Legacy Aviation Learning Center in Traverse City – Interview with the founder, Dan Jonkhoff

1
00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:07,379
McDowell's World number four thirty seven for 12/08/2025.

2
00:00:07,519 --> 00:00:09,199
Well, thank you very much, and we're thrilled

3
00:00:09,199 --> 00:00:10,339
to be joined by

4
00:00:10,719 --> 00:00:11,939
one of the most successful

5
00:00:13,094 --> 00:00:16,154
business leaders and people anywhere in the country,

6
00:00:16,855 --> 00:00:17,994
whether it's technology,

7
00:00:18,774 --> 00:00:20,695
no matter what business you're talking about, there's

8
00:00:20,695 --> 00:00:23,894
really nobody quite like him. Michael Dell, very

9
00:00:23,894 --> 00:00:25,814
much of a legend who's here with his

10
00:00:25,814 --> 00:00:27,570
really exciting announcement. It's

11
00:00:28,449 --> 00:00:29,029
so amazing.

12
00:00:30,050 --> 00:00:31,510
And I am the aforementioned

13
00:00:32,130 --> 00:00:33,189
Michael Dell,

14
00:00:33,729 --> 00:00:34,229
but,

15
00:00:35,090 --> 00:00:36,469
really, it's just Mike.

16
00:00:37,009 --> 00:00:38,549
Yeah. Works either way.

17
00:00:39,170 --> 00:00:42,229
Hey. I hope, everybody's had a good

18
00:00:42,625 --> 00:00:45,744
month of December so far. And, yeah, back

19
00:00:45,744 --> 00:00:47,765
so soon after NAPOD promo.

20
00:00:48,545 --> 00:00:50,304
And what I what I got today is

21
00:00:50,304 --> 00:00:53,045
an interview I did with Dan Jonkoff

22
00:00:53,505 --> 00:00:54,405
of the

23
00:00:55,179 --> 00:00:56,479
Legacy Aviation

24
00:00:57,179 --> 00:00:58,159
Learning Center,

25
00:00:58,939 --> 00:01:00,699
and I did put this out over on

26
00:01:00,699 --> 00:01:03,019
Cup and Traverse City. So if you've, heard

27
00:01:03,019 --> 00:01:04,939
the interview over there, well, this is the

28
00:01:04,939 --> 00:01:05,680
same interview.

29
00:01:06,219 --> 00:01:09,099
I figured, put it far and wide. So,

30
00:01:09,814 --> 00:01:11,674
that's what I'm gonna get into.

31
00:01:12,935 --> 00:01:14,935
Of course, if you guys are listening to

32
00:01:14,935 --> 00:01:16,454
Cup of Traverse City, you already know what

33
00:01:16,454 --> 00:01:19,015
the weather is and, all that. But, yeah,

34
00:01:19,015 --> 00:01:20,614
I've been having a lot of fun with

35
00:01:20,614 --> 00:01:24,795
that. You can find that over cupoftraversecity.com

36
00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:26,939
and or on any

37
00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:27,740
platform

38
00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:28,859
that you

39
00:01:29,799 --> 00:01:33,719
listen to podcasts on. So, anyway, without further

40
00:01:33,719 --> 00:01:36,060
ado, I'm gonna send this, over to

41
00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:39,819
myself and Dan from, this Saturday.

42
00:01:40,894 --> 00:01:44,275
So today, I'm at Legacy Aviation in Traverse

43
00:01:44,334 --> 00:01:47,135
City. It's a, A and P school, but

44
00:01:47,135 --> 00:01:48,354
I'll let, the

45
00:01:48,655 --> 00:01:49,694
founder and,

46
00:01:50,254 --> 00:01:51,394
chairman of the board,

47
00:01:52,015 --> 00:01:52,994
Dan Junkoff,

48
00:01:54,015 --> 00:01:54,754
that will

49
00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:57,159
will tell you all about it. How are

50
00:01:57,159 --> 00:01:59,420
you doing, Dan? Great, Mike. How are you?

51
00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:02,120
So far, so good. It just all coffeed

52
00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:03,960
up and, you know, we already had one

53
00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:05,260
incident today. So

54
00:02:06,439 --> 00:02:08,599
Well, you called me chief cooking bottle washer,

55
00:02:08,599 --> 00:02:10,360
and I cleaned it up. So Yeah. There

56
00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:12,564
you go. You're absolutely right. Yeah. I had

57
00:02:12,564 --> 00:02:14,965
a little coffee incident here in the office,

58
00:02:14,965 --> 00:02:16,264
but, that's alright.

