Harold J. Gallagher's flying career began in June, 1964, at the University of Illinois Institute of Aviation in Champaign/Urbana, Illinois. There he received his Private Pilot's License after a total of 35.7 hours training spread over six weeks, ending on August 7.

Aviation has always been a part of his life even though his working career has been in the field of Corporate Turnaround consulting. He is a Commercial Pilot with Single and Multi Engine ratings, Instrument rated, and is a Certified Flight Instructor in both Power and Gliders. He has accumulated more than 6000 hours of flying, in a variety of aircraft including the Goodyear dirigible. He has been a Power instructor since April, 1980 and a Glider instructor since 1999. He has accumulated more than 4000 hours of instructing in a wide variety of aircraft, powered and gliders.

He developed a special talent for flight instructing during the three and a half years he owned Piper Aircraft Dealerships at both Burbank, and Van Nuys airports in the late 1970's and early 1980. In fact, his Dealerships won awards in those years for training the highest number of students per year. During the height of his operation, he had 17 flight instructors and 20 aircraft available for rental, and was the largest general aviation facility on the Burbank airport. His company, Gallagher Aviation, included Charter, Service and Maintenance, new and used Aircraft Sales, Flight Instruction, and Aircraft Rental.

Mr. Gallagher's teaching skills also come from having taught Graduate and Undergraduate courses at both the University of Illinois and the University of Missouri. During the years at school, Mr. Gallagher earned an M.B.A. in Finance and Marketing, a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, a B.A. in Mathematics and Physics, and completed his Doctoral residency and studies at the University of Missouri in Business Logistics. He has also conducted numerous management seminars across the country for large and small groups in a variety of business topics. He has also authored a business newsletter, The Advantage, for small business operators. He is currently a Master of Art candidate at California State University Fresno with a Sculpture major. His Masters show is planned for February 11th to the 25th, 2008, at the Phebe Conley Art Building Gallery on campus.

Mr. Gallagher has always been interested in soaring. During his frequent business trips across the country he always managed to find time to locate and visit the nearest soaring site. It wasn't until summer of 1994 that he managed to find the time and the location to take up soaring in a concentrated way. He owns a fiberglass competition sailplane, an ASW-20 BL, made in Germany, and rated at an L/D of 42:1.

He also owns a Piper Dakota, a PA-28-236, four place, single engine, fixed gear, 235 h.p. aircraft, N2350U, which he flies for business and pleasure.