A Rare Blend of Opportunity and Timing: the Light Sport Aviation Mechanic
February 27, 2010
Someone once said, “Someday your whole life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.”
Along the same lines, I read somewhere that about half of all people don’t really like their jobs. And I thought, “What a waste of a life that is to get up every morning and do something that you really don’t like.” So it is exciting to work with people who sign up for the 3 week long- 120 hour Light Sport Repairman Maintenance Course to start their own business, usually as a second career.
There are few occasions when a great opportunity crosses our path, and it is rarely when the timing is just right. So with great enthusiasm that both timing and opportunity were merging, Ted Finck signed up for Rainbow Aviation’s Light Sport Repairman Course offered in November 2008.
While the course itself is an incredible opportunity, Ted capitalized on the initial investment by adding the Powered Parachute and Weight shift modules. “These two modules just added a week to my trip, for a total of four weeks. But with the added ratings, I have tripled my customer base.”
But Ted went one step further, taking advantage of the opportunity to earn his Powered Parachute Instructor’s certificate at the same time. “It was a great opportunity. Morris Yoder and Lee Woodriff were also taking the repairman course at the same time and are both powered parachute instructors. So we would train in the morning before class, in the evenings after class and on weekends. I took my practical exam with Morris Yoder on the last week of the course and left with not only my Repairman Maintenance Certificate for airplane, weight shift and powered parachute and my Rotax repairman service level certification, but also my powered parachute instructor certificate.
Course participants comprise an incredible, diverse community, attending the course for a variety of reasons. Some owners take the course to maintain and inspect their own SLSA aircraft, some participants are already airframe and powerplant mechanics, others are aircraft manufacturers, and some are instructors who want to perform their own 100 hour inspections, but most, like Ted, are interested in starting their own full time or even part time business. And after participants earn their LSRM certificate their businesses comprise yet again an incredible, diverse community.
For example, Clyde Poser owner of Rule Aviation Services in Buckeye, WA is a retired airline captain. Clyde used the LSRM certificate as a stepping stone to earn his DAR authorization (designated aircraft representative), he then used his LSRM and DAR certificates to qualify to become a contract instructor for the 2 day Repairman courses. He also offers both powered parachute and weight shift flight instruction, so he gave flight lessons while attending the three week course in California. “There’s almost an advantage in some respects to waiting until mid-life to make a significant career change because often times,” Clyde explains, “the experience you had in your previous career can be utilized and can benefit the next chapter in your life.”
As you might have guessed most participants have high expectations for their businesses. Mike Zidziunas ( known as Mike Z.) is no different. Mike is a sport pilot instructor and realized early on that light sport was going to be the future of aviation so he earned his LSRM in August of 2006. “I was not prepared, however, for the incredible opportunities the certificate would offer.” And Mike is taking full advantage of those opportunities. He has opened a Rotax Service Center, he works with manufacturers assembling SLSA aircraft and he plans to expand his business by becoming an A & P mechanic. Maintenance is Mike’s primary focus and he will soon be able to include Amateur-Built aircraft inspections to the list of services he offers.
On the other hand, Aldo Sibi, who earned his LSRM in May of 2006, works full time for Indus Aircraft. He is the Manager and Director of Production and the head of Research and Development. He has made over 56 modifications to the Thorpedo design and has protyped and built the first Thorpedo Diesel engine/airframe combo. Like mIke, Alod is also in the process of becoming an A & P mechanic.
Roger Lee is retired from the Tucson Fire Department has a business in Arizona , Roger’s LSA Service & Repair. Roger works on all LSA aircraft, but he specializes on the Flight Design CT aircraft and the Rotax engines. Roger works as a LSRM out of his truck. He also takes his mechanical skills on the road performing maintenance and inspections at his customer’s location. “I didn’t want to go back to work full time, but there is enough work there to keep me plenty busy.” Roger comments. Roger is able to keep his overhead down and his customers appreciate the lower rates. “This (work) is quite a bit different than being a firefighter because I haven’t had to do CPR on an engine, start an IV in the fuel line or defibrillator a carb.”
The FAA has created an incredible opportunity with the Light Sport Repairman Maintenance Course for an individual to start a new career or a homebased, low-cost business that is rewarding- not just financially- but personally. Additionally, an individual can earn the certificate quickly- in just three weeks. This is incredible when you compare that to the 1900 hour requirement for an Airframe and Powerplant mechanic. This powerful three week course is what entrepreneurship is all about: success.
Nasa Ares 1 Arial Footage Shot From Cessna Skymaster October 28 2009
November 28, 2009
Report.
An aerial video crew observed the October 28, 2009 Ares I-X test flight from a Cessna Skymaster aircraft positioned approx. 10 nautical miles away from the vehicle at an altitude of 12,000 feet. The videographer used a gyro-stabilized high-definition camera system mounted to the outside of the aircraft to capture this spectacular footage. This footage provides extremely valuable engineering data, and imagery of the recovery sequence in rarely-seen detail.
