THE MAGIC BLEND

Centurion was founded in 2015 by four dynamic, forward thinking and innovative entrepreneurs. The collaboration between these four men, each bringing their unique skill and knowledge to the Centurion venture, has resulted in a beautiful, sleek and powerful aircraft.

The primary purpose was to design and manufacture an outstanding aircraft that provide pilots and passengers with certainty linked to safety while enabling pilots to fly further for less by incorporating the latest aeronautical technologies and research.

CENTURION FOUNDERS

DR. WERNER BARKHUIZEN

Flying is my passion and I still have the first drawing of a plane I made when I was 6 years old. With more than 24 years of flying experience and in excess of 1000 flying hours,

I leverage my unique capabilities and professional qualifications in psychology, entrepreneurship and design to proudly provide direction to our amazing team of engineers and designers towards creating an aircraft that inspires pilots, comforts passengers and enthuses aviation everywhere.

DR. PIETER LATEGAN

At the age of 14, I experienced my first flying lesson under the guidance of my late father. I’ve been a passionate pilot for as long as I can remember and most of my flying time has been in the Cessna 210. I have long been dreaming of creating an aircraft that is reminiscent of my flying experience and with this the Centurion came to fruition. It is a privilege to be a part of this incredible journey and team. As a medical professional, I specialize in Aviation Medicine and share this passion for flying with my son.

RENIER LATEGAN

My father allowed me to take the controls of his Cessna 210 as a young boy and from that moment knew that I wanted to design and build aircraft. After qualifying as a mechatronic engineer, I obtained my pilots license as well as being certified as an aircraft mechanic. After participating in building numerous aircraft, I embarked on building my own. Two years later I completed my first aircraft. My father and I often discussed designing the Centurion, an idea that finally came to life when we teamed up with Neil and Werner.

NEIL HUMAN

As a young boy I loved building toy planes from recycled materials and I knew then that I wanted to design aeroplanes. Flying is my passion. After completing my degree in Mechanical Engineering: Aero-dynamics and Aeronautics, I gained significant aircraft design experience at Jonker Sailplanes. I jumped at the chance to be involved with Centurion and design the world's most beautiful aeroplane.

THE ADVISORY TEAM

PEPE FIGUEROA

Priority One Services

In 1986, Jose (Pepe) Figueroa founded Priority One Services, a minority-owned company, with over 30 years of experience providing exceptional support to the Life Sciences industry. Combined with a diverse team of dedicated individuals and a culture that fosters growth and development through comprehensive training programs to achieve one priority: exceeding customer satisfaction.
An industry leader providing scientific staffing services to a growing list of pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic and government organizations. We are committed to helping our clients be more productive through customer-focused, quality driven solutions. We strive to build and maintain a team of individuals who provide outstanding support to our clients. Pepe will guide the team on support with growing and developing the business in the federal and state level government initiatives.

JIM JEANS

SDA Inc.

Jim Jeans was Lead Stress Engineer for the F-22 Raptor and the B-2 Stealth Bomber and joined our team in early 2018.

Jim has extensive experience in aircraft structural design and has considerable expertise in high performance, lightweight aircraft structures. Jim founded Structural Design and Analysis in 1997.

With Jim’s wide-ranging expertise in structural design we are assured of a fast, formidable and unyielding aircraft.

SID MORRIS

Morris International

Sid Morris is a relationship and business genius.

Sid has brokered many successful relationships, partnerships and alliances and with his high energy, fiscally conscious and entrepreneurial flair.

Sid guides the Centurion team to create an aircraft that would appeal to the general aviator and the professional alike. His innovative problem solving approach enables a pilot-centric approach to aircraft design.

BRIAN PARSLEY

brianparsley.com

Brian guides organizations to increase sales effectiveness, delight customers and build profits.

Brian has founded and sold two successful start-up companies. He has received numerous awards for professional excellence and is listed in the Business Journal's Top 40 Executives under 40, which he won at age 34.

Although Brian is not a pilot, he is passionate about Emirates First Class and brings sales messaging to our team with a strong focus on the concierge customer delivery experience of Centurion ownership.

JOHN PARSLEY

R4 Integration, Inc

Parsley is a co-founder and President of R4 Integration and has over 37 years of aviation experience gained from life experience in both industry and as a veteran of the United States Air Force Special Operation. He has extensive earned experience working for Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Modern Technologies and Aerospace Integration Corporation designing, developing and integrating technology on B-52, KC-135, C-130, C-5, F-4, ATR-42, PC-12, L-100, C206, UH-1, H-60, CH-47, and B407. This experience involved the integration of sophisticated avionics, sensors, countermeasures, defensive and offensive systems. His company provides system design and integration of state-of-the-art general aviation and public-use aircraft technologies. John holds multiple Patents & FAA STCs for designs and products developed and fielded by his company.

CLAUDE VUICHARD

Vuichard Recovery Aviation Safety Foundation

Claude Vuichard received the 2018 Helicopter Association International Salute to Excellence BLR Aerospace Safety Award and has amassed more than 16,000 hours as both Helicopter and Fixed-Wing ATPL.

Vuichard received the award for his ongoing commitment to safe helicopter operations. He is best known for refining and promoting the Vuichard Recovery - a technique that trains helicopter pilots to recover from a condition known as "vortex ring state" with a minimal loss of altitude.

Claude is a critical member of our team and advises on flight safety, training and design.