Kerry Hackney’s Bio

Things seem to have come full circle, professionally speaking, for Kerry at the point. He has enjoyed flying most of his adult life, but doing it mostly for fun and some business use during his 25 plus year career as a high end advertising photographer.

While working at his studios in Atlanta, New York and Miami, Kerry produced award winning work for the most prominent ad agencies, Fortune 500 and international companies that would be included in their advertising, corporate annual reports and collateral material. His clients included Sony, Ford, AT&T, Office Depot, Bell South, Lucent, Mohawk Carpets, Mercury Marine, UPN Television Networks, Chris Craft, Radisson Cruise Lines and many, many others.

Kerry knew photography was destined to change with the oncoming digital revolution and knew he wanted a change. He began to teach flying more and more and worked as a photographer less often until eventually he was flying full time. His real world flying experience and ability to teach quickly made him one of the most in demand instructors in South Florida. When the new glass panel aircraft became available, Kerry was one of the first to embrace the new technology and began teaching in the Garmin G-1000 aircraft and Avidyne equipped Cirrus. Today he is considered one of the country’s leading education educators, specializing in Technologically Advanced Aircraft. A Master Instructor, Cirrus Standardized Instructor Pilot and FAA’s FAASTeam Lead Representative, Kerry often gives seminars on the subject to FAA inspectors, Designated Pilot Examiners and the public. Kerry speaks annually at the FAA Production Studios at Sun and Fun in Lakeland. This year’s topic was Teaching and Examining in Glass Cockpit Aircraft. It’s ironic that he wanted out of one field because of the digital revolution, only to become an expert in another field for the very same reason.

Now as the driving force behind Platinum Aviation Productions, he will be using his unique combination of talents to produce exciting and informative training materials and films. His insight will allow Platinum to offer an informed perspective to the aviation industry to help them with their advertising, photography and video productions. The latest examples of his work are this very web site and the design of the newly remodeled Platinum Aviation facilities at KFXE and KOPF. Email Kerry at kerry@flyplatinum.com for more information or to discuss your company’s needs.