Avionics News May 2014 - 46

MEET DAVID LOSO

Continued from page 45

and the Collins Microline radios. Alexandria also was home
to the Bellanca Aircraft Company's factory, the one manufacturing the Viking. During my first year, I got to know the
guy running the avionics operation and eventually talked
myself into a job at the factory. I was the only guy in my
class who actually had an aviation-related job, building up
the harnesses, installing the radios and doing final assembly work.
What was your first job after graduating?
I migrated back to the Midwest, married my high school
sweetheart, moved to Wichita, Kan., and began working at
Cessna's Citation Service Center. I had interviewed for and
accepted the job before graduating. One of my responsibilities was to hand-carry equipment to its manufacturer's
shop-RCA Sperry, Rockwell Collins, BendixKing-which often was just across the street. I got to know the operation at
Rockwell Collins fairly well and noticed they were working
at a bench as I had been trained, in air conditioning, rather
than crawling around on airplanes and the hangar floor.
So I was only with Cessna four months before I interviewed with the Rockwell Collins facility, which was expanding, and I got a job with them. This was in late 1979. The
ADC-80 had just come out, and it was one of the first digital
air-data computers installed in the Falcon 10 and other jets
of that era. I became the technician fixing the equipment.
Because it was a new product, there was a lot of work, and
this was before all the automated test equipment we have
today. Back then, a good day was when you got two or three
of them out the door, but five more would come in.
What came next?
In spring 1981, I got a really good offer to move to Houston, Texas, and work for a small avionics shop, Avpro. They
had a shop at Houston Southwest Airport and two service
trucks that would travel to airplanes at other locations,
mostly at Hobby Airport, to provide avionics service. We arrived in May 1981, and it was obvious things had changed
since I interviewed with them. They were struggling financially. At the end of my 60-day probation, we parted ways,
and about 30 days later, they closed their doors. In hindsight, they did me a big favor.
I was out of work one week. I went straight to what was
AiResearch Aviation, later Garrett Aviation, at Houston Intercontinental. I talked to Alan Kramer, who was kind enough
to hire me. That turned out to be a great job, and I spent the
next 18 years with them.
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may

2014

What was your role there?
I started as the basic floor avionics technician and steadily worked my way up to avionics crew chief, reporting to
the avionics manager. The great thing about Garrett was we
worked on a lot of different airplanes-basically, anything
that had a TFE-731 engine on it. I got exposed to a lot of
different airframes and a lot of different avionics systems
installed in those airframes. Call it a school of hard knocks
or on-the-job training.
For a time, I was the guy specializing in flight phones, and
also installing long-range navigation systems, doing bench
upgrades to the old GNS 500s, and putting the first GPS receivers in them. I also was a pretty decent Learjet autopilot
guy. Overall, it was a good, rounded experience, with exposure to a lot of things. I also had the opportunity to meet
and work with a lot of customers. For example, Enron's hangar was right across the street from us, and we did a lot
of work on their fleet, which was a first-class operation. Of
course, I got to know their director of maintenance, Doug
Bowen.
Before Enron's collapse, Doug moved to St. Louis to take
a position with JetCorp. We saw each other at events like
PAMA meetings, and we kept in touch. One day, he called
to say, "I need you to come up here and run my avionics
shop." I told him I didn't think I was the guy for that, but he
called me again about a month later, saying the same thing.
I was still skeptical, but I went to St. Louis and got to see the
operation and meet the staff. When he told me what I was
worth, I hope I was able to hide the look on my face; it was
a significant jump from where I was. It also was a chance to
move back home and be closer to family. That was in 1998.
How long have you been with Jet Aviation?
I went to work for Jet Aviation in April 2005, as national
avionics sales manager, based out of the company's West
Palm Beach, Fla., facility. Thankfully, I didn't need to move
to Florida, as that was at the height of the housing boom.
I would have spent twice the money for half the house. I
was fortunate to be able to work from home, but traveled
quite a bit, as you can imagine. In January 2007, as Jet Aviation consolidated its sales staff after acquiring Midcoast
Aviation, they kicked me out of my home office, and I began
working out of their local facility.
When did you become involved with the AEA?
Attending the association's regional meetings when I was
with Garrett was my first exposure to the AEA. I talked my
boss at the time into going there and getting some of the
excellent training they always provide; there was just a lot
of great information. When I got to JetCorp, I made sure



