Luke was born and raised in St. Cloud, MN. He grew up with 6 sisters and 3 brothers. He started flying

lessons at 15 years old and soloed on his 16th birthday. He graduated from Tech High School before

entering the United States Air Force in 1970. He was part of Security Forces and a dog handler during

the Viet Nam War and was based at 2 different bases in Thailand. He finished his Private Pilot’s License

using the Air Force’s Aero Club at Randolph Air Force Base. He was honorably discharged went to

college for 2 years and then decided to get his Commercial, Instrument, Multi-Engine and Flight

Instructors Ratings the late 70’s.

In 1987, he married Pam Cesnik and they have 4 children, 12 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.

In 1990 he went on his first Hot Air Balloon ride. After that he decided he could add hot air ballooning

to his ratings. Now he has about 1,000 hour in balloons.

In 1989 Freedom Flight was started as a non-profit organization that was promoting the Prisoners Of

War / Missing In Action (POW/MIA) issue through the use of their Hot Air Balloon and when they found

out Luke was a Viet Nam Veteran and a balloon pilot they asked him to join them. So here was an issue

near and dear to his heart and he couldn’t resist to become involved in the organization. Now he has

been flying for 57 years and specifically balloons for 34 years.

He has been president and chief pilot for the organization for more than 30 years and they now have 4

balloons and 10 volunteer pilots. They have flown in 6 different countries and 43 different states and do

40-60 events each year. Recently he moved out to Caldwell, ID and brought Freedom Flight V to service

the western United States and while running the organization remotely with some amazing board

members and other volunteers.

What he enjoys most about flying in general is the comradery amongst the pilots and crew and the

many friends created throughout the years. I also love showing people about the sport of ballooning

and teaching people how to fly.

August 31, 2024 Luke was recognized by the FAA and awarded the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award

for more than 50 years of safe flying.

When he is not ballooning, you can find him helping their son and daughter-in-law in Emmett, ID, along

with other adventures. He ran his own computer business for 35 years and still enjoy helping people

with their computer challenges.

Besides flying airplanes and balloons he has flown gliders, helicopters and ultralights. Some of his other

hobbies are hunting, fishing, boating, scuba diving, skiing (water, downhill & cross country) shooting

trap, skeet & sporting clays and bicycling