59
00:02:17,205 --> 00:02:19,205
So, tell us a little bit about, you

60
00:02:19,205 --> 00:02:21,284
know, how this all got started and what's

61
00:02:21,284 --> 00:02:23,364
the goals. You know, just hey. Give me

62
00:02:23,364 --> 00:02:26,060
your give me your spiel. Well, sure. Glad

63
00:02:26,060 --> 00:02:27,740
to do it. It's been a fun journey

64
00:02:27,740 --> 00:02:30,860
so far. And it all started when, I

65
00:02:30,860 --> 00:02:33,120
retired from my, first career,

66
00:02:34,139 --> 00:02:35,979
and only career other than,

67
00:02:36,620 --> 00:02:38,939
what I'm doing here at Legacy Aviation Learning

68
00:02:38,939 --> 00:02:40,080
Center is I,

69
00:02:41,764 --> 00:02:43,864
was a funeral director and owned,

70
00:02:44,884 --> 00:02:47,465
funeral homes, and I was a fifth generation.

71
00:02:48,164 --> 00:02:51,205
And finally, my daughters took over. They're both

72
00:02:51,205 --> 00:02:52,485
funeral directors. And,

73
00:02:53,205 --> 00:02:54,644
so it was important that I,

74
00:02:55,719 --> 00:02:57,900
let them be on their own. Be

75
00:02:58,359 --> 00:03:00,039
take a few in a home where, you

76
00:03:00,039 --> 00:03:02,120
know, every young person should do, and that's

77
00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:04,120
make it even better than I left it.

78
00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:04,919
Yeah. And,

79
00:03:05,479 --> 00:03:06,199
so I was,

80
00:03:07,319 --> 00:03:09,325
talking with my wife and telling her how,

81
00:03:09,645 --> 00:03:11,805
retirement was really boring. You know? I was

82
00:03:11,805 --> 00:03:13,805
used to working seven days a week, twenty

83
00:03:13,805 --> 00:03:15,344
four hours a day, like

84
00:03:15,645 --> 00:03:17,905
often funeral directors do. And,

85
00:03:18,685 --> 00:03:20,305
because nobody makes an appointment

86
00:03:21,169 --> 00:03:23,750
when they're gonna die. Right? Correct. Yep.

87
00:03:24,129 --> 00:03:24,629
Anyway,

88
00:03:25,009 --> 00:03:25,509
so,

89
00:03:27,810 --> 00:03:30,849
she said, well, gosh. You've been flying for,

90
00:03:30,849 --> 00:03:31,349
like,

91
00:03:31,889 --> 00:03:33,110
forty five years.

92
00:03:33,489 --> 00:03:34,050
You should,

93
00:03:34,530 --> 00:03:36,469
you know, do something at the airport.

94
00:03:37,004 --> 00:03:38,365
And I looked at her and said, boy,

95
00:03:38,365 --> 00:03:39,985
I've always wanted to be on the airport

96
00:03:40,044 --> 00:03:40,544
authority.

97
00:03:41,004 --> 00:03:43,264
And she said, well, you should apply. So

98
00:03:43,564 --> 00:03:43,805
I,

99
00:03:44,365 --> 00:03:46,525
called the airport authority, and they said, well,

100
00:03:46,525 --> 00:03:48,444
believe it or not, the deadline to apply

101
00:03:48,444 --> 00:03:49,185
is tomorrow

102
00:03:49,485 --> 00:03:50,544
at 05:00.

103
00:03:51,069 --> 00:03:54,110
And so I quick called the, person that's

104
00:03:54,110 --> 00:03:54,990
supposed to get the,

105
00:03:56,270 --> 00:03:58,110
application, and she said, I'll send it to

106
00:03:58,110 --> 00:03:59,389
you. You gotta have it to me by

107
00:03:59,389 --> 00:04:00,449
05:00 tomorrow.

108
00:04:01,069 --> 00:04:03,870
And I, did everything she said. And,

109
00:04:04,715 --> 00:04:06,715
next thing you know, I was, called to

110
00:04:06,715 --> 00:04:09,034
do an interview, and there were five or

111
00:04:09,034 --> 00:04:11,694
six people interviewing. And I did the interview

112
00:04:11,754 --> 00:04:12,414
with a,

113
00:04:13,275 --> 00:04:14,794
a whole bunch of people in the room,

114
00:04:14,794 --> 00:04:16,414
county commissioners and

115
00:04:17,220 --> 00:04:17,720
and

116
00:04:18,180 --> 00:04:18,680
administrative

117
00:04:19,060 --> 00:04:20,100
type people. And,

118
00:04:20,660 --> 00:04:22,980
next thing you know, I got appointed to

119
00:04:22,980 --> 00:04:25,879
the airport commission Yeah. Which was kinda exciting.

120
00:04:26,100 --> 00:04:27,699
Yeah. Sure is. I've been to a couple

121
00:04:27,699 --> 00:04:29,319
of those meetings since Yeah.

