Club Officers
Vince Carbonara
A member of the Prestige Worldwide Flying Club since July 2022, Vince serves as the club’s Hangar Manager. His connection to aviation runs deep—growing up on the ramp at O’Hare Airport with his father, who spent over 25 years with Butler Aviation (now Signature), inspired him to earn his Private Pilot certificate in July 2020.
A VFR-rated pilot and a Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect with 25+ years in IT, Vince combines analytical precision with a genuine passion for general aviation. He takes great pride in keeping the club’s facilities top-notch and is always excited to help prospective members discover the joy of flying at Prestige.
Hangar Manager
Patrick Mucha
Training Officer
Patrick Mucha is the training officer at Prestige. He is a commercial-rated pilot with an instrument rating and currently working on his flight instructor rating. His favorite flying is in any taildragger. You’ll find him at Prestige in the hangar helping out, or flying 818
Email: training@flylewis.com
Gabriel Castenada
FSP Manager/Auditor
Gabriel is a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI/CFII) pilot with a diverse background in aviation, business operations, and team leadership. After more than 20 years leading and growing a successful automotive service organization, he transitioned into aviation to pursue his passion for flying and pilot development. Gabriel combines strong instructional skills, operational discipline, and a customer-focused approach to help pilots build confidence, proficiency, and a commitment to safety.
His background combines technical expertise, operational leadership, and a commitment to safety and training.In addition to his aviation credentials, Gabriel brings extensive experience in business management, and is recognized for his ability to mentor others, implement structured training programs, and manage complex operations. As a volunteer leader and vice president of a charitable organization, he also demonstrates a strong commitment to community service, teamwork, and organizational stewardship.
Craig Crawford
182 Plane Captain
Craig Crawford is the current Plane Captain of our 1963 Cessna 182-G Skylane, N2003R. He has been a member of Prestige Worldwide since April of 2024, after earning his Private Pilot Certificate in September of 2023. He is currently in the process of completing his Instrument rating.
He has worked as a video engineer in the live events industry for the last 30 years, and travels extensively for this business. Craig has had a lifelong passion for aviation, ever since living in Wichita, KS as a small child (with family working at Cessna), and eventually growing up in Omaha, NE, under the landing path of RWY 13 of Offutt AFB, seeing all the interesting and sometimes unique aircraft on glidepath.
One of Craig's passions in flying is exposing the magic of being in a smaller aircraft with people who have never had the opportunity of experiencing flight in such a way.
Ben Graca
Decathlon Plane Captain
Ben Graca is a Commercial Pilot, Instrument rated, and CFI, currently working toward his CFII. With over 500 hours total time, he’s flown Cessna 172s and 182s, Piper Cherokees, and light sport aircraft, mostly around the Chicagoland area with cross countries all around the Midwest. He also has high altitude flying experience in Colorado.
During afternoons, Ben works airfield operations at O’Hare where he completes FAR Part 139 inspections and coordinates incident management. He graduated from Lewis University in 2019 with a B.S. in Air Traffic Control Management and holds a Master’s in Aviation and Transportation Management.
In his free time, Ben loves traveling to national parks, completing Spartan obstacle races, and enjoys cooking up some tasty dishes.
Mike Doose
Archer Plane Captain
Mike Doose is an instrument rated commercial pilot from Clarendon Hills, IL who began flying as a hobby in 2019 while living in Los Angeles. Mike is a third generation pilot in his family and grew up flying out of KLOT with his father and grandfather in their vintage Taylorcraft BC-12D. He earned his private pilot certificate in 2021 at KSMO. In 2024, he quit his job working at a large tech company and moved home to Chicago to finish his ratings and pursue a career transition into aviation. Mike enjoys flying the club’s Archer, Warrior and Decathlon and also flies his father’s 1947 Cessna 140 which is hangared in the north side at KLOT. Mike currently works as a line service tech at Signature PWK and is in the process of studying for his CFI rating. His goal is to ultimately fly business jets. Outside of flying, Mike enjoys riding motorcycles, skiing, traveling, and flying RC model airplanes.
Ryan Scimeca
Warrior Plane Captain
Ryan is the plane captain for the warrior and has been with prestige for just over a year. He currently holds a CFI and is working on completeing his CFII. Ryan enjoys cross countries and going to different airports as well as flying various types of aircraft. He is a avid outdoors man and if you don't see him in the hanger at Lewis you will most likely find him fishing or hunting.