Eric Leonard remembers watching the 1968 moon landing from his childhood home in New Orleans at only 10 years of age, and has been passionate about spaceflight, technology, and patriotism ever since. At only 14 years old, Eric started working as a paper delivery boy for the Times Picayune in his hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana.

After graduating high school in 1975, Eric enlisted in the United States Marine Corp, where he was trained as an avionics technician on Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters. After one year of active duty, Eric returned home and became an instrumentation technician at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility (which in 1995 became Lockheed Martin). In October 1976, at 19 yrs old, Eric earned his private pilot license, and began flying around the New Orleans area.

In 1985, Eric enrolled in Tulane University’s MBA program, with a concentration in computer information systems. As his education continued, he moved on from installing instrumentation on test articles for the space shuttle’s external tank (the large rocket that propels the shuttle out of Earth’s atmosphere), to automation programming. After graduating Tulane in 1992–the dawn of the Computer Age–Eric was tasked with leading computer training for the entire plant’s [number] of employees.

In 2005, Eric’s 29-year career in aerospace came to a halt when he lost his home in Hurricane Katrina. Before the storm, Eric and his family had evacuated to Cypress, Texas, with the intention of staying for a few days. Learning of the devastation to their home and their city, Eric and his family decided to get to know their new home of Cypress, Texas.

Happily, Eric and his family fell in love with the great State of Texas and in 2006 they decided to call Cypress their new home. Eric began a new career Shell Oil, leading global implementation of Shell Open University, an online learning management system for Shell’s 92,000 worldwide employees. Eric leads a global team, with members based in the Netherlands, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and across the United States, and sometimes even gets the chance to visit their offices in-person.

Eric is active in his community of Cypress, Texas. He’s a blood donor, avid runner, man of faith, and dedicated husband and father of two grown children. As a member of the community, Eric enjoys meeting new people and bringing out the best in them.

In 2018, Eric founded Apex Property Imaging and has been impressing clients ever since. His new calling combines his passions of flight, photography, and entrepreneurship. Eric is a dedicated sole proprietor, laser-focused on dazzling his clients. Offering a new view of homes, property, land development,and so much more, drone imagery offers a birds-eye view. This stunning new perspective fascinates and delights people of all ages.