Mark E. Waddell, President

Mark lives in New York with his wife Monica.  He chairs the patent litigation practice for a national law firm. He also holds an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering and focuses his law practice on pharmaceuticals and other life science matters.

Mark’s interest in COPA’s safety education efforts deepened when his last aircraft, an SR22 G3 TN, suffered a CAPS pull in 2018. He maintains accident and incident data used by COPA-U and develops course content for the College of Aviation Safety. Mark holds a private pilot SEL certificate and instrument rating and is currently working on his commercial.  He also flies charity missions for Angel Flight Northeast.  He’s owned four Cirrus aircraft, and currently flies an SR22 G6 NA FIKI.

A COPA member since 2009, Mark has attended nine CPPP events and three Migrations. In 2020, he was the first recipient of the CPPP Instructors’ Landing Challenge Coin.

Mark has four children - two boys and two girls – and two grandchildren.

Trustee Service Start Date: 2019

Bruce Kaufman , Trustee

Kaufman obtained his SEL license in 1989 at Midway airport, Chicago.  He was a co-owner in a C-182 in St. Louis for 10 years, before moving to Milwaukee where he currently lives and works.  He is an original partner in a “classic 6-pack” 2002 Cirrus G1 (SN 337) that he continues to own and fly.  He also owns and flies a 1946 Globe Swift (“Super Swift”) that in addition to many mechanical modifications has been upgraded to modern avionics.

Bruce was a ‘founding member’ of the COPA Safety and Education Foundation and has been a member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Safety Foundation for many years, and is a continuing contributor to their Hat in the Ring Society.  Bruce along with Matt McDaniel (Platinum CSIP, Master Flight Instructor, and Alaska Airlines captain) set a national flying record – landing at every public paved airport in the state of Wisconsin in one day (104 airports in just over 17 hours).   

Bruce still maintains a ‘day job’ as a pediatric neurosurgeon at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and is a Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin (Milwaukee).  He has been the chief of his division and leader of several national Pediatric Neurosurgery organizations.  He is married to Anna, and along with their two golden retrievers Sargent and Duke, they all love to fly the Cirrus around the Northern Hemisphere!

Trustee Service Start Date: 2019

Timm Preusser, Trustee

Timm Preusser is a founding member of the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association, where he served 12 years on the Board of Directors (and currently serves again). He is one of the founders of the COPA Safety and Education Foundation, where he is a member of the Board of Trustees. Timm is a mechanical engineer with a PhD who started his career as an assistant professor at the Technical University Darmstadt and later held executive positions in multi-national enterprises. Timm is a professional pilot, flight instructor, Platinum CSIP and Designated Pilot Examiner, with ATP and type ratings. He is managing partner with FTA Flugtraining Aschaffenburg, an EASA approved flight training organization (ATO) and Platinum Cirrus Training Center.

Timm has logged 7.000 flight hours in different types of airplanes, including turbine aircraft, with a majority of 5.000 hours in Cirrus airplanes, most of them as an instructor or examiner. He has flown and instructed in Europe, USA, Africa and Australia, and has completed 16 North Atlantic crossings in SR20/22 planes. He is a FAA Gold Seal Instructor and a 12 time Master Instructor. As an educator by heart, his main activities center around creating lectures and giving presentations for COPA University™, AOPA, flight instructor refresher clinics, in his own flight school and, of course, writing articles for COPA Pilot magazine. His main interests are in TAA, avionics and human performance. He is a member in several renowned aviation societies (AOPA, SAFE, NAFI).

Timm and his wife, Gerda (also a mechanical engineer with PhD, private instrument pilot, instrument ground instructor, and certified aviation auditor), conducted and instructed on more than 50 international CPPPs since 2003, in places as fancy as Australia, Austria, Brazil, France, Holland, Italy, Germany, Poland, South Africa and United Kingdom. Their great common goal is to improve the international general aviation safety through instruction, recurrent training and providing insight.

On the SEF board and in COPA University™, Timm’s responsibilities are the international training events (outside USA) and driving the structural development of COPA University™ forward. Timm is the author of the 2021-2026 strategic plan for COPA University™ which aims to become a worldwide recognized institution for aviation safety and training for TAA pilots.

