Landon Thorne is a graduate of Yale University and has been flying since his teens. He continues a long career in private equity and venture capital investing through his private management company, Midas Advisory Group. Landon also served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, retiring in 2002 at the rank of Colonel. During his military career and many active duty deployments he served in Vietnam, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. In Vietnam he flew 163 missions as a ‘back seater’ in O-1 ‘Bird Dogs’ and vowed that he would eventually own one of those wonderful airplanes. Today he flies N68VN, his fully restored Bird Dog which is painted in the colors of Marine Observation Squadron 6.
Landon is an avid outdoorsman and conservationist. He lives on Brays Island Plantation, a unique sporting community near Sheldon (Beaufort County), South Carolina. Landon also owns Hoota Woods Plantation located in Grays, SC where, among many land stewardship projects, he grows heirloom Carolina Gold rice using the traditional upland reservoir method. Landon is passionate about the eco-systems of the Carolinas and Georgia coastal region and their related watersheds. Landon has served as Vice Chair of the Jekyll Island Foundation and was instrumental in raising the funds for the Jekyll Island Turtle Center which has become one of the island’s leading attractions. He is proud and thrilled to be a member of the “South Wings” volunteer pilots team.
