Wade earned a B.A. in History from Louisiana State University in Shreveport while serving in the US Air Force Reserve and attended Louisiana Tech University while earning his Commercial Pilot Certificate and Instrument Rating. He later passed on his love of flying as an active Certificated Flight Instructor. Wade began to work full time as an aviation artist in 2003. Along with his painting, Wade took the time to pen "Perspective Projection by Descriptive Geometry: A Manual for the Artist".

He recently self-published "The Yielding Sky," the first book featuring his aviation art. In 2009 Wade was elected an Artist Fellow in the American Society of Aviation Artists.