He’s So Shy


The self-described Civil Air Patrol “nerd” was an earnest teen cutting grass in the summer to pay for flight lessons (in 1985: $25/hour wet for a Cessna 150!) so he could do more with aircraft than turn the pages in his collection of aircraft books. His love of aviation was sparked years earlier when the boy was first mesmerized by the rotating beacon at the rural airport just outside his native farm community of Pulaski, Wisconsin (aka “Polka Town”). His father’s friend took the young Tetzlaff and his buddy on their first-ever flight. They took off in a Cessna 172 from that same airport. “I remember we did something that got us a little light in our seats; my buddy got queasy, but I absolutely loved it,” recalls Tetzlaff. A few years later, in 8th grade, a Civil Air Patrol representative came to Tetzlaff’s school. “I was completely hooked,” he says. Tetzlaff started Civil Air Patrol activities right then and continued with the organization throughout high school, eventually becoming the cadet squadron commander of his like-minded peers. “It was my jam, instead of sports or other activities. I always had an airplane or helicopter on my brain.”


Actually, the teen also had other things on his mind, like high school parties. How does an introvert get his party on? Well, Tetzlaff brainstormed with buddies and they decided to take drama and theater, but stay well out of the spotlight. Tetzlaff became a stagehand helping with set changes between scenes. It was a great gig. He wasn’t in the spotlight, and as a crew member, he got invited to after-show parties with the cast — until he blew it. He got the “wild idea” to try out for some bit part, where he would stand in the background onstage and not say anything. He says he “messed up” and got a leading role that had him dancing and singing center stage. “I was petrified and I begged the teacher to replace me, but he wouldn’t. I was forced to perform and while I didn’t break completely out of my shell, I survived and it planted a little seed in my brain that I could do these types of things,” he says. “It wouldn’t always be pretty or easy, but I could do it. Now at Enstrom, I’ve been cast in the lead role again.” (Thank God for good teachers who pushed us to perform. Tetzlaff is grateful to Mr. Glenn Blohowiak, affectionately called Mr. B!” by his students.)


Why Enstrom Helicopter Corp.? Well, Tetzlaff’s life tapestry of fate has a long Enstrom thread running through it. Anytime he cuts ties with that thread for job security or other reasons, the thread regenerates and ties him back to Enstrom. The latest tug happened this past winter when Enstrom’s new owner, billionaire investor and helicopter enthusiast Chuck Surack, tapped Tetzlaff to return back home to Enstrom Helicopter from his certification role at Gulfstream in Savannah, Georgia. No greater love hath a man for Enstrom Helicopter than to move north to Menominee, Michigan — in January! “Jets are fast and cool, but I feel chosen by helicopters because there’s nothing like the beat of a rotor blade. I vividly recall two or three times where I dreamed of hovering before I‘d ever been in a helicopter. I lived and breathed for the opening credits of (the TV show) “Magnum PI,” just to see TC’s helicopter,” he remembers.


He sure has real rotor-head passion; he even served as a flight test engineer and engineering/production


test pilot at


Enstrom in the early 2000s. Despite all his heli-love, the selection of Tetzlaff to become Enstrom’s CEO and president surprised many in the industry, including the humble man himself. But it shouldn’t have surprised anyone. (Tetzlaff says it didn’t surprise some who know him. A friend gave him this advice — and compliment, “Just continue to be yourself; it’s what got you this far.”) He grew up about 50 miles south of Enstrom’s headquarters and his first job fresh out of Embry-Riddle in 1991 was as an Enstrom design engineer working on the TH-28 in a tight job market. (He’d already built a relationship with the company while in college, working there during summer break and winter holidays.) One of the first people he met at the company back then was an engineer named Matt Francour, whom he’s replacing as president. “Matt kept this company alive during extremely difficult times, stabilized it, and is handing it off to me ready to build back,” he says. “Matt has mentored me ever since I first arrived at Enstrom. His guidance has been invaluable as I prepared to take the lead, and I am forever grateful.”


From that first engineering job, Tetzlaff began a back-and-forth circuit between Enstrom and Gulfstream that ended (we assume) only this past winter. As the budget


at one company tightened, the other one beckoned. Tetzlaff and his growing family cycled through this Enstrom to Gulfstream to Enstrom circuit five times, with a few minor detours: a couple of full-time jobs at a shipyard across the river from Enstrom headquarters, and two years working at Raytheon and Boeing in Wichita, Kansas. He sums it up, “The only thing I guess I can say is I didn’t burn a bridge.”


Tetzlaff learned and grew from each move. For example, he earned his helicopter private pilot license while in Wichita (on a tight family budget), and he also learned from a life-changing comment at Gulfstream.


Speak Up


One fateful day, Tetzlaff’s boss at Gulfstream encouraged him, “You explain things really well; you should speak up more. When you talk, people listen.” That E.F. Hutton type of comment caught the quiet employee by surprise. “It never occurred to me that people wanted to hear more from me, because I didn’t feel the need to hear myself speak. I preferred to listen and put things together in my mind before speaking.” Public speaking and even leading a business team was for others. “I never really thought of myself as a leader at all. I was happy to be in my cubicle. I regularly said, ‘I’m an engineer and that’s it.’” Yet, his boss’s suggestion motivated Tetzlaff to analyze himself and consider how he could improve his performance, which he has done for more than a decade since. “I used to be so scared of failure and speaking that I was devastated. I worked a lot on myself to overcome that fear and not to beat myself up too much.” He then humorously, but candidly,


comments,


“It’s comfortable now, but five years ago I probably couldn’t have done this interview. This is the most words I’ve spoken in a day in a long time.”


Another incentive that drew Tetzlaff out of his cubicle shell was curiosity. “I always had an interest in the whole aircraft. I didn’t just want to be the specialist rotor engineer or door engineer. I ventured out to other areas to learn what they were doing. So, patience with myself to speak when I was not inclined to speak, plus a desire to learn more, were two keys to my success.”


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