Cleared for Takeoff: Renoun’s Founder Flies High

These days, Renoun's founder Cyrus spends his downtime charting his own course above the clouds. It's a lifelong passion that started early; instead of counting down the days until he could drive a car, Cyrus couldn’t wait to fly a plane.

“I got my license on my 17th birthday, which is the youngest you can get your license,” he says, grinning at the memory. As a kid, he built six-foot wingspan remote control airplanes from scratch, spending months piecing them together, one balsa strip at a time.

Eventually, he rode his bike—a blue, seven-speed Mongoose—15 minutes up a steep hill to the local grass strip airport. “I put my bike down, walked towards the hangar, and this guy came out in blue overalls, hands covered in grease, and he’s like, ‘Alright, kid, how can I help you?’” Cyrus told him he wanted to learn how to fly. “And he’s like, ‘OK, sounds good.’”

His first instructor, Paul Potter, was, in Cyrus’s words, “no-nonsense,” drilling fundamentals into him with a sharpness that stuck. “He would say, ‘Did you check this?’ and if I hadn’t, he’d go, ‘You have to check that next time. I don’t want to ever hear you missing that thing again.’ It sounds intense, but it makes you a better pilot.”

Cyrus soloed on his 16th birthday, flying alone before he could legally drive a car. “I could have flown to New York City to grab a burger and come home, and that would have been totally legal, but I couldn’t even drive there yet,” he says.

Flying quickly became more than a hobby; it became the lens through which he viewed the world. “Flying privately is still the Wild West in many ways,” Cyrus says. “There’s a freedom to it. You can hop in and explore, and learn as you go.”

After earning his private pilot’s license, Cyrus hit pause on flying for a while. Life and time commitments took over, as did the realities of funding an expensive passion as a teenager. But the pull to fly never left. “Every year, my goal was to get back into flying,” he notes.

Now, with more flexibility in his life and schedule, Cyrus is back in the air. Right now, he’s pursuing his instrument Flight Rules rating (IFR) and training in a Piper Cherokee, often flying out of Raleigh, North Carolina. For Cyrus, achieving his IFR isn’t about bragging rights, it’s about safety and skill. “I want to be a really safe pilot. I told my instructor, ‘I don’t want to be mucking around. I want this to be important.’”

On weekends, you might find him “bopping around” to airports, testing approaches and learning new procedures, even if that’s just to grab a sandwich and head back home. Other times, he’s plotting longer cross-country flights, dreaming of someday co-owning a plane to take weekend trips with family and friends.

In a world where many of us view pursuits from behind a screen, Cyrus’s story and ambition is a reminder of the fulfillment found in pursuing something tangible, technical, and freeing. It’s about chasing the challenge, mastering complexity, and carving out a little more room to breathe.

Cyrus’s passion for flying may seem worlds away from skiing, but it’s not so different. Both demand focus, preparation, and a willingness to trust your instincts in dynamic conditions. Both require learning to read the environment, respecting it, and knowing when to push and when to hold back. Both bring an unshakable sense of stoke and self.

Renoun Skis Reviews team has over a decade of ski design and manufacturing experience, and decades of combined ski-industry experience ranging from certified PSIA ski instructors to shop technicians, racers, and coaches. We also have a deep passion for and love of all things skiing. The team utilizes this experience to provide unparalleled reviews that dive deep to help guide your purchase for just about any ski-related item and help inform you of any ski-focused tips and tricks about maintenance, on-hill performance, and even the best places to enjoy your Après-Ski. Through written and video content, the Renoun Skis Reviews team is here to help inform you on all things ski-related.

Our team curates recommendations based on an intensive research and review process and leverages our unique expertise in the industry. A product must be exceptional in quality and have unique features to qualify for consideration in our review process. For all tips and tricks, all advice is based on on-hill and ski manufacturing knowledge, as well as intensive research to ensure accuracy and help skiers like you stay informed.

To share feedback or ask a question about this article, send a note to our Reviews Team at info@renoun.com.