122
00:04:29,845 --> 00:04:32,665
Well, our airport has turned into an authority

123
00:04:32,725 --> 00:04:33,785
from a commission,

124
00:04:34,725 --> 00:04:37,365
because we finally you know, we're gonna have

125
00:04:37,365 --> 00:04:38,584
a million people,

126
00:04:39,204 --> 00:04:41,125
come in and out of our airport on

127
00:04:41,125 --> 00:04:41,865
the airlines,

128
00:04:42,629 --> 00:04:45,209
this year. Over a million, actually. And so,

129
00:04:45,509 --> 00:04:47,509
now we have our own police force, our

130
00:04:47,509 --> 00:04:49,370
own fire department, our own,

131
00:04:50,229 --> 00:04:52,889
in house attorney, our own in house engineer.

132
00:04:53,269 --> 00:04:55,509
It's quite the little airport. We're now the

133
00:04:55,509 --> 00:04:57,475
third biggest airport in the state of Michigan.

134
00:04:57,475 --> 00:04:59,475
Yeah. And I think you I think, last

135
00:04:59,475 --> 00:05:01,175
I looked, you're the second busiest.

136
00:05:01,794 --> 00:05:03,794
Oh, really? Yeah. I think that was what

137
00:05:03,794 --> 00:05:05,875
I had read somewhere. I don't know how

138
00:05:05,875 --> 00:05:07,555
that could be true. I gotta believe Grand

139
00:05:07,555 --> 00:05:10,134
Rapids and Detroit beat us out. But Yeah.

140
00:05:10,439 --> 00:05:11,800
Maybe maybe it was the third. I don't

141
00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:13,720
remember. Third is probably the right answer. I

142
00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,279
hate to say it. But, anyway, so I

143
00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:18,699
got on the, the authority, and

144
00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:19,740
the

145
00:05:22,704 --> 00:05:23,204
orientation

146
00:05:23,584 --> 00:05:24,084
consists

147
00:05:24,785 --> 00:05:26,644
of showing everybody

148
00:05:27,104 --> 00:05:29,664
who is new to the authority every square

149
00:05:29,664 --> 00:05:32,144
inch of the airport. Mhmm. Did I say

150
00:05:32,144 --> 00:05:34,725
every square inch? Oh, yeah. Truly the truth.

151
00:05:35,024 --> 00:05:37,904
And, so went through the building, went through

152
00:05:37,904 --> 00:05:40,199
the parking lots, went through everything, and we

153
00:05:40,199 --> 00:05:42,540
even decide then get in a car,

154
00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:44,779
and we drive up and down

155
00:05:45,399 --> 00:05:47,560
and all around the airport. And,

156
00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:50,519
we go by all the buildings, explain what's

157
00:05:50,519 --> 00:05:52,540
in them, who's in them, what they do.

158
00:05:52,774 --> 00:05:54,935
And we, stopped in front of the building

159
00:05:54,935 --> 00:05:56,955
we're in right now doing this interview.

160
00:05:57,495 --> 00:05:57,995
And,

161
00:05:58,615 --> 00:06:01,654
Kevin Klein, our, the director of our airport,

162
00:06:01,654 --> 00:06:03,274
executive c CEO,

163
00:06:03,735 --> 00:06:04,395
he says,

164
00:06:04,935 --> 00:06:06,555
you know, isn't it a shame,

165
00:06:07,540 --> 00:06:09,779
That airport that building right there is gonna

166
00:06:09,779 --> 00:06:11,800
be sold tomorrow or the next day,

167
00:06:12,580 --> 00:06:14,580
and it's gonna be sold for a non

168
00:06:14,580 --> 00:06:15,800
aviation use.

169
00:06:16,420 --> 00:06:18,660
And he says I heard rumors about that.

170
00:06:18,660 --> 00:06:21,220
Yeah. Everybody heard rumors. Well, the rumors were

171
00:06:21,220 --> 00:06:22,605
that it was gonna be sold to people

172
00:06:22,685 --> 00:06:24,865
who are gonna grow marijuana in it.

173
00:06:25,404 --> 00:06:27,324
Well, as soon as it becomes a non

174
00:06:27,324 --> 00:06:28,464
aviation use,

175
00:06:28,845 --> 00:06:31,884
this particular building is on city property, not

176
00:06:31,884 --> 00:06:34,045
airport property, and it has what they call

177
00:06:34,045 --> 00:06:35,949
a hole in the fence. Yeah. But as

178
00:06:35,949 --> 00:06:38,829
soon as, it's non aviation use, the hole

179
00:06:38,829 --> 00:06:41,009
in the fence gets closed Yeah. Forever.

180
00:06:41,310 --> 00:06:43,709
Never to open again. So I went home,

181
00:06:43,709 --> 00:06:45,629
told my wife that, look, we can't let

182
00:06:45,629 --> 00:06:46,689
this cool building,

183
00:06:47,149 --> 00:06:47,889
you know,

184
00:06:48,914 --> 00:06:51,014
become a non aviation use,

185
00:06:51,394 --> 00:06:52,834
and have the hole in the fence go

186
00:06:52,834 --> 00:06:55,074
away. And she said, well, how much is

187
00:06:55,074 --> 00:06:56,435
it? And I told her, she said, well,

188
00:06:56,435 --> 00:06:57,414
you need a partner.

