Photo by Kevin Knight ABOVE: "Lots of planning is required before you even touch the aircraft, or it could be a nightmare," says Richard Snider, Aerosecure Avionics founder, who was trained by the Army to service avionics and fly. BELOW: Snider with his Army AH-64 Apache helicopter that he piloted in active service during desert engagements from 1999 to 2004. OPPOSITE PAGE: Snider's crashed Lancair ES before it burst into flames. Snider grew up near Detroit with his older sister and younger brother. His father was a West Point graduate who met his mother while stationed in South Korea. His grandfather flew fighters in World War II and trained others in various planes across Europe and the U.S. "My family has an extensive history of military service," Snider said proudly. "There are six or seven consecutive generations of West Pointers. Lots of extended family members were at the academy at the same time, including my dad and his cousin." After graduating from the academy, Major Snider started as a tank officer but soon switched to flying heavily armed Hueys and the AH-1 Cobra. That left an impression on Snider who graduated from high school in 1994 and joined the Army after a year of community college. He enlisted as an avionics tech on helicopters and spent 3 ½ years supporting them at Fort Knox in Kentucky, Fort Eustis in Virginia, and other bases. Continued on following page avionics news * july 2019 45