Today we talk to Jim Crone, Manager Airship Maintenance for The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Jim joins us today to discuss his maintenance career which started with joining the Navy and signing up to be an aircraft engine mechanic. When Jim finished with the military, he went to Spartin school of Aeronautics and obtained his A&P. He received a call one day from a recruiter who asked him about working for Goodyear and he understood that to be a position at a Tire Store. Jim declined but was told immediately that this wasn’t for a job at a tire store but for the Goodyear Blimp! More than 30 years later, Jim is now in charge of airship maintenance for Goodyear’s three airships located at various facilities around the country! Jim is based at the Wingfoot Lake Airship Hangar near Akron, Ohio – which is where Joe Escobar and myself Join Jim to discuss his long and unique career in aviation maintenance.

Jon is the founder and president of Haag Aviation Services LLC. He has worked in the business aviation industry since 1984, where he entered as a fledgling mechanic straight out of A&P school.

Being a self-proclaimed “hangar rat” when he was a kid, Jon was around aviation maintenance at a very young age while working with his dad – also an A&P.

Jon developed a plan and a desire to work for a corporate operator and stuck with his plan. After only a few years with an MRO, Jon landed a job with a fortune 100 company and worked his way up to Director of Maintenance.

Throughout his career he has been an active participant on many rulemaking working groups and advisory committees. Jon was even elected chair of NBAA’s maintenance committee at one point.

With his corporate employer dissolving the aviation department (as often happens in the corporate business) Jon decided to form his own company, and now offers his services as an acquisition specialist, maintenance and refurb consultant, appraiser and more!

Join me today in welcoming Jon and talking about his successful career in aircraft maintenance.

Jim Freeman is Founder and owner of Helicopter Specialties, Inc., based in Janesville, Wi. Helicopter Specialties is a helicopter maintenance, and completions center specializing in design and fabrication of medical interiors for helicopters. The company also is a service center for most helicopter manufacturers as well as a certified avionics shop and repair station.

Jim, an A&P and pilot who you can often still find out in the shop getting his hands dirty, started Helicopter Specialties in 1999 by leveraging his home, his motorcycles, his boat, and basically everything he owned. Through his challenges of starting a new business and through all the ups and downs that any business owner experiences, Jim has maintained a positive attitude and it has paid off with his company being named Aviation Business of the Year by the Wisconsin Trades Association, receiving the Diamond Award from the FAA for technician training, and other notable awards.

Join me in talking to Jim today about his business and how he became successful.

Today we welcome Jerel Bristol.

Jerel is Founder and owner of S.E.A.L. Aviation, a Fuel Tank and Structural repair company based in Hollywood Florida. Jerel, a Veteran and A&P mechanic launched SEAL in 2007 and they have now grown to more than 40 employees. His story of success includes the addition of specialized services such as NDT, and now recently he has launched a parts company. He definitely leads by example! Fortunately, he found the time to sit down with us to talk about his success.