Article on Mark A. Cleveland

Born to Fly: Lessons From My Grandmother’s Fearless Spirit

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 12:42:24 +0000

Some stories follow you through your whole life. My grandmother, Esther “Betty” Warner Cleveland, is one of mine.

She earned her pilot’s license at just sixteen—at the time, the youngest licensed pilot in the State of California. Her uncles, both Army Air Corps veterans, trained her in an Alexander Eagle Rock biplane they’d converted from a World War I fighter into a trainer. It’s the kind of origin story Hollywood would overplay, but she lived it without a trace of drama.

Exit Strategy While You Scale: Why Planning to Sell Early Matters

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 10:12:50 +0000

Most founders don’t think about selling their business in the early days. The focus is survival, then growth. But here’s the reality: every company has an exit, whether you plan for it or not.

If you design your business with a future buyer in mind, you unlock two major advantages:

A more valuable company — with clean systems, recurring revenue, and defensible advantages.
Greater freedom — the ability to sell, scale, or step back on your own terms.

Wait until you feel “ready to sell,” and it’s too late. By then, the fundamentals are already baked in.

The First Pilot of Air Force One

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 10:24:58 +0000

I’m related to a pioneer pilot, Archibald “Arch” Hoxsey.

After the Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina they started a flight school and Arch was one of their first four graduates. He was considered in his time to be the most daring of professional aviators.

“Arch was my grandmother’s 2nd cousin several times removed,” my Aunt Marjorie would tell me when reflecting on our great grandmother. “He was one of the Wright brothers’ first 5 students. Incidentally,” she adds, “Teddy R. was the first American President to fly in an airplane, and his pilot was Archie.” Hoxsey set the American record for sustained flight across country, making the non-stop 190 mile flight from Springfield, Illinois to Clayton, Missouri on October 6th, 1910.

My Aunt Marj the Stunt Pilot and Mr. Winston’s Alexander Eaglerock

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 10:18:37 +0000

My Great Aunt Marjorie Winston Parker has been gathering old photos helping me to better understand our rather distinguished family heritage in aviation.

Like my grandma, Marjorie was a true aviation pioneer. Her father was Grandmother’s flight instructor and, of course, taught his daughter to fly too—sparking a passion for flight that led her to become a stunt pilot!

One of the photos shows a larger view of the Alexander Eaglerock. The plane has a tiger painted on the side—it was the mascot for the College of Pacific flight school.

Telemaster Aircraft: an all purpose drone for STEM Education in High Schools

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 09:49:49 +0000

Just say the word “Drone” and imaginations run wild. Since I acquired Hobby Lobby, International (now Hobby Express) the Radio Control industry has enjoyed about five complete cycles of technology revolution. As exciting as it is, my team never lost focus on the pilot who was also an expert builder, dedicated to the craftsmanship required to build one of our airplanes.

The shift to mass produced craft commonly called “drones” expanded access and inspired a lot of commercial applications for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (“UAV”). Right out of the box, even a micro drone offers integrated HD video and it’s so easy to fly that everyone wants one for a birthday or Christmas gift. That’s all great—right—but it’s no challenge and you don’t really learn much about the technology and systems behind the vehicle. Is this an opportunity lost? Jobs are being created to fly drones that serve commercial needs and there is a national awareness that we need to be more competitive in Science, Technology and Math.