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Owner’s
Jump in and Jet
Corner
“Five years ago, I bought a re- ally nice Cessna Citation Mustang out of the Bay Area and have been flying it around ever since,” said Brad Lund, a real es- tate investor and jet owner from Southern California. “It costs a little bit more to operate per hour than a turboprop, but it’s been quite afford- able all things considered. I’ve grown into it very nicely, and because I fly
single pilot, I can just get up and go.” 26 • TWIN & TURBINE / March 2023
Lund’s first introduction to aviation came as a child and was a prologue to his real estate career.
“My dad was not a pilot but dabbled in aviation a little bit. He took lessons on and off and would take me to fly- ing events like the Reno Air Races. I decided I wanted to get my license and got it in 1994 when I was 24 years old. I was just out of college and newly married. I didn’t have a lot of money, but I got serious about it and decided I
would bang it out fast and get it done. I remember laying down $3,000 in cash to get my pilot’s license, which was a lot of money for me.”
Learning to fly opened a whole new world for Lund, especially within his home state. Times were good at the beginning of his f lying career.
“I started my career as a real estate broker and eventually bought several apartment buildings. There was a deal that I was working on where I sold an