The race is in the corners.
Mike Tryggvason is a mechanical engineer, global airline pilot, human factors instructor, and elite air racer, who thrives where high stakes meet high performance.
When he isn't flying commercial airliners or performing aerobatics at air shows across North America, Mike puts his expertise in human factors to the ultimate test. In 2026, he became one of only eight pilots chosen globally to compete in the world's most selective and technically challenging motorsport series: Air Race X.
In the series, Mike commands the Viking 12 Racing Edge 540 race plane at 400 km/h, under a punishing ±12 Gs in a race against the clock.
Blending an engineering mind with elite racing instinct, Mike delivers high-energy keynotes on eliminating unforced errors, building elite teams, and navigating life's most grueling corners.
- Speaker
- Mike Tryggvason
- Also known as
- Viking 12 · Air Race X, first full season 2026
- Roots
- Canada · Ontario · Burlington Airpark · Mechanical Engineering at the University of Western Ontario
Two talks
- Talk AAbout an hour
The race is in the corners
The most strenuous parts of a race course are the corners, and they're where the results are largely determined. Mike talks about his journey to becoming one of eight contenders on the 2026 grid of the world's most elite aerial race series, and what it took to get there.
- Talk BAbout an hour
You are the limiting factor
Mike discusses how his years of studying and teaching human factors have shaped the pilot he is today. The talk is based on lessons he's learned from recognizing principles of human factors while flying a variety of aircraft in high-stakes environments, and on how learning those lessons results in fewer unforced errors and more effective teams.
Formats
- Keynote
- Either talk, about an hour, or cut to 30 to 40 minutes for a tighter program. Say which when you send the date.
- Fireside, hosted Q&A, or panel
- About an hour, and a host can run it.
The path
In 2003, eighteen-year-old Mike Tryggvason sat in the back seat of an old military trainer over Hamilton Harbour in Ontario, Canada. The man flying it was in his eighties. It was only a joyride, but by the time they were on the ground, Mike had decided he was going to be a pilot.
He kept a day job and flew every third day. He earned his licenses on a short paved runway in Burlington, Ontario, then asked an aerobatic instructor for training in a Pitts: a small biplane that does not forgive sloppy flying. The instructor said no. Mike called again, and then missed the first lesson, stuck in highway traffic. He spent the next two weeks proving he would actually show up, and eventually learned to land the Pitts.
In 2005, in a car with his dad, he opened a magazine and saw pylon air racing: airplanes flown at high speed through a tight course, a sport which would later become today's Air Race X series. He was not in the race featured in that article, but he decided he would make it his mission to be, someday. The years between that article and his 2026 Air Race X grid announcement were filled with the task of solving the next problem, then the next, all in pursuit of one goal.
Mike now flies for his own team, Viking 12 Racing. Beginning in 2026, he is one of only eight pilots selected to compete in the international Air Race X series. He is pleased to share how a joyride over the harbour became his seat in the formidable Edge 540 race plane, and what those pivotal years in between taught him.
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