When he's not practicing law at Gilbert Harrell Sumerford & Martin in Brunswick, Mark Johnson can often be found up in the air flying his single-engine Piper Saratoga. The six-seat airplane is perfect for Johnson, as he and his wife have four children.

Johnson, 51, earned his pilot's license more than 14 years ago, just two weeks before the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. “I had just gotten my license and they shut down air space for several days,” he recalled. “It was weird.”

A 1990 law school graduate from the University of Georgia, Johnson flies for both business and pleasure. He has flown to some “random places” with his family and once flew a friend to Atlanta for heart surgery.