All men are born on land. Though some are meant for the skies. And when a man flies the skies in the dead of night, all he can see is: Black.
Black ocean. Black skies. A dark canvas, with no hues of light. But if you keep your eyes open long enough, a light appears. A white line springs into sight.
Like magic, it appears. Like life, it grows. You have witnessed the break of dawn. You now know where the horizon is.
One man kept his eyes open and discovered this horizon.
His name is Captain Russell Andrews, and for over three decades he has flown our skies as a man who dared to leave solid ground.
As a private charter pilot, he has flown many to their destinations. From comedians to musicians to the players who recently won the 2026 World Cup, he has carried many greats. But the true greatness in these flights starts with him and his journey to the skies.
His journey begins with a series of decisions that ultimately led to where he is today. Many were hard; some required sacrifice, but he kept going forward, and up.
Caplin News had the honor of interviewing Captain Andrews about his career.
The Beginning
“I could say that I kind of fell into this career not by any deep thought or just having a specific goal to fly. Basically, I grew up in Macon, Georgia, and going through my high school years there, my dad used to take us to Warner Robins Air Force Base (Now Robins AFB) for the air shows. And being a young kid in Macon, Georgia, I knew really nothing about military service.
The only military that I was ever exposed to was the Air Force, because we would go and just look at the air shows. So, when I graduated from high school, my parents couldn’t really afford to pay for college, and I’m not sure if I was ready at that time anyway. So, I decided, well, let me just go to the military. And the only military I knew anything about was the Air Force. I’ve seen the airplanes, so I said, ‘well, maybe there’s something I can do with airplanes.’
So I went to the Air Force recruiter’s office. It was around noontime. I knocked on the door, and he wasn’t in; he was out at lunch. But there was a Marine Corps recruiter right there across the hall. He saw me knocking on the door and called out, ‘Hey, come here. I see you knocking on the Air Force recruiter’s door. You know, the Marine Corps has airplanes, too.’
At that time, I couldn’t really tell you about the Marine Corps or whether or not they had airplanes. So he sat me down, showed me a couple of films talking about the pros and cons of being in the Marine Corps. And, you know, once you watch those films, you kind of get all hyped up. So I joined the Marine Corps.”
Captain Andrews then trained as a helicopter mechanic before attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, then flew to Iran, where he taught helicopter maintenance to the Iranian Air Force. He was there for about two years, then the Iranian Revolution began.
The Iranian Revolution
“I went to Iran in 1977, two years before the revolution.
I was working for Textron [Aviation] over there as an instructor, and our State Department ordered all non-essential Americans out. At that time, I had a family too. I had a wife, and we had two kids. One kid was born in Iran, and my daughter was four years old when we went to Iran. But just before it got really bad, I put them on an airplane and sent them out of the country. And I stayed behind to help Bell-Textron get some of their airplanes out of the country because the revolution was picking up pretty strong. About a month or so later, I wound up leaving myself because everybody really had to get out of the country.
Some embassy personnel were left, and a few people did not leave the country when they were told to. Those were the people who got caught up in the embassy and held hostage. They held them hostage for, I forget, how many days.”
After leaving Iran, Captain Andrews returned to his hometown in Macon, Georgia, and started working for Zantop Airlines. It was then that he would meet the man who would give him wings and teach him to fly.
The First Flight
“There was a captain for Zantop. He and I became good friends, and he kind of took an interest in my ambitions. So, we made a deal. He says, ‘I’ll teach you how to fly if you pay for the hours on the airplane and buy me lunch every time we go flying.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ So, he took me under his wing. Taught me how to land an airplane, fly an airplane, take off in these little, small Cessnas. He was like a mother-hen to me, you know.
And I’ll never forget the first time I solo-ed by myself. We did a couple of practice flights, and I had no idea he was going to let me fly by myself. So, we stopped at the end of the runway. He literally got out of the airplane, and he says, ‘Okay, you’re on your own.’ So, I took off by myself, first time in my life, brought it back around and landed. That was my first solo.