189
00:06:58,754 --> 00:07:01,074
For sure. So I got I called a

190
00:07:01,074 --> 00:07:03,555
couple of friends and, one of them said,

191
00:07:03,555 --> 00:07:06,089
absolutely. I'm in. I'll be your half partner

192
00:07:06,089 --> 00:07:08,329
in this building. So we called up the

193
00:07:08,329 --> 00:07:10,490
owner and said, look. We've got,

194
00:07:10,810 --> 00:07:12,729
we're gonna do something with that building. We

195
00:07:12,729 --> 00:07:15,289
don't know what it's gonna be, but, we're

196
00:07:15,289 --> 00:07:17,295
gonna help kids and we don't know how.

197
00:07:17,455 --> 00:07:19,295
Yeah. But we're gonna do something a lot

198
00:07:19,295 --> 00:07:20,194
better than

199
00:07:20,495 --> 00:07:22,975
possible other uses that are being looked at.

200
00:07:22,975 --> 00:07:24,115
Right. Right. And,

201
00:07:24,735 --> 00:07:27,215
and he said, well, I'll have to think

202
00:07:27,215 --> 00:07:30,175
about that. And he stopped the other sale

203
00:07:30,175 --> 00:07:31,475
to think about it.

204
00:07:32,519 --> 00:07:34,459
I presume. I'm not actually

205
00:07:34,759 --> 00:07:36,360
sure about that, but I know it was

206
00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:39,000
supposed to happen quick. And, he came back

207
00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:40,139
to us and said,

208
00:07:40,519 --> 00:07:41,259
it's yours.

209
00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:44,625
Nice. It's a nice building. It's been used

210
00:07:44,704 --> 00:07:46,305
for a couple other things, you know, in

211
00:07:46,305 --> 00:07:48,144
the front half of the building. It was

212
00:07:48,144 --> 00:07:50,084
a TV station at one point.

213
00:07:51,024 --> 00:07:53,204
I forget what else was in here, but,

214
00:07:53,824 --> 00:07:54,725
you know, and then,

215
00:07:55,264 --> 00:07:58,225
somebody had rented the the hangar part and,

216
00:07:58,225 --> 00:08:00,464
you know, but it's it is unique that

217
00:08:00,464 --> 00:08:02,060
you you have that hole in the fence

218
00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:05,500
where the building's not owned or not on

219
00:08:05,959 --> 00:08:07,500
on, land that's,

220
00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:10,220
so you own the land with the building

221
00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:12,520
where if you build something on the airport,

222
00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:14,095
you get a lease. Right? Is that how

223
00:08:14,095 --> 00:08:16,014
that works? That's exactly how it works. And

224
00:08:16,014 --> 00:08:17,954
all of a sudden, you know, your world

225
00:08:18,254 --> 00:08:20,754
is governed by the FAA,

226
00:08:21,214 --> 00:08:21,714
TSA,

227
00:08:22,095 --> 00:08:24,975
and and everybody else that has to live

228
00:08:24,975 --> 00:08:26,814
on the airport, and we're not governed by

229
00:08:26,814 --> 00:08:29,289
any of those people. We just pay taxes

230
00:08:29,289 --> 00:08:32,409
to the city, and that's pretty priceless. Yeah.

231
00:08:32,409 --> 00:08:34,169
For sure. You know, we have a lease

232
00:08:34,169 --> 00:08:36,089
that's not a fifty year lease or a

233
00:08:36,089 --> 00:08:38,169
hundred year lease. It's a forever lease till

234
00:08:38,169 --> 00:08:39,769
I sell it. Yeah. And I don't have

235
00:08:39,769 --> 00:08:41,610
to get anybody's permission on who I sell

236
00:08:41,610 --> 00:08:42,164
it to.

237
00:08:43,044 --> 00:08:45,044
Yeah. Yeah. It's a it's a beautiful building,

238
00:08:45,044 --> 00:08:46,884
and you guys really have it fitted out

239
00:08:46,884 --> 00:08:50,024
pretty well for its intended use now. Yeah.

240
00:08:50,164 --> 00:08:52,324
Yeah. A friend of mine actually built it

241
00:08:52,324 --> 00:08:54,084
a long time ago when I was probably

242
00:08:54,084 --> 00:08:54,824
in my

243
00:08:55,204 --> 00:08:55,704
late

244
00:08:56,429 --> 00:08:58,669
late twenties, believe it or not. And,

245
00:08:59,230 --> 00:09:00,669
he used to have a King Air, and

246
00:09:00,669 --> 00:09:02,850
he would drive it into the hangar.

247
00:09:03,549 --> 00:09:04,909
And then he went It's a big hangar.

