Richard Dann is a lifelong aviation enthusiast. Rich attended the Navy's Aviation Officer Candidate School in 1985 and was commissioned as an Ensign in September of that year. He concluded his Navy career in 2015 at the rank of Captain after 30 years of service. For the last 17 years, Rich has been employed as a test engineer with a large aerospace company in the Midwest. He is currently working as a Test Program Manager for advanced weapon systems. He has been authoring books since 1992 and has nine titles to his credit. Rich is also an illustrator and aviation artist, and often does layouts and artwork for his books.