I started my aviation career at a general aviation shop in St. Marys Ga. in 2010. I worked as an apprentice to obtain my A&P certificate. I received an incredible amount of experience due to the shop owner taking on many different projects from patching up his L2 to a full restoration of a Fairchild 24.

I was privileged to witness and get hands on with this type of work. He taught me how to do dope and fabric, fiberglass work, and even paint. I have stripped full aircraft and assisted him in full paint jobs. He even gave me the opportunity to rebuild an un-airworthy, airboat engine once. There were far too many skillsets to list here that he gave me an opportunity to learn. I am extremely grateful for that.

Between the unique projects, I was able to do annuals on aircraft from Cubs up to Navajo’s, giving me a great appreciation for the GA world.

I moved on from there to get heavy experience in a MRO working on Boeings primarily. I did structural work on 707’s, 727’s, and 737’s. This introduced me to a whole new world of aviation and it was exciting! After a while I joined the engine crew and started doing engine swaps. There is something incredibly exciting about moving over accessories and lines from a timed out engine to a fresh overhaul and then installing it and doing a leak check while its running up. The coolest thing I’ve seen while doing a leak check on a 737 is that cyclone of moister that produces right at the inlet. Jet fuel and turbines will breath new life into you!

I still wanted to expand and see what the world of corporate aviation was like, so I began my career at Gulfstream Aerospace. Here is where I was really able to hone in on my specialty of structures and composites. I learned the standards that a great company like Gulfstream required. It gave me a whole new appreciation for processes. I worked in composites for a few years, learning and understanding how to do fresh layups, how composites responds to different tool materials, and the speeds of those tools. These are critical aspects of doing high quality work on composite materials.

After a few years on composites, I joined Gulfstream’s Special Missions program. I specifically worked on the Compass Call program. The Compass Call build takes a G550 and converts it into an electronic warfare aircraft, becoming the EA-37B. This requires heavy structural modification and a large team of technicians, engineers, parts and tools supply, and a lot of quality checks. This program gave me an incredible amount of experience with doing very heavy structures at a highly accurate level. This program was by far my most proud accomplishment.

I was able to gain the knowledge that gives me the full confidence to tackle any structures and composites task at hand. I have been in aviation for 15 years and look forward to many more adventures. I left my career with Gulfstream to pursue an opportunity to use my skillset in the private sector. I am committed to providing the same level of work that was required of me in the Compass Call program. I take a lot of pride in what I do and your aircraft deserves that level of care.

Here are just a few aircraft that I have had the privilege of working on.