248
00:09:04,990 --> 00:09:06,370
Back it out of the hangar.

249
00:09:07,470 --> 00:09:09,629
And he had a garage door opener that

250
00:09:09,629 --> 00:09:11,730
opened the door when he arrived, and

251
00:09:12,245 --> 00:09:14,565
it was pretty slick. Yeah. The guy I

252
00:09:14,565 --> 00:09:16,404
knew that, rented it for a while had

253
00:09:16,404 --> 00:09:19,204
a King Air 90 Yeah. In here. That's

254
00:09:19,204 --> 00:09:21,865
right. It's probably the same guy. Bob Andrews?

255
00:09:22,164 --> 00:09:24,644
No. I'm thinking Bob Goff. Bob Goff, actually.

256
00:09:24,644 --> 00:09:26,889
I think he did After that. Yeah. So

257
00:09:27,129 --> 00:09:29,529
Isn't that something? I'd forgot Bob was here.

258
00:09:29,529 --> 00:09:32,089
You're right. Yeah. I flew with him several

259
00:09:32,089 --> 00:09:33,230
times. Yeah.

260
00:09:33,610 --> 00:09:35,049
Well, anyway, after we,

261
00:09:35,610 --> 00:09:38,169
we got the building, we, didn't quite know

262
00:09:38,169 --> 00:09:39,769
what to do with it that was gonna

263
00:09:39,769 --> 00:09:41,934
help kids, but, you know, we threw a

264
00:09:41,934 --> 00:09:43,634
lot of stuff at the wall. Right?

265
00:09:44,894 --> 00:09:47,134
Ideas, we had people come and giving us

266
00:09:47,134 --> 00:09:48,355
ideas. We had

267
00:09:48,654 --> 00:09:51,934
all kinds of ideas, but nothing stuck great.

268
00:09:51,934 --> 00:09:52,434
But,

269
00:09:53,054 --> 00:09:55,669
then one day, the idea of well, gosh.

270
00:09:55,669 --> 00:09:57,909
It would make a great, you know, mechanic

271
00:09:57,909 --> 00:10:00,149
school, a and p school. Yeah. And,

272
00:10:01,110 --> 00:10:01,589
so,

273
00:10:02,230 --> 00:10:04,730
it kinda slid down the wall pretty slow.

274
00:10:04,870 --> 00:10:07,309
It didn't flat drop off the wall after

275
00:10:07,309 --> 00:10:09,509
we we threw the idea there, so we

276
00:10:09,509 --> 00:10:12,304
checked into it. And just as we were

277
00:10:12,304 --> 00:10:14,004
getting ready this was happening,

278
00:10:15,264 --> 00:10:17,285
the FAA changed the rules

279
00:10:17,904 --> 00:10:21,665
on how A and P schools work. Mhmm.

280
00:10:21,665 --> 00:10:24,565
They changed the rules because That never happens.

281
00:10:24,789 --> 00:10:27,509
Yeah. Hardly ever happens. Right? Well, they changed

282
00:10:27,509 --> 00:10:29,669
the rules because there's a huge shortage of

283
00:10:29,669 --> 00:10:33,049
A and Ps coming up. Over 600,000,

284
00:10:34,470 --> 00:10:36,629
A and Ps shortage in the next ten

285
00:10:36,629 --> 00:10:37,610
years or so,

286
00:10:38,225 --> 00:10:40,485
worldwide. And, they realized

287
00:10:40,865 --> 00:10:42,784
that somebody's gotta speed the process up a

288
00:10:42,784 --> 00:10:45,264
little bit. So they changed it from a

289
00:10:45,264 --> 00:10:46,804
time based school,

290
00:10:47,184 --> 00:10:49,664
in other words, taken at least two years

291
00:10:49,664 --> 00:10:52,144
of AMP school to become an AMP, to

292
00:10:52,144 --> 00:10:54,660
a knowledge based. And and for those not

293
00:10:54,660 --> 00:10:55,160
aviation

294
00:10:55,540 --> 00:10:58,920
savvy, AMP is airframe and power print plant.

295
00:10:59,300 --> 00:11:02,019
Airframe and power plant. See, English is optional

296
00:11:02,019 --> 00:11:04,740
today. Yeah. Well, and that means that they

297
00:11:04,740 --> 00:11:07,540
can work on anything that's flies, and they're

298
00:11:07,540 --> 00:11:08,519
licensed by

299
00:11:09,144 --> 00:11:11,245
the FAA, the United States government's

300
00:11:11,865 --> 00:11:15,245
agency that takes care and governs all

301
00:11:15,865 --> 00:11:18,664
all things that fly. Right? Thick book that

302
00:11:18,664 --> 00:11:21,705
everybody has to have. Right. Yep. All the

303
00:11:21,705 --> 00:11:22,205
FARS.

