May 6, 2026 · 28 min · 19 segments
🎧 Episode Summary Get ready for takeoff! This episode takes you from a 10-year-old's dream at a Florida air show to a global aviation career that spans continents. Host Shawn Staerker sits down with…
An aerobatic pilot carves this guy into something you didn't think was possible.
And somewhere, in that moment, a little voice says, I want to be a part of this.
And up in the sky was Paddy Wagstaff, multiple-time U.S. National Aerobatic Champion, doing things with an airplane that made gravity look like a suggestion.
And 40 years later, he's not just a fan of the greatest aerobatic pilots in the world...
He's also the president of Sarasota Avionics, one of the most respected names in the business.
And he's turned what started as a kid's dream under the Florida sun into a career that has taken him to countries you might not even have on your radar.
We're talking with Kirk today about what it really means to build a career in aviation, not just in your hometown, not just at your home airport, but everywhere.
So what exactly does a global avionics operation look like? When I sat down with Kirk before Sun and Fun, he'd just gotten back from Greece, doing an avionics install on a Bell 206 helicopter for the Cyprus Air Force.
Before that, he was in Bangladesh for four weeks with a team, upgrading training aircraft for a flight academy.
Here's what Kirk told me about what that kind of work actually requires and why it's nothing like pulling up to a stateside hangar with next day shipping.
An aerobatic pilot carves this guy into something you didn't think was possible.
And somewhere, in that moment, a little voice says, I want to be a part of this.
And up in the sky was Paddy Wagstaff, multiple-time U.S. National Aerobatic Champion, doing things with an airplane that made gravity look like a suggestion.
And 40 years later, he's not just a fan of the greatest aerobatic pilots in the world...
He's also the president of Sarasota Avionics, one of the most respected names in the business.
And he's turned what started as a kid's dream under the Florida sun into a career that has taken him to countries you might not even have on your radar.
We're talking with Kirk today about what it really means to build a career in aviation, not just in your hometown, not just at your home airport, but everywhere.
So what exactly does a global avionics operation look like? When I sat down with Kirk before Sun and Fun, he'd just gotten back from Greece, doing an avionics install on a Bell 206 helicopter for the Cyprus Air Force.
Before that, he was in Bangladesh for four weeks with a team, upgrading training aircraft for a flight academy.
Here's what Kirk told me about what that kind of work actually requires and why it's nothing like pulling up to a stateside hangar with next day shipping.
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