Never Stop Learning

I am getting ready to move. My wife and I decided to list our house with a realtor a few weeks ago, and it has been a whirlwind experience ever since. We had nine viewings in the first four days, and had an offer on the fifth day. We have accepted an offer and have gone through the home inspection. Only a few weeks remain until we close on the house. By the time this issue hits your mailbox, I will probably be in the middle of moving all of our stuff to another abode.

To make the move easier, my wife and I realized we needed to get rid of some of the stuff we have amassed over the years. The late George Carlin hit the nail on the head when he said, “A house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff.” Some of our excess stuff will get listed on Craigslist, some will be donated to Goodwill and the rest will be relegated to the garbage bin. It’s amazing how much stuff we have accumulated over the years while we have lived here. I just hope our next home is a bit smaller so we don’t have as much room to store more stuff.

I decided to tackle my stuff reduction goal like eating an elephant. How, you may ask, do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! Or one box at a time in the case of getting rid of stuff.

I started in my office. I was going through my desk cleaning out some stuff when it suddenly hit me – I have crossed the line. No, I haven’t crossed any ethical or moral line. Instead, I crossed the line in time where I have now worked longer in aviation journalism than I did as a mechanic, supervisor and QA inspector.

Wow, how time has flown by! It seems like yesterday that I was that young 22-year-old kid who got a job washing airplanes at NAS Corpus Christi. I would hang out in the hangar during my free time and ask the mechanics if I could help. The mechanics in the hangar were patient, and let me do small jobs like cutting safety wire and removing cotter pins, removing filters and other small tasks. They put in a good word for me a few years later when a job opening came up, and I was hired as a mechanics helper. They never stopped pushing and encouraging me, and gave me every opportunity to learn. They encouraged me to get my A&P. They pushed me to get my Inspection Authorization a few years later. It is because of the professionals I have worked with over the years that I am where I am today.

I looked up on my office wall where a framed photo proudly hangs of two Navy T-34’s that we painted in Blue Angel colors when I worked at Raytheon Aerospace in Selma, AL. It is signed by all of my co-workers who I was working with when I decided to make the move to Wisconsin almost 14 years ago. It will soon be packed up for the move, but you can bet it will be one of the first things I unpack and hang on the wall in my new home office.

I had the opportunity to sit down with our contributing writer Patrick Kinane and learn more about his career for this month’s cover story. Patrick is a wealth of knowledge, and we are grateful that he shares some of that knowledge in his Just Plane Culture column each month. You can turn the page to read about his lifetime of learning.

Like Kinane, I firmly believe that in order to be successful, we must never stop learning. This is true in any job, but especially in aviation maintenance. The day we feel we know it all and don’t need to learn anything else is the day we need to find another career.

Every issue of D.O.M. is a learning experience for me. I learn new ideas and perspectives from the professionals I interview. I learn from each of our contributing writers. And I learn from you, our readers. I value the discussions we have at trade shows and conferences. I enjoy when you call or email to share your thoughts on an article. Thanks for being part of my personal path of learning.

Here’s to crossing the line! 

Thanks for reading! – Joe Escobar