Steve Salmirs, Pilot Lead Solo

Steve Salmirs was born in Newport News, Virginia. His father worked for NASA as an aeronautical engineer and introduced Steve to the Aviation Explorer Scouts where he first became involved with airplanes in 1973.

Steve went to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida to pursue his passion for flying, and graduated in 1980. Steve's first professional aviation experience was serving as a Calibration Engineer at Kennedy Space Center, calibrating ground and flight equipment used on the space shuttles from 1980-1982. During this time, he began serving as a flight instructor and flew as a charter pilot. In 1982, Steve was accepted into the United States Air Force, earning his wings and selected to fly F-16 fighters.  Steve was first stationed at MacDill AFB in Tampa, followed by tours at Nellis AFB in Nevada, and Kunsan AB in South Korea. He finished his Air Force career with a T-37 Instructor tour at Laughlin AFB in Texas.

Currently the Lead Solo and Executive Officer (XO) of the GEICO Skytypers, Steve has flown with the group since 1996. He is a qualified NATA flight lead pilot and serves as backup to the team’s flight lead. His duties include writing the team’s operations manual, developing air show routines and narration, managing both training and instruction and running operations at airshows. Steve is also a commercial airline pilot.