Trustee Service Start Date: 2014

Carrie Woods, Trustee

Carrie Woods has been an active pilot for nearly 20 years (YES- women fly!) with an instrument rating, and a COPA member for nearly as many years.  Carrie (and her co-pilot / spouse Doug) attended the very first Migration in Duluth, and together they have only missed the two Las Vegas Migrations.  She and Doug have enjoyed flying their first Cirrus (2002 G1) and their current SR22 G2 all of those years.

Starting with a suggestion made at the first Migration (M1), she organized the original COPA dinner at EAA AirVenture.  The first dinner had under 30 people attending, but has now grown to a gathering of over 300 attendees.  She is well known to the COPA community (and feared in the vendor world) for her ability to collect ‘door prizes’ for COPA events.

Carrie accepted a position on the COPA Safety and Education Foundation Board of Trustees in 2018, and as the Safety and Education Foundation separated from the COPA social organization she became its first President in March 2019.  She remains on the SEF Board of Trustees, but is now the Chairperson of COPA Pilot Proficiency Programs.

Trustee Service Start Date: 2019

Tim Loy, Trustee

Tim was exposed to general aviation as a kid. His father had a Mooney, 201AL, and regularly took up friends and out of town visitors to fly over Mt. St. Helens in the aftermath of its 1981 eruption.  But it wasn’t until Tim’s youngest was a senior in high school that he finally got a greenlight from his wife, Amy, to pursue his long stated goal of learning to fly.  Twenty hours into training in a Cessna 172, Tim asked his instructor if he’d ever had to put down in a field, and the instructor said “Yes. Twice, as a matter of fact.  Both times in this airplane!”  The next day, Tim went under contract for an SR22T G6 and did the remainder of his private and instrument in a Cirrus, and now flies primarily to hopscotch between business locations spread across the country.  He took delivery of a new SR22T, 211AL, in late 2022. 

Tim’s business is a safety company, Mallory Safety, that distributes safety products, provides safety training and safety managers, so he spends a lot of time thinking about how to build a safety culture.  He joined the SEF Board because, in many ways, aviation safety is the gold standard in developing safer practices and attitudes, and some of the work he was exposed to in a CPPP is really next level for general aviation.  Tim’s particular focus on SEF is on marketing the training events and resources and fundraising, so if you are reading this, please consider attending one of the outstanding CPPP events, and if fortunate enough to be able to, please consider donating to the COPA SEF so that we can keep up with training that will keep you and other Cirrus pilot’s and their families and loved one’s safe through training that makes a difference, that keeps our perishable flying skills sharp, that fill in the gaps or complacency that may have crept into our flying technique or decision-making, and that helps us build a culture of safety among the Cirrus community.  You can donate [HERE].

Tim is married to his high school sweetheart, Amy, who is a high school English teacher, they have either 2 or 5 kids, they reside in Portland, Oregon, and enjoy the outdoors, travel, family and friends. 

Trustee Service Start Date: 2023

Tony Sobczak, Trustee

Tony Sobczak has been an aviation enthusiast since he was a small child. He wanted to learn to fly but life got in the way. It wasn’t until 2001 when the stars and planets finally aligned, and he started taking lessons. His solo cross country was scheduled for September 11, 2001 at 11:00 am. Again, flying was put on hold and it was not until May of 2002 before he got his license. Since then he has owned three airplanes, accumulated over 1000 hours (over 500 in his current Cirrus SR22) and has an instrument rating. Tony is passionate about aviation safety.

Joining COPA is 2012, Tony has held positions as North Central Regional Governor (Twice), North Central Regional Lieutenant Governor and National CDM (Critical Decision Making) Coordinator. His current positions on your Board of Directors include Director, Secretary and Regional Governor Liaison.

Tony (AKA - Nino – pronounced Knee-No) is active in Lion’s International. Past positions include Club Director and Club President. He is currently the Treasure of his Lions Club as well as the Zone Chairperson for his Lions District.

In “Real Life” Tony is an Army veteran, owns and operates the Mousehouse Cheesehaus, and lives is a small village near Madison, Wisconsin with his wife of 31 years, Vicki. Their son, Gus, is a controller at Kansas City Center and their daughter, Nicki, manages the gift shop at the Mousehouse.

Trustee Service Start Date: 2024