citation M2. It was new, and I took delivery on the 27th of September before flying it home to Sonoma County in Northern California where I was born and raised. Then only about a week later, we lost our home in the Tubbs Fire. I was actually in Washington D.C. when the wildfires happened. I hopped in the plane and flew home. That’s when we started our next journey southward.”
Keegan and his wife, Sarah, decided to use the total loss as a catalyst for the next chapter of their lives. Ultimately, they decided to move to Orange County. The move south has been beneficial for the couple, especially Keegan’s undying love for aviation.
“What has been so interesting about this whole thing is that it really made me go full circle back to where I started all this and my objectives for flying. Flying for me has been a practical tool for my own business, but I’m also just a geek about flying and love aviation. I now do mentor flying with people and have been training a friend for a couple of years in his Kodiak 100. He went from literally zero time flying, with me in the right seat, being amazed by aviation, to recently completing his commercial certificate.”
When not helping others realize their aviation goals in his free time, Keegan likes to race motorcycles, sports cars, and Baja trucks. So, it’s not a surprise that flying the Citation X as captain is a dream come true for the speed-driven aviator. The need for speed similarly permeates his personal aircraft choice, although he advised that there are important tradeoffs between models within the light jet market segment — even amongst product families.
“What I have found out about the M2 is that it does at least what the book says it’s going to do. And you can’t say that about a lot of airplanes. It is fantastic,” he began.
Keegan continued, discussing a few of the distinct differences between the nine-seat 525-series aircraft and another Citation he had once considered stepping into. “I personally don’t need more seats. What I wish it would do is go another couple hundred miles and I wish it would go just a little bit higher. But if you want to go farther and higher, you need a CJ3+ and you get a couple of extra seats. I just couldn’t justify the extra cost for the extra seats, and you can buy a lot of extra jet fuel for the price difference. Given that I don’t put someone in every seat, it wasn’t necessary for me. The M2 performance is very close to the CJ3+. The 3+ will go a little higher and climb a little better. The speed difference though, is kind of negligible. It is faster, but not that much faster.”
At the time Keegan was considering moving out of the Baron, he explained that he considered Pilatus PC-12s, King Airs, and Citations, but surprisingly no other companies’ jets.
“In our family, there are four of us. My daughter is fourteen now, and my son will be nine in July, so we have a young family, and a very high percentage of the time I fly myself and maybe two others. It’s rare that someone is in every seat. So, we looked at the King Airs, which have more seats, but my wife isn’t a big fan of turboprop altitudes. We had chartered a bunch of different planes to see which we could live with,” he began.
“I wanted to find something that I could be a true owner-operator [single pilot] and didn’t need a plane to fly to Europe. Flying that far doesn’t fit my mission, and you buy a plane to fit 80% of your missions, which the M2 fits perfectly. I didn’t really look at the Phenoms. What I thought about was that the M2 was pretty new and was a nice upgrade over the CJ1, which was a good size for us — so I chose it.”
Keegan can talk nearly non-stop about this aircraft and the others he has flown. Routinely, these conversations happen with fellow aviation enthusiasts in the cockpit, as he often “gives back” his time through mentor flying– something which he’s benefitted from greatly as a mentee.
“I can think of four mentors that I’ve had in aviation. My uncle David Boyce, a retired Cal Fire helicopter pilot, was the one that took me in the air for the very first time and had always been very supportive. Marco Grillo was my chief pilot at American Flyers and taught me what it means and what it takes to be a professional pilot. Then, Jim Yoder taught me how to fly jets and how to apply all the knowledge in my career to be a safe and competent jet pilot. Finally, Will Whiteside has always reminded me that aviation is a life’s journey. Together, Will and I have flown everything from RC airplanes to actual WW2 Warbirds including the T6 and Mustang together as well as modern jets like the M2 and Citation X. I am very grateful to have these people in my life,” Keegan began.
“As such I find it important for me to mentor the next generation of pilots as well. I believe that people get too hung up on the minimum hour requirements for various ratings and forget what they are really trying to do. That is to become a safer and more competent pilot which is never accomplished by doing the absolute minimum. We need to enjoy the process and remember that we all started to learn to fly because we love it and it’s just something we have to do.”
He is always excited to provide an overview of the very capable aircraft.
“The M2 is a real happy airplane in the mid-30s. It will go to 410, and we can direct climb there in 26 minutes. At that altitude, we burn maybe 720 pounds an hour – in total. When we are heavy, when we first get up there, it’s a bit shy of 400 knots – depending on the day and temps. 390 or 395 knots for sure when you first get up there, and then after an hour or two you are doing 400 knots. But in the mid-30s, you go right up there and are doing 400 knots. So that’s usually where we operate it. I only go up higher if I’m going longer distances, and have flown the plane an awful lot between the east and west coast.”
Overall, Keegan has been very pleased with his M2. Coming up on six years of ownership, he states that he has logged roughly 1,600 hours in the plane. Coupled with his thousands of hours of experience in other turbine aircraft, what could come next in his ownership journey is anyone’s guess.
It would be a tough decision, but he noted that his next aircraft could be a CJ4 – if he were to ever move up from the M2. But as he’s joked with other pilots, his long list of Citation type-ratings is punctuated by a Phenom 300 ticket. And as he’s learned through the headwinds and tailwinds of life, each chapter is full of surprises.
Keegan’s flying adventures can be found on Instagram under @mathewscottkeegan.