Kevin Brooker Profile
Kevin Brooker
P.O. Box 116
Post Mills, VT 05058
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2003 Region 1 (New England) Sports Class Champion.
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9th place finish for the 2004 Region 5 (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia)
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Current holder of 28 state soaring records set in the states of Vermont, New Hampshire and South Carolina. These records encompass both speed and distance performances.
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Holder of a Symons Memorial pin for a climb to 25,500’ and earned and FAI (Federation Aeronautique International) Gold Badge (300 flight, 5 hour duration and 3,000 meter climb) with 2 Diamonds (300k pre-declared flight and climb of 5,000 meters).
Kevin began flying at the age of 11 when a neighbor who owned a small airplane took him for a ride. Obtained a powered plane license in 1991 and began flying sailplanes in 1998.
Prior to flying sailplanes, Kevin raced bicycles in both the US and Europe before an injury 1987 prematurely ended a promising career. Began orienteering in 1992 and was a member of the US development team. Kevin is an avid outdoors advocate and spends many days climbing rock and ice, skiing, sailing, kite skiing and riding a bicycle to remain fit.
Owner of Redpoint, Incorporated. Redpoint is a holding company with several subsidiaries:
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New England Radon Control – a residential mitigation company founded in 1993
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Advanced Septic Design – Wastewater disposal system engineering founded in 2001
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Relief Wear – Design and marketing of specialty clothing for the aviation market founded in 2002.
Married to Jill Brooker since October 1990 and the father of two children: Olivia 4 years old and Nathan is 2.
Graduated from Vermont College of Norwich University with a Batchelor of Liberal Arts degree in January, 2000.
In addition to physical activities, Kevin writes articles about sailplanes for Soaring Magazine, The Atlantic Flyer, Vermont Sports Today, and is a featured columnist for the British website, Sailplane and Gliding.
Other activities
Iceboating
When the lakes freeze over and the wind blows Vermont has some of the best iceboating in New England. If you’ve never sailed on ice it is an amazing experience. The acceleration of the boats is just awesome. Most of the rigs used by 6Q are home grown and we have learned a bunch about tuning and going fast. Since our rigs are also very different we tend to attract a crowd. One of our boats was the featured large photo in a story written about hard water sailing. The other boats were some high tech carbon fiber wonders costing over $50,000.
Kite Skiing
When the snow arrives and effectively kills off the ice sailing we break out the kits. Using a kite to propel a skier is a lot of fun. Top speed by a 6Q team member is 37 mph set on Lake Morey in Fairlee, Vermont. We have a few home sewn rigs and commercial kites to choose from. We also bring a huge quiver to the kiting spot so we can choose a rig to suit the conditions. The range is from .75 square meters up to 7 square meters. We also bring a few trainer kites for people to try flying themselves. In the right winds the 7 meter kits can lift the rider into the air so we get a bit of flying in too.
Biathlon
Believe it or not, biathlon (ski and shoot) is super helpful to sailplane racing. Flying for several hours is physically demanding and the pilot must stay focused during the flight. Biathlon requires great physical endurance and the ability to calm down to shoot well. The target is 50 meters (163’) away and 11 cm (4 1/3”) in diameter for the standing (offhand) shooting and 4 cm (1 ½”) diameter for shooting prone (on your belly). In both sailplane racing and biathlon there is no place for frazzled nerves so they are very complimentary.