Mark Pringle's passion for aviation started early when he, as a young boy, began building and flying radio control aircraft with his dad, Dave Pringle. They built and flew a bi-plane glider together. In 1986, Mark joined the Air Force. He served as crew chief on the B-52. He enjoyed many flights around the world to Korea, Guam, Hawaii and many places stateside. "It was very rewarding, a lot of work with a great team of guys to work with." In '92, Mark joined the reserves and crewed the F16.

Mark's personal passion continued to grow and over the years he built: a basket case ultralight,  a Mirage, a Cobra, various RANS models: S4, S6, S7, S9, S12, S18, S19, and is currently building the new RANS S20 Raven. He was very busy building and flying and even teaching others to fly ultralights. In '98, Mark took over as sole proprietor of Rocky Mountain Kitplanes. Since then he has been instrumental in helping others build their own airplanes. He has helped and continues to teach other aviators how to share his passion. To provide further support, Mark received the training to become a light sport and glider repairman. Further training brought Mark the certification to maintain the  Rotax 912 and 14 series.

In 2002, Mark decided it was time to move his 'hobby' to his own airpark and broke ground on building West Desert Airpark. He has built the airpark into a busy flying community with a 2,600 ft runway, 18 hangars and many aviator friends.

---