It’s kind of a big thing when a pilot does his first solo. Everybody celebrates. I think the tradition was that whatever T-shirt you have on, they rip the t-shirt, and they write on it saying, ‘first solo,’ and put the date.”
Captain Andrews was in his mid-20s when he did his first solo. Almost a decade after he joined the Marine Corps at the young age of 17. He attempted to transition to flying in planes as a flight engineer and found little success, until one very cold day. It started with an accident and ended with a phone call.
The First Transition: From Fixing to Flying
“One of our airplanes at Zantop had a little bit of an accident up in Ogden, Utah. It was snowing real heavy. The pilots that were flying it ran off the runway and damaged one of the landing gear. No one got hurt, but the airplane was immobilized in a snowbank.
“Zantop sent me up there with a crew to pitch the airplane, get it out of the snowbank, change the landing gear, do whatever was necessary to get it back flying again. It was like a Friday evening, working on the airplane, freezing my butt off up there, trying to get this airplane out of the snow.
“Then I got a call from Evergreen Airlines. They said, ‘Look, we’ve interviewed you. And we have a class starting on Monday, and we had one guy that dropped out. If you can make it here by Monday morning, we’ll hire you and give you the job as a flight engineer.’ This was a Friday, okay? And I wanted that job so bad. I knew any job you go to, you always want to give your previous employer two weeks’ notice, right?”
The Decision?
“I made a leap of faith. I said, look, I’m tired of freezing my butt off in the snow, working as a mechanic. This is my first opportunity to actually get inside of a cockpit.
I packed my toolbox, I jumped on a flight, flew all the way back to Macon, Georgia, got home, packed a bag, kissed my wife and kids goodbye, and I left and went to McMinnville, Oregon. And I was in that classroom that Monday morning. I knew that either I’m going to make it through this training, or I’m not going to have a job to go back to. I literally quit and went up there.
About three months later, I was out flying regular trips as a flight engineer.”
Finally, in the cockpit, Captain Andrews flew as a flight engineer for Evergreen Airlines and soon the United Parcel Service (UPS). But UPS was phasing out flight engineers. With Captain Andrews and many others facing potential layoffs, a decision had to be made.
Flying for UPS: The Decision of the ‘Third Guy’
“During that time, most of your big airplanes had three people. They had a captain, co-pilot, and flight engineer,” Captain Andrews said. “And I was that third guy for a long time.”
“I said, well, I’m qualified to be a co-pilot. So, before that contract was signed, I decided to go ahead and move into the co-pilot [seat].”
After taking up his new role as co-pilot, Captain Andrews eventually wound up making captain and flying for UPS from about 1990 up until he retired in 2018.
Joining Exodus Aircraft: A Brief Retirement
“Yeah, well, my retirement only lasted three months. We’re forced to retire from the major airlines at age 65. So, when I turned 65 in September of 2018, I was forced to retire.
But for private charters and on-demand charter airplanes, that’s where a lot of retired airline captains go when they’re just not ready to retire. So, I wound up putting my resume out there, and I got picked up by this new upstart company called Exodus Aircraft.
At the time, they were working on getting the approval for their operating certificate. So, when I came on board, I helped them write the manuals and get their approvals.”
Becoming Director of Operations
“During that time, the chief pilot, he left. So, our CEO approached me and wanted me to take over as chief pilot. I reluctantly accepted it, because I really didn’t want to get that deeply involved.
Then later on, the director of operations, he left and went to another job. So, then, the CEO came to me again and wanted me to wear two hats, become Director of Operations and chief pilot. Which [was] just pulling me deeper and deeper, which I didn’t want to do. But, I still wanted to see the airline succeed.
Now, in order for me to be in two management roles, I had to have special permission from the FAA. Until I can find a chief pilot to take my place.
So, I did find a chief pilot. Actually, I went through about three chief pilots before. But once I found a chief pilot, I was able to give up the position. I’ve been director of operations ever since.”
“You’re kind of like the puppet master,” Captain Andrews said about the role. “You just got to keep everything moving.”
