Leadership and Corporate Info
Corporate Background
PilotEdge was developed during the summer of 2010, and was first demonstrated to the public at the AOPA Summit in Long Beach, CA in November of the same year. Software development and the development of our rigorous Quality Assurance program continued throughout 2011.
The company launched its public service on October 1, 2011 with coverage of the Los Angeles ARTCC, and added weekend coverage of the Oakland ARTCC as well.
Keith Smith – Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Aviation and computing have been Keith’s core focus for the past 25 years. He started out with SubLogic Flight Simulator II on the Commodore 64 as a young boy and never quite grew out of it. Keith brings a combination of passion for aviation safety with a deep technical background in software development and system architectures that allowed him to envision and subsequently develop PilotEdge.
Keith served as the VP of Pilot Training on the VATSIM network and developed a pilot training system that has been utilized by more than 700 pilots to date.
He is an instrument rated pilot and regularly flies a Lancair 360 out of Lincoln Park, NJ. Yes, he uses PilotEdge to stay sharp.
Tim Krajcar – Chief Technology Officer
With over 10 years of technology infrastructure and development experience, Tim brings a concrete understanding of web architecture, agile development, infrastructure design and execution, and software engineering management to PilotEdge as CTO. Tim has led development and infrastructure teams for a wide variety of companies including Nike, Intel, Activision Blizzard, Hitachi, the GRAMMYs, QVC, Ricoh, and Danaher.
As a life-long enthusiast and supporter of both real-world and virtual aviation, Tim has served as a member of the VATSIM Board of Governors, served a variety of volunteer staff positions with several ATC organizations, and written web services and applications to support virtual aviators around the world. He is the proud owner of a very impressive student pilot license.
Peter Grey – Director of Operations & Quality Assurance
Peter has an extensive background in virtual air traffic control with six years experience operating on virtual air traffic control networks and three years experience instructing new controllers on virtual air traffic control procedures. Additionally, Peter ran the training department in one of the busiest ARTCCs on a popular online virtual air traffic control network.
Peter also has extensive experience as a pilot and flight instructor including over 1600 hours instructing pilots in aircraft and assorted levels of flight training devices. Peter is a multi-engine ATP and holds commercial and instrument privileges in single engine airplanes, seaplanes, and gliders. As a pilot, Peter has won 4 National Intercollegiate Flying Association awards for pilot skills and knowledge. Peter is a also a rated CFI, CFII, MEI, and has ground instructor and aircraft dispatcher certificates.