Parker Rathbun began his flying career at three years old, flying Radio Control aircraft with his father in Odessa, Texas. He began training in full-scale aircraft at the age of 12 in his family’s Beechcraft Musketeer, instructed by his dad. Parker first soloed on April 24, 2016, in Odessa, Texas, which happened to be 30 years to the day after his father’s.

Parker joined the Commemorative Air Force in 2014 as a cadet for the High Sky Wing based in Midland, Texas. His membership of the High Sky Wing sparked a love of being around and maintaining Warbirds. Parker had the chance to Solo his family’s AT-6 Texan after turning 18 years old in 2018.

His first flight in an airshow occurred that same year at the Midland CAF AIRSHO, flying the High Sky Wing’s Fairchild PT-19, earning his CAF Senior Pilot Rating. Since then, he has received his FAST Formation Wing and Lead Card and has acquired over 500 hours in the AT-6 Texan. Parker began flying with Tora! Tora! Tora! in 2021 as a ferry pilot for the group, becoming a show pilot in 2022.

In October of 2023 Parker received the opportunity to get checked out in the Commemorative Air Force’s Curtiss P-40N Warhawk. In January of 2024 Parker was able to purchase a 1943 SNJ-5 of his own from a great friend who had passed a year earlier. This Texan is named “Felix” and is flown at airshows, formation clinics, and for local flyovers in support of the CAF, Traron, and NATA. Parker has also received the opportunity to fly SIC for the EAA and Lost Coast Warbirds in their B-25 Mitchell Bombers. It is an honor to be selected for 20 Under 40!