PROFILE
avionics installations and modifi cations. In 2013 the company expanded beyond avionics to off er a wider range of services including maintenance and interior refurbishment. To better represent the additional service capabilities, the company changed its name to Spirit Aeronautics and began the search for highly technical professionals to facilitate additional growth. Last year, the company hired William Highfi ll as its Director of Maintenance to help lead the Production Department.. This is Highfi ll’s story.
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EARLY INTRODUCTION TO AVIATION William Highfi ll grew up within the aviation industry. His father was a police offi cer in Jacksonville, FL and the chief pilot for the Jacksonville Sheriff ’s aviation unit. Highfi ll’s father fl ew helicopters and fi xed-wing aircraft. He also owned an ultralight, and started to take his son William fl ying when he was just fi ve years old. As Highfi ll was approaching that stage in life where he needed to start thinking about what he wanted to do as a career, he was at a crossroads trying to make a decision. One day his father asked him, “Have you ever thought about being an A&P mechanic?” His father knew that William was mechanically inclined demonstrating that he liked to work on things like lawn mowers and motorcycles and fi x them. Realizing the decision was made, Highfi ll decided to pursue a career in aircraft maintenance, enrolling at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in nearby Daytona Beach, FL. Highfi ll says that at fi rst, A&P school wasn’t what he expected. “Embry-Riddle is a fully-accredited University, and is world-renowned for its aviation curriculum,” he says. “At fi rst, it wasn’t what I expected. I didn’t expect the large number of entrance tests and the basic ‘core’ courses like algebra at fi rst, but the hands-on courses were just what I had anticipated them to be, which I really enjoyed.” Highfi ll says he excelled in the AMT program,
and was employed by the school assisting with the DC electricity student lab. He was also a student lab instructor for the composites section of the AMT program. “That was an exciting opportunity for me,” Highfi ll says. “I like to teach people — especially the students and new employees who don’t have all the knowledge they need in order to
Photos by Picture America, Randy DePuy 03 2015 6
pirit Aeronautics is growing. The Columbus, OH-based company was founded in 2000 under the name Spirit Avionics which primarily focused on
William Highfi ll
Director of Maintenance | Spirit Aeronautics By Joe Escobar
DOMmagazine
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