Life in private charter was a whole new world for Andrews. From flying comedians to musicians to vacationing companies, he has flown many prominent people to places all across the globe. He has even flown some of the players who participated in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Flying the Elite: A New Kind of Responsibility
“We had a bunch of flights for FIFA.
We had a contract with Argentina. If they won, we were going to take them someplace.
We flew a bunch of the Argentinian family members. Messi, one of the players, wasn’t on our flight, but some of his family and their entourage. A lot of the other players were also on our flights, along with their fans and families.
Our main customer right now is Rick Weir Racing. It’s a NASCAR racing team.
“Right now, flying for this small airline is the most fun because we’re a small group. When we have our layovers, we’re all kind of friends. We go out, hang out, have a few drinks, dinner. It’s like a nice camaraderie.”
New Pressures: From Flying Cargo to People
“Tremendous difference. I mean, I never had to explain the cargo every time we get a little bit of turbulence. Just letting them know what’s happening, why we’re being delayed, or things like that. Because they want to know.
I’ll give you an example. You know, all pilots know that when you are landing, and if anything doesn’t look right, we are required to do what’s called a “go-around.” So, in other words, if I see anything that makes me feel like landing is unsafe, I’m required to add thrust [and] pull the pitch back. It’s a normal maneuver, and it feels weird because it’s kind of violent, but it’s the safest thing to do.
Well, I had a situation like that in Peterborough, [England].
We were flying through, and we had a little bit of a problem on the PA system.
I figured that we were not in a position to safely land, so I added power, pulled back on the yoke, and we executed a go-around. And the co-pilot did announce to the people in the back that we were just executing a go-around, but he forgot that the circuit breaker was pulled, so they never heard him.
We were safe. We were just doing what we were supposed to do. But I did not know all of the chaos that was going on in the back.
The flight attendant was being yelled at by the passenger, trying to get her to tell them what’s going on. Of course, she had no idea, because she’s in the back. She was kind of freaking out, because the guy was yelling at her, so she didn’t know what to do.
So after we came back around and shot the approach again, we landed. I opened the door. This one passenger, he was irate, yelling and screaming. So he said, ‘What in the world was that? Why didn’t you guys tell us what was going on?’ And then immediately, I got a little pissed and said, ‘Well, because we were busy,’ and I just left it at that. And then I realized that he never heard the announcement because the breaker was pulled.
When I’m flying cargo, that would have never been an issue, because cargo doesn’t care if you made a go-around.”
A Memorable Flight: Finding the Horizon
“I know we were headed east, coming across the Pacific, and it was in the middle of the night. You’ve got a dark sky and a dark surface on the earth, which is nothing but water. It was a clear night, but everything in front of you is black. Black sky. Black ocean. You can’t see anything other than a few stars. It was around 6 a.m or so, and if you stare at what you think is the horizon, you can’t really see the horizon.
“You know it’s out there in front of you somewhere, but you almost have to stare about the right time, and you have to kind of time it. And remember, you’re up 39,000 feet, headed east, black sky, black ocean. And then, in one split second, you’ll see a very thin line that would just pop into view. A very thin, light line. And you can actually see the curvature of the earth. And that is exactly the crack of dawn. And it’s a split second. If you miss it, if you blink, you open your eyes, and the line’s already there. But if you’re looking at it at the right moment, you’ll see it just goes ‘ding.’ A little split. And you’ll see that little thin line, and all of a sudden, that thin line gets thicker and thicker. Next thing you know, you’ll see the sun glaring in your eyes.
You have to be headed east in the middle of the night, or early morning. And that’s when you can see it.”
Looking Ahead: The Next Chapter
“Well, to be honest with you, I would like to just fully retire and not have to do any of this. But I’m in so deep with this company, I want to see it succeed because I kind of started it.”
“I want to go on a long two-month cruise or go visit my son,” Captain Andrews said.
“I don’t want to go over there and have to worry about coming back just to meet a deadline or something. I’d rather have the freedom to just do it, you know?”
Note: This interview was edited for clarity
