For Aviation Insurer, 150MPH is a Relaxing Commute

Name: Roger Gault

Age: 67

Occupation: Owner, Aviation Marine Insurance Services

How did you get into flying?

I was a chemistry major at Arizona State University, which is a land grant college and that meant you had to sign up for ROTC, which I did for two years. I wasn’t planning to do a third year, but they offered a flight training program, which paid for my apartment.

Then, after I graduated, I went into the Army, and spent a year in flight school. From there, I went to Vietnam for a year as a helicopter pilot.

When I returned, I spent six months at the Presidio, where I gave talks to groups about Vietnam for the government. During that time, I lived in Sausalito.

I spent my final six months with the Army at Fort Collins in Colorado. They wanted me to stay and work with the mechanized infantry unit, but I said no, thanks. I had enough of the Army. 

What did you do when you got out of the Army?

First, I worked for Petroleum Helicopters, servicing oil rigs for a year. I tried to get a couple of businesses going, in Ohio and in San Diego, but they didn’t work out. Then a friend got me a job in an aviation insurance company [operating] in southern California, Arizona, and Utah. That company got sold, so I decided to start my own company.

I moved to Marin County, where my brother Larry was working in insurance. We set up the business that’s still going. ... My dad also worked for the company as an accountant, and my son, Scott, will continue to work there when he returns after the Olympic Rowing Team competitions next year.

What kinds of planes do you insure?

We stay away from the major airlines, but insure just about anything else—corporate jets, charters, individual small and large planes, flying schools, just about anything to do with aviation. We insured Bob Hope’s and Charlie Schultz’s planes.

What makes it fun is that I have a small plane—a Bonanza, a single engine, four-seater—which I keep at Concord Airport. Most of my clients are within one to two hours, mostly in northern California, plus a couple in Phoenix. 

What do you like about your job?

It’s relaxing to fly, and it’s an efficient way to get around. If you don’t take risks, it’s safer than the freeways. You need to avoid bad weather that you can’t handle. You don’t want to be low on gas, and you don’t want to be flying in a plane that isn’t well maintained. But, on the positive side, there’s no highway patrol to worry about, no stoplights, and no speed limits!

There’s no speed limit in the sky?

Below 10,000 feet, you must stay below 250 miles per hour, but I only go about 150 mph.

Then, you have to take into consideration any special conditions. We just came back from Tahoe, which is at an elevation of 5,900 feet. The air is thinner, so you don’t want to take off with a heavy load when it’s hot, because you don’t get the same lift at a lower, heavier altitude.

So you need to calculate all that—air density, altitude, and temperature—to determine a plane’s performance. And then, there are engines designed to accommodate environmental conditions.

How about your family? 

Both my kids graduated from Piedmont High School.

My daughter, Courtney, got married a year ago, and she and her husband work in the high tech. Her husband just left Oracle to work for a database start up.

And my son, Scott, went to University of Washington in Seattle, and works for Aviation Marine Insurance, but he is on the US Olympic Rowing Team and will live in San Diego until after the Olympic Games in London in 2012. The team came in 5th in Beijing in 2008, and just competed for the World Championship in Bled, Slovenia, where they came in 4th.

My wife, Roxanne, keeps busy with gardening, bridge, and golf, now that the kids are raised. We moved to Piedmont 25 years ago for the schools, and bought our house from the Ricksons.