304
00:11:22,970 --> 00:11:23,710
Well, anyway, so,

305
00:11:24,276 --> 00:11:26,490
we found out that it was now knowledge

306
00:11:26,490 --> 00:11:26,990
based.

307
00:11:27,450 --> 00:11:28,190
And so

308
00:11:28,809 --> 00:11:31,850
I looked at, my partner and he and

309
00:11:31,850 --> 00:11:34,649
said, you know, I'll bet you that there's

310
00:11:34,649 --> 00:11:36,330
a lot of fluff in those two year

311
00:11:36,330 --> 00:11:36,830
schools.

312
00:11:37,504 --> 00:11:39,184
And I'll bet we can do it in

313
00:11:39,184 --> 00:11:40,004
one year.

314
00:11:40,945 --> 00:11:41,664
And so,

315
00:11:42,304 --> 00:11:44,865
it just so happened that I was at

316
00:11:44,865 --> 00:11:46,004
a conference,

317
00:11:46,384 --> 00:11:48,945
and I sat next to a gentleman who

318
00:11:48,945 --> 00:11:51,365
was clearly the smartest man in the room.

319
00:11:51,870 --> 00:11:53,790
And it turns out that he was the

320
00:11:53,790 --> 00:11:55,170
one who helped the FAA

321
00:11:55,629 --> 00:11:57,950
see that there was a different way that

322
00:11:57,950 --> 00:11:59,629
it could be done that could speed up

323
00:11:59,629 --> 00:12:02,429
how many mechanics get into the workforce so

324
00:12:02,429 --> 00:12:04,990
they can start training and learning and fill

325
00:12:04,990 --> 00:12:07,009
the gap that's gonna happen.

326
00:12:07,524 --> 00:12:08,024
And,

327
00:12:09,284 --> 00:12:11,524
I talked to him and he said, yeah.

328
00:12:11,524 --> 00:12:13,365
Absolutely. You could do it in a year,

329
00:12:13,365 --> 00:12:14,825
and and I'll help you.

330
00:12:15,524 --> 00:12:15,845
And,

331
00:12:16,565 --> 00:12:17,865
he had his PhD,

332
00:12:19,125 --> 00:12:20,504
doctor Sean Galligan,

333
00:12:20,884 --> 00:12:21,125
and,

334
00:12:22,009 --> 00:12:22,970
he said that,

335
00:12:24,250 --> 00:12:25,470
you can make it happen.

336
00:12:25,929 --> 00:12:27,690
And so we called the FAA and said,

337
00:12:27,690 --> 00:12:29,470
hey, we wanna start a school here

338
00:12:29,769 --> 00:12:31,690
and we wanna make it so it's a

339
00:12:31,690 --> 00:12:32,830
12 program.

340
00:12:33,289 --> 00:12:35,049
And they said, yeah, well, that'll take a

341
00:12:35,049 --> 00:12:37,245
lot of paperwork. Let's see how that goes.

342
00:12:37,404 --> 00:12:38,205
Yeah. And,

343
00:12:38,764 --> 00:12:40,225
Weren't you guys the first

344
00:12:40,524 --> 00:12:42,365
school? We were one of the first. Yeah.

345
00:12:42,365 --> 00:12:45,085
That's right. And doctor Galligan helped us to

346
00:12:45,085 --> 00:12:46,125
do it. And the,

347
00:12:46,845 --> 00:12:49,485
he had everything, all the syllabuses, all the

348
00:12:50,789 --> 00:12:52,629
he just had it all set up. He

349
00:12:52,629 --> 00:12:54,549
just knew what it would take and how

350
00:12:54,549 --> 00:12:57,190
long each class should take and, you know,

351
00:12:57,190 --> 00:12:59,450
it was amazing how smart he was

352
00:12:59,830 --> 00:13:00,950
is. And,

353
00:13:01,350 --> 00:13:03,269
but about doing it. Next thing you know,

354
00:13:03,269 --> 00:13:05,575
the FAA said, we can't find any flaw

355
00:13:05,575 --> 00:13:07,195
in this. No kidding. You're

356
00:13:07,495 --> 00:13:08,715
you're being tutored,

357
00:13:09,335 --> 00:13:12,055
by doctor Galligan. He's super smart, and he

358
00:13:12,055 --> 00:13:13,434
helped the law to get passed.

359
00:13:13,894 --> 00:13:14,375
And,

360
00:13:15,495 --> 00:13:17,700
next thing you know, we had our license,

361
00:13:17,700 --> 00:13:19,700
and we started. And we started with only

362
00:13:19,700 --> 00:13:22,659
three kids because the FAA didn't approve us

363
00:13:22,659 --> 00:13:25,620
till November. But three months later in January

364
00:13:25,620 --> 00:13:26,600
or three months

365
00:13:27,379 --> 00:13:30,434
six weeks later, we started with three kids.

