Don Kukla

Don’s passion for flying was first uncovered when he took flight with his 26-year-old brother whose wife would not fly with him. Don was 15 years old. Life got in the way and his passion lay dormant until he turned 51 and ran out of excuses for not soaring the sky. So, in September of 2012, he took his first lesson and within 12 months he soloed, passed his PPL exam, transitioned to a Cirrus SR22 and secured an instrument rating.

With speed and altitude being “shiny objects in the water”, Don bought a 2001 Piper Meridian in 2017 and joined MMOPA as a lifetime member. With a fresh Garmin panel how could life get any better? Well, with 600 pounds of additional payload, the M600 was the next move. A 2017 model (#49) was purchased in 2021.

With an average of 200 flight hours a year, Don has over 2,400 total hours making up for lost time and enjoys flying all over North America in N98DK (how could you pass up a plane with your initials already on it?)

Don is a CPA and CFP spending most of his career as a financial advisor. He has been a partner at Moneta in St. Louis, MO since 1988 – Moneta is a truly independent Registered Investment Advisory firm.

His family includes his wife of 40+ years (Maria), three adult children (Dan, Lauren and Brian) and six grandchildren. He is happy to make the easy trip from KCPS to KADS to see the Texas grandchildren.

Traveling, skiing, golfing, hunting, hiking and biking all go well with his passion of flying along with giving back to the community through Wings of Hope and Angel Flight – becoming involved with PMOPA is a no brainer and a right fit!