series B Y JERRY SANDERS C H R I S T I N E K N A U E R of StandardAero W hen Jerry Sanders joined the U.S. Marine Corps out of high school, he didn't realize that it would set the course for a lifelong career in avionics that would span 25 years to date. He spent those early days in the military as an avionics line technician working on CH-46E Sea Knight helicopters. "It was a great helicopter with lots of challenges for an avionics technician," said Sanders, whose father, grandfather and uncles also served in the military. "The aircraft didn't have many computer systems that you would find today, so most of the troubleshooting was ringing out wiring and looking at wiring diagrams." One of the highlights of Sanders' career came in 2009 when he worked at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as a federal contractor. He spent a year as an airframe and powerplant mechanic and avionics technician for the shuttle training aircraft. "My time at NASA was probably the hardest I've ever worked, but it was also the most memorable," Sanders said. "The shuttle training aircraft was a modified GII that was made to simulate the space shuttle landing. During that time, I was part of a group that received a NASA Group Achievement Award for an installation on the aircraft that supported the STS-128 launch." 52 avionics news * september 2020