Rafael Dondi Pesquera

DONDI - Is an accomplished, well rounded airshow pilot with ATP AMEL, commercial ASEL, ASES, ratings. As the son of a United Airlines retd captain and retd USAF SMSgt, aviation has been a part of his life since an early age. Throughout his career, Dondi has accumulated nearly 5,000 hrs in over 80+ different types of aircraft, including the: ICON A5, Cirrus SR-20/22, Kodiak, Caravan, BE-90/100, MU-2, CL-601, G550, A-320, SF262, RV-8, Extra 300L, PT-17, T-34, T-6, T-28, P-40, P-51, Fouga, Provost, Impala, L-39, BAC-167, MIG-15UTI, TF-104G and numerous light twins. Dondi has even leveraged his flying talent to film work, participating in the TNT network series "The Company" by flying a BAC-167 Strikemaster into simulated battle and in 2018 as the pilot of a Cessna 402C for the movie “DRIVEN” based on the real life of John DeLorean. Dondi has honed his flying ability using the same principle that made him a nationally ranked division II collegiate tennis player, a state of Florida top five FMC/AMA motocross and top two SCCA autocross racer.

Formerly, Dondi owned and operated Caribbean Blue Airways, Corp. an FAA Part 135 charter operation from 2005 until 2018. He also works as a part-time demonstration pilot for QUEST Aircraft showcasing the attributes of the all terrain KODIAK airplane.  This opportunity allowed Dondi to fly across the U.S.A, The Caribbean, Central & South America into places like Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, Mexico and well into the hostile jungles of the Amazons. In 2014, Dondi was sent to Ecuador by the QUEST factory to train KODIAK pilots for the newly formed TAME Amazonia regional airline. While in Ecuador, he had the honor of being selected to fly Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, for which he was granted an Ecuadorian commercial pilot's license. Currently, Dondi’s corporate flying takes him all over the United States and Europe as Captain of a Dassault Falcon 900EX based in his native Puerto Rico.

Dondi is proudly recognized by the (FAA/ICAS/EAA Warbirds) as the first and only Puerto Rican pilot to ever hold a low level two statement of aerobatic competency card (SAC Card). This was one of Dondi's ultimate goals in aviation and it became a reality under the stringent evaluation process conducted by FAA/ICAS/EAA Aerobatic Competency Evaluator (ACE) and Hall of Famer, Mrs. Patty Wagstaff. In 2016, Dondi founded the Puerto Rico International Air Show, which featured the performance of the USAF Thunderbirds over the Old San Juan city in more than 35 years.