July-August 2022 - 32

Nathan Allen Rich
Director of Maintenance, Exec Aero, LLC.
Age: 39
Hometown: Gloucester,
Massachusetts
Alma mater: East Coast
Aero Tech (A&P), EmbryRiddle
Aeronautical
University (B.S. Aerospace
Engineering)
Favorite hobby: At the
moment, I love tinkering
with model trains, RC boats,
RC planes and anything
else that breaks easily or
is especially mechanically
" finnicky. "
Favorite thing about
aviation: Earning the
trust of my customers and
watching them load their
loved ones up in a flying
machine that was in pieces
on the ground only days
before.
Nathan Rich was once a farmer in central
Wisconsin, after spending his early childhood in
Gloucester, Massachusetts.
" I vividly remember stopping my tractor in the
middle of nowhere to adjust the plow I was hauling
when I heard a rumble from above. Just as I turned
to look, two F-16s in close formation appeared
from above the trees and banked hard left less
than 1,000 feet above me. They were pulling hard
enough to form visible vortices on their wing tips
and were close enough that I could see the crew in
each aircraft. They rolled right, pitched up, showed
me their afterburners and climbed out of sight. No
one else was around for miles. I was 16. I decided
then that I would move back to Gloucester to pursue
a career in aviation, " Rich recounts.
While at Embry-Riddle, Rich participated in projects
at the Embry-Riddle Eagle Flight Research
Center, working on many experimental process
projects and flight testing projects.
Rich started his career as a line service technician
and is now as the director of maintenance
for Exec Aero.
Along the way, he worked in many different
aspects of general aviation in a hangar setting,
on the road supporting areal mapping operations,
flight training maintenance, Part 135 aircraft maintenance,
Part 145 director of maintenance and
accountable manager positions.
Jake Stauffer
Shop Foreman, Skytech Inc.
Age: 27
Hometown: Stewartstown,
Pennsylvania
Someone I look up to in the
industry: Sam LeCompte,
Charles Massanopoli and all
the guys I've worked under
at Skytech.
Favorite hobby: Anything
outside.
Jake Stauffer grew up in a family of mechanics.
His grandfather, Glenn, worked in the automotive
industry and instilled the passion in Stauffer's
father, Daniel, who shared it with his son. Stauffer
said their influence on him can't be understated.
" My grandfather was a great car mechanic and
he instilled that into my father, and we grew up
working on cars. So, I was going to go automotive
maintenance, " recalled Stauffer.
Instead, Stauffer found the aviation industry could
offer him more.
" What I love about aviation is it's never the same
thing every day. I love the troubleshooting. I like
getting my brain into it and learning the systems.
There's not a lot of repetition - it's always something
different or something new and just constantly
learning, " he said.
Stauffer started at Skytech as a line service technician
while he was completing his education in
aviation maintenance. Upon moving into the maintenance
department, Stauffer continued to show
a desire to learn and quickly gained confidence in
his mechanical skills. In six short years, he steadily
progressed through the ranks from mechanic to
team lead. He also pursued and obtained his IA.
Lastly, he has been key in the development of
Skytech's PC-24 Service Center.
Stauffer said more people should consider joining
the aviation field: " You can go anyway, like you
could go into avionics, sheet metal, you could,
you could just be changing tires. If you can turn a
wrench, there's really a spot for anyone in aviation
and the more you get your head in it, the more you
grow and the further you can take it. "
www.AviationPros.com/21274341
He says he enjoys learning something new every
day.
While working at Sky Warrior in Pensacola, Florida,
Rich was integral to the process of fleet standardization
to support the school's military flight training
contracts. He was a part of this process from
concept to operational status.
" I love that this industry thrives on the requirement
and ability of its professionals to constantly
re-examine what they 'think' they know, " he said.
" The demand of perfection placed upon my colleagues
and I. Through that perfection, our society
has accomplished incredible feats with regard to
aviation. We can now do something that people
have only dreamt of for thousands of years. I find
this fascinating. "
For the future of the aviation, Rich said he would
like there to be more opportunities given for people
to join the industry in some fashion.
" I would like to see more young and socioeconomically
diverse people have the opportunity to begin
a career in all disciplines of aviation. I would also
like to see more startup manufacturers succeed
in introducing new, innovative aircraft designs that
average people can afford to buy or rent, " he said.
www.AviationPros.com/21274358
32 JULY/AUGUST 2022
AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY
http://www.AviationPros.com/21274358 http://www.AviationPros.com/21274341
July-August 2022

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