366
00:13:30,434 --> 00:13:32,774
That's as many as we could recruit. And,

367
00:13:33,475 --> 00:13:35,554
we learned from them, and they learned from

368
00:13:35,554 --> 00:13:37,794
us. And they graduated in a year, and

369
00:13:37,794 --> 00:13:39,955
it was pretty darn exciting. We've gone from

370
00:13:39,955 --> 00:13:43,335
there. And so far, we've had, 25

371
00:13:43,875 --> 00:13:44,375
about

372
00:13:44,889 --> 00:13:45,690
26

373
00:13:45,690 --> 00:13:46,509
kids graduate,

374
00:13:47,929 --> 00:13:50,409
in two years, and we got 27 kids

375
00:13:50,409 --> 00:13:52,169
in the class right now. And our next

376
00:13:52,169 --> 00:13:53,309
class, which starts

377
00:13:53,690 --> 00:13:54,190
August,

378
00:13:55,769 --> 00:13:57,129
of 26,

379
00:13:57,129 --> 00:13:59,605
will have about 45 to 50 kids in

380
00:13:59,605 --> 00:14:01,365
it, and that's where we're gonna stop at

381
00:14:01,365 --> 00:14:02,965
50 kids. And you're gonna be doing two

382
00:14:02,965 --> 00:14:04,504
shifts on that one, probably.

383
00:14:04,884 --> 00:14:06,565
No. But we're gonna be able to do

384
00:14:06,565 --> 00:14:08,644
two sides of the building. Mhmm. And we're

385
00:14:08,644 --> 00:14:10,965
gonna hire two more instructors, so we'll have

386
00:14:10,965 --> 00:14:14,269
four instructors for 50 kids. Nice. And that's

387
00:14:14,269 --> 00:14:17,230
a great ratio of teaching. That's a unique

388
00:14:17,230 --> 00:14:19,230
ratio because we're teaching a lot. This is

389
00:14:19,389 --> 00:14:20,990
Yeah. Yeah. You know, you come to our

390
00:14:20,990 --> 00:14:22,669
school, and if you miss a day, you

391
00:14:22,669 --> 00:14:24,829
gotta make it up at night. Or you

392
00:14:24,829 --> 00:14:25,995
gotta you know, we have

393
00:14:30,315 --> 00:14:33,115
adjunct instructors here on Saturdays, and the kids

394
00:14:33,115 --> 00:14:34,815
have to make up time. Yeah.

395
00:14:35,195 --> 00:14:36,014
And it's intense.

396
00:14:36,394 --> 00:14:38,794
Yeah. Imagine. You know, I went through Air

397
00:14:38,794 --> 00:14:39,294
Force

398
00:14:39,809 --> 00:14:42,529
maintenance school and, you know, that was pretty

399
00:14:42,529 --> 00:14:44,289
intense, but we only did, like, four hours

400
00:14:44,289 --> 00:14:46,049
a day or six hours a day or

401
00:14:46,049 --> 00:14:48,309
something. And, this sounds a little more intense.

402
00:14:48,529 --> 00:14:50,529
Our kids get here at 07:00 in the

403
00:14:50,529 --> 00:14:51,029
morning,

404
00:14:51,730 --> 00:14:53,410
because we wanna teach them what it's like

405
00:14:53,410 --> 00:14:55,784
to work a real shift. Mhmm. Shifts start

406
00:14:55,784 --> 00:14:57,865
at 07:00 in the morning at the major

407
00:14:57,865 --> 00:15:00,345
airlines and in and in a lot of

408
00:15:00,345 --> 00:15:03,704
maintenance shops, even, general aviation, and we wanna

409
00:15:03,704 --> 00:15:05,184
teach them how to get up that early.

410
00:15:05,184 --> 00:15:06,664
A lot of them didn't do that when

411
00:15:06,664 --> 00:15:08,125
they went to high school. Right?

412
00:15:08,700 --> 00:15:08,940
And,

413
00:15:09,580 --> 00:15:11,420
so they start and they go from a

414
00:15:11,420 --> 00:15:12,399
seven to three,

415
00:15:12,779 --> 00:15:14,720
five days a week. And,

416
00:15:15,580 --> 00:15:18,399
and it's all learning. You know? There's incredible

417
00:15:18,460 --> 00:15:20,220
amount of book work. They gotta take their

418
00:15:20,220 --> 00:15:22,300
FRA exams. We allow them to take it

419
00:15:22,300 --> 00:15:23,514
as they go. Mhmm.

420
00:15:24,154 --> 00:15:24,955
They gotta take,

421
00:15:25,674 --> 00:15:28,254
three written exams that they have to pass,

422
00:15:28,955 --> 00:15:31,534
and they gotta take two oral and practical

423
00:15:31,754 --> 00:15:33,214
with FAA examiners.

