When Alan Zielinski’s not running his family’s 67-year-old bathroom and kitchen remodeling company, participating in the Chicago Executive Airport’s Leading Edge Flying Club, or teaching aviation students, he might be found traveling around the Midwest in hot air balloon races. Somehow, he still finds time to be with his family, including his wife of 32 years, Margaret.

Alan has been involved in aviation since he was 18, working in a variety of roles in the industry. He was the chief pilot for a large corporation for 22 years and is currently a certified pilot examiner for the FAA, among other roles and responsibilities.

Though his first love is aviation, he still values the work he does at Better Kitchens, the company his father Ed founded in 1956 to help homeowners build the kitchen and bathrooms of their dreams.

“It’s rare for someone to find one passion in their life, and I am really lucky to have found two,” explains Alan. “Both roles let me collaborate with people eager to fulfill a goal, whether improving their home or learning to become a pilot. It’s an honor to be part of others’ lives in such a meaningful way.”

Alans’s father was a World War II veteran and spent 27 years in the Naval reserves at the Glenview (IL) Naval Air Station. While he did not pilot the planes, he supervised the base’s aviation supply program.

It was Alan’s uncle who introduced him to aviation. During a family vacation as a teenager, his uncle took him up in a plane for the first time, and Alan was hooked. Carrying on the tradition, Alan’s son Justin is now a commercial multi-engine pilot, flying as a first officer.

Juggling jobs and a passion for aviation seems to run in the Zielinski veins.

Zielinski runs the family business with his sister Lynne, who is involved in a different aspect of aviation, working in and teaching space science. She and her Glenbrook North High School students have placed nine active (powered) and more than 200 passive (unpowered) experiments on six Space Shuttle missions, and she has done research at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. “She has an incredibly impressive background and is definitely the smarter one in the family,” Alan jokes.

Alan’s work with hot air balloons presents a much different experience than piloting a plane. His current hot air ballon is a Feather Light II that took 18 months to design. It was the unique challenge of navigating a hot air balloon, and the serenity of flying, which drew him to the art. “All other aspects of aviation require you to have wind, but in a balloon when you’re flying, there is no breeze, you’re just floating,” Alan explains.

Alan races his hot air balloon in Wisconsin, downstate Illinois, and St. Louis. He also participates in the annual 10-day Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta with 700 balloons. Alan enjoys bringing his hot air balloon to the Chicago Executive Airport’s annual Run the Runway 5K event to allow the participants to take-in its size and beauty.

He also is a flight instructor, certifying thousands of students with wonderful memories of pilots who have gone on to have great professional careers.

Alan has a soft spot for Chicago Executive Airport. “I have a high regard for the CEA team that keeps the airport open during the winter,” he says. “Kudos to them for always clearing the runway and path to the hanger. It makes a big difference for those who are landing after a long day fighting the weather.”