Rhon grew up in Dayton, Ohio near WPAFB, and got to see all kinds of military planes flying over his house. His Dad took him to air shows, so he gained an interest in aviation at a young age. While earning a PhD in electrical engineering at the University of Illinois, Rhon took flight training as some of his courses, ultimately earning a commercial pilot license, rated to fly single and multiengine airplanes, gliders, and helicopters; and a flight instructor rating for airplanes, instruments, and gliders.
After moving to California, Rhon taught flying part time while working as an engineering manager, and now co-owns a Cirrus SR22, in which he and his wife enjoy many flying trips. Past trips included flying northwest to Banff, northeast to New Jersey, southeast to Bahamas, and southwest to Cabo San Lucas.
After retiring in 2011 as a Program Manager at Northrop Grumman, he now gets to spend more time at the airport playing with airplanes. Partly based on his experience building the Early Bird Jenny, Rhon recently obtained his Airplane & Powerplant Mechanic rating. Rhon is active in the Experimental Aircraft Association, Civil Air Patrol, Western Museum of Flight, and gives presentations to pilots as an FAA Safety Team representative. He is also a member of IEEE, AIAA, and AAAS.