Essential Worker Hero Commands Badass Boss Mustang
When it comes to tough jobs, ‘air traffic controller’ is pretty up there. Thankfully, Steve Kozik can unwind after work with his 2013 Boss Mustang.
The world’s gone crazy these past few months. Most of us have spent the past few months holed up at home, waiting this whole mess out. For a select few, though, that simply hasn’t been an option.
Our sister site, Mustang Forums, recently profiled a fellow Mustang fanatic who never stopped going to work. Steve Kozik is an air traffic controller from Van Nuys, California. He’s been hard at work watching the skies, keeping them safe and clear during the pandemic. In an uncertain world, pilots can count on him to keep things running smoothly.
Van Nuys Airport (VNY) is one of the busiest general aviation airports in the world. Thanks to its close proximity to LAX, Kozik always has his hands full making sure that commercial aircraft and general aviation aircraft stay out of each other’s way.
In his off time, Kozik is a Mustang fan through and through. His current Mustang is a 2013 Boss 302, build number #0815. It’s School Bus Yellow, with Recaro seats and the Torsen differential. It’s actually his second yellow Mustang (he also owned a Chrome Yellow ’98 SVT Cobra), and his third Mustang overall.
His first Mustang was a bright red over black 1993 LX 5.0 hatchback. He owned the car back when he was 20, and put over 300,000 miles on it! He says that despite lots of hard use, it only left him stranded once in all those miles, due to a bad coolant temp sensor.
An Eye For Detail
His current Mustang has far fewer miles on it. He say that his 2013 Boss turned over 5,000 miles on the test drive. Given that his Mustang had just about every bolt-on performance part added, as well as nitrous, it’s safe to assume that it takes an eye for detail to keep something like that alive that long. Those same skills have served Kozik well in his career as an air traffic controller.
As Kozik explains, air traffic controllers have a saying about their job — “Your day is hours of boredom punctuated by seconds of terror.” Keeping track of everything in the skies is a tough job indeed, especially in one of the busiest places in the world. When it comes time to unwind, we’re glad that Kozik has his Mustang!
Photos: Steve Kozik
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