Avionics News May 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News May 2014

Point of Communication
AEA Now
The View From Washington
International News and Regulatory Updates
Five Years In
Member Profile
Putting it to Music
Meet the AEA Board of Directors
A Conversation With...
Member Profile
AEAviators
Business Basics
Being Prepared
Study and take the test!
Legal Ease
Aviation Aces
What's New
Marketplace Classifieds
Avionics News May 2014 - Intro
Avionics News May 2014 - Cover1
Avionics News May 2014 - Cover2
Avionics News May 2014 - 1
Avionics News May 2014 - 2
Avionics News May 2014 - 3
Avionics News May 2014 - Point of Communication
Avionics News May 2014 - 5
Avionics News May 2014 - AEA Now
Avionics News May 2014 - 7
Avionics News May 2014 - 8
Avionics News May 2014 - 9
Avionics News May 2014 - 10
Avionics News May 2014 - 11
Avionics News May 2014 - 12
Avionics News May 2014 - 13
Avionics News May 2014 - The View From Washington
Avionics News May 2014 - 15
Avionics News May 2014 - International News and Regulatory Updates
Avionics News May 2014 - 17
Avionics News May 2014 - 18
Avionics News May 2014 - 19
Avionics News May 2014 - Five Years In
Avionics News May 2014 - 21
Avionics News May 2014 - 22
Avionics News May 2014 - 23
Avionics News May 2014 - 24
Avionics News May 2014 - 25
Avionics News May 2014 - Member Profile
Avionics News May 2014 - 27
Avionics News May 2014 - 28
Avionics News May 2014 - 29
Avionics News May 2014 - Putting it to Music
Avionics News May 2014 - 31
Avionics News May 2014 - 32
Avionics News May 2014 - 33
Avionics News May 2014 - 34
Avionics News May 2014 - 35
Avionics News May 2014 - 36
Avionics News May 2014 - 37
Avionics News May 2014 - 38
Avionics News May 2014 - 39
Avionics News May 2014 - 40
Avionics News May 2014 - 41
Avionics News May 2014 - 42
Avionics News May 2014 - 43
Avionics News May 2014 - Meet the AEA Board of Directors
Avionics News May 2014 - 45
Avionics News May 2014 - 46
Avionics News May 2014 - 47
Avionics News May 2014 - A Conversation With...
Avionics News May 2014 - 49
Avionics News May 2014 - Member Profile
Avionics News May 2014 - 51
Avionics News May 2014 - 52
Avionics News May 2014 - 53
Avionics News May 2014 - AEAviators
Avionics News May 2014 - 55
Avionics News May 2014 - Business Basics
Avionics News May 2014 - 57
Avionics News May 2014 - 58
Avionics News May 2014 - 59
Avionics News May 2014 - Being Prepared
Avionics News May 2014 - 61
Avionics News May 2014 - 62
Avionics News May 2014 - 63
Avionics News May 2014 - Study and take the test!
Avionics News May 2014 - 65
Avionics News May 2014 - 66
Avionics News May 2014 - 67
Avionics News May 2014 - Legal Ease
Avionics News May 2014 - 69
Avionics News May 2014 - 70
Avionics News May 2014 - 71
Avionics News May 2014 - Aviation Aces
Avionics News May 2014 - 73
Avionics News May 2014 - What's New
Avionics News May 2014 - 75
Avionics News May 2014 - 76
Avionics News May 2014 - 77
Avionics News May 2014 - Marketplace Classifieds
Avionics News May 2014 - 79
Avionics News May 2014 - 80
Avionics News May 2014 - Cover3
Avionics News May 2014 - Cover4
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