Ares I-X is the first flight test of the Constellation Program and provides NASA an early opportunity to gather critical data during vehicle ascent and during booster deceleration and recovery.
If a recognizable person appears in this video, use for commercial purposes may infringe a right of privacy or publicity. It may not be used to state or imply the endorsement by NASA employees of a commercial product, process or service, or used in any other manner that might mislead. Accordingly, it is requested that if this video is used in advertising and other commercial promotion, layout and copy be submitted to NASA prior to release.
Duration : 0:6:9
Cessna Citation 500
August 3, 2009
Try out this freeware add-on. Link to FlightSim.com here – http://tinyurl.com/kr8jah
The FSX version is here – http://tinyurl.com/m746n7
Follow me on twitter – http://twitter.com/Cessna154
Cessna Citation 500 was created under Microsofts Game Content Usage Rules using ets from Flight Simulator 2004, © Microsoft Corporation.
Duration : 0:2:31
Cessna Skycatcher
June 27, 2009
A Short Promotional Video About the Cessna Skycatcher. From www.cessna.com
Duration : 0:3:2
Cessna 172 landing – pilot’s eye view
June 23, 2009
Cessna 172 landing – pilot’s eye view
Duration : 0:1:11
Cessna News NBAA 07 – Skycatcher NGP CJ4 XLS+ Mustang Encore
February 17, 2009
Cessna has an $11 Billion order backlog…
Duration : 0:3:43
UFO formation of red/orange lights sighted in New Jersey by amateur astronomer
January 8, 2009
From MUFON report
QUOTE:
“As an amateur astronomer of nearly 20 years experience, this is the second time I have seen something in the sky that is difficult to explain. I was on my apartment stoop smoking a cigarette when my neighbor, who was just coming home after parking his car in our complexs lot, called my attention to something around the corner of the building. I moved to share his line of sight and immediately saw an equilateral triangle composed of six red lights. The lights shone at approximately -2.5 magnitude and covered an area of roughly 9 square degrees in the sky. Three lights marked each of the triangles corners, and three others were arranged outside around them, forming a larger triangle, equal in proportion and orientation to the inner one. As I watched, the individual points were in motion with respect to each other, but the group appeared to hang motionless in the southwest sky. At this point, the approximate alt-az of the lights was 160°(SSE) by 35° elevation.
I ran inside and retrieved my 6×30 image stabilized binoculars to get a better look. The formation had shifted to an irregular lambda shape of five or six lights when I came back outside. Through the binoculars, the lights appeared as tiny points against a backdrop of clouds illuminated by nearby Morristown. They were clearly below the cloud deck compared to airplanes elsewhere in the sky at the time, and appeared to be separate objects in no way connected by a larger structure. They moved steadily in ascending, lateral, and descending directions in a manner that seemed to display deliberate coordination, but there was no noticeable sound of aircraft.
I returned inside again and readied my digital camera after waking my fiancé. By the time I started collecting video, the visible lights had been reduced to three or four and had moved to approximately 130°(SE) by 20° elevation and the formation covered less than the area of the full moon. By this time, eight minutes had passed from when I originally observed the lights. My fiancé and I watched them, with two of my neighbors, as they hung low in the southeast sky, flickering in a tiny triangle. They shifted into a straight line before the individual lights began to rapidly descend beyond tree line one by one. One or two could still be seen hovering near the horizon in the distance before they vanished, leaving only a solitary beacon remaining higher up until it abruptly faded.
If the lights had not ascended during this event, I would have been fairly certain they were some kind of aviation flares, but I cannot confirm, as I am not familiar with that sort of thing.”
Duration : 0:3:8
King Schools Video: Sport Pilot Exam Course
November 7, 2008
You’re just a weekend away from an ACE when you train for your FAA Sport Pilot Knowledge Test with a KING Computer-based Interactive Video™ course. Chances are you’ll score in the 90’s. More than 400,000 KING-trained pilots already have.
Click here to purchase this “Sport Pilot Knowledge Test Course” http://www.kingschools.com/searchresults.asp?code=319
For the complete King Schools selection, please visit http://www.kingschools.com/searchresults.asp?code=311
Duration : 0:1:58
Eclipse Jet #001 Take off from Sedona Airport
October 18, 2008
This is the much talked about Eclipse jet. It recently stopped at the Sedona Arizona airport for fuel on its way back to New Mexico where the factory is located. This was the first production Eclipse off the embly line. This aircraft seats 6 counting the pilot and is designed to be very easy to fly. Go to the factories’ website: www.eclipseaviation.com for more information. This aircraft is the first of thousands to be built by this company and others – it will change aviation and transportation in ways not seen since jet airliners replaced prop airliners.
Duration : 0:0:28
Cessna Skycatcher Intro Video
October 12, 2008
Cessna Skycatcher, Cessna LSA, light-sports aircraft, sport aircraft, light aircraft and small plane
Duration : 0:4:1