424
00:15:33,674 --> 00:15:34,315
Yeah. And,

425
00:15:34,875 --> 00:15:36,634
they all they can do that all in

426
00:15:36,634 --> 00:15:39,029
a year. Yeah. It's it's amazing. And, you

427
00:15:39,029 --> 00:15:41,190
know, this hangar out here, you you know,

428
00:15:41,190 --> 00:15:42,569
they get a little, on,

429
00:15:42,870 --> 00:15:45,990
you know, they get practical experience working on

430
00:15:45,990 --> 00:15:46,490
stuff.

431
00:15:47,110 --> 00:15:48,009
We can do

432
00:15:48,470 --> 00:15:49,669
so many different,

433
00:15:51,855 --> 00:15:54,595
projects out there. They learn riveting. They learn,

434
00:15:55,615 --> 00:15:57,714
safety wiring. They learn fiberglass.

435
00:15:58,095 --> 00:15:59,394
They learn electronics.

436
00:15:59,934 --> 00:16:02,195
Safety wiring was always fun to me.

437
00:16:02,575 --> 00:16:05,134
Yeah. Well, believe it or not, funny you

438
00:16:05,134 --> 00:16:06,754
bring that up. We've had

439
00:16:07,100 --> 00:16:08,240
many, many, many,

440
00:16:08,940 --> 00:16:11,600
companies come in from, you know,

441
00:16:12,779 --> 00:16:13,840
Envoy to

442
00:16:14,300 --> 00:16:14,800
SkyWest

443
00:16:15,259 --> 00:16:15,759
to

444
00:16:16,139 --> 00:16:16,639
Coletta.

445
00:16:17,100 --> 00:16:19,274
And the one thing they say is, make

446
00:16:19,274 --> 00:16:21,834
sure the kid can safety wire. Because Now

447
00:16:21,834 --> 00:16:23,274
do you make them do it manually, or

448
00:16:23,274 --> 00:16:25,355
do you get the safety wire pliers? They

449
00:16:25,355 --> 00:16:27,914
get both. They get to learn both. But,

450
00:16:27,914 --> 00:16:30,414
you know, but every kid that leaves here,

451
00:16:30,475 --> 00:16:32,315
because what we were told by the,

452
00:16:33,290 --> 00:16:34,970
by the companies that are gonna hire them,

453
00:16:34,970 --> 00:16:37,050
they know how to safety wire. Yeah. And

454
00:16:37,050 --> 00:16:38,970
that's one of their classes that they get

455
00:16:38,970 --> 00:16:41,929
graded on, and, it's important. That and soldering

456
00:16:41,929 --> 00:16:43,389
were my two, bugaboos.

457
00:16:43,769 --> 00:16:44,269
Yeah.

458
00:16:44,649 --> 00:16:45,389
I'm not

459
00:16:46,665 --> 00:16:48,904
I'm not sure how much work they get

460
00:16:48,904 --> 00:16:50,504
on all that, but they get they learn

461
00:16:50,504 --> 00:16:52,904
a little bit about everything. Sure. Because all

462
00:16:52,904 --> 00:16:55,545
we're doing in reality, Mike, is we're giving

463
00:16:55,545 --> 00:16:57,465
them a license to learn. Yep. And that's

464
00:16:57,465 --> 00:16:59,225
the way it is in all aviation. You

465
00:16:59,225 --> 00:17:01,129
know, you get your pilot's license. That's a

466
00:17:01,129 --> 00:17:03,549
license to learn because you don't know everything.

467
00:17:04,490 --> 00:17:06,490
And I'm sure with the mechanics, it's the

468
00:17:06,490 --> 00:17:08,329
same thing. And, you know, and with the

469
00:17:08,329 --> 00:17:08,829
mechanic,

470
00:17:09,609 --> 00:17:10,669
you know, you got

471
00:17:11,450 --> 00:17:14,269
hundreds of airframes out there that are different.

472
00:17:15,484 --> 00:17:17,805
And engine, you know, even a Cessna one

473
00:17:17,805 --> 00:17:20,365
seventy two could have, you know, any number

474
00:17:20,365 --> 00:17:22,605
of engines in the thing. So that's a

475
00:17:22,605 --> 00:17:24,625
different skill. And avionics,

476
00:17:24,924 --> 00:17:27,005
all the avionics, and you probably don't teach

477
00:17:27,005 --> 00:17:27,904
a lot of avionics.

478
00:17:28,609 --> 00:17:30,450
We don't. No? Yeah. Because that's kind of

479
00:17:30,450 --> 00:17:31,049
a subspecialty.

480
00:17:31,490 --> 00:17:33,490
Working on it. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I can

481
00:17:33,490 --> 00:17:35,090
tell you one of the best stories that

482
00:17:35,090 --> 00:17:37,009
I have about starting a school is,

483
00:17:38,450 --> 00:17:39,349
when we were

484
00:17:41,474 --> 00:17:42,295
getting our,

485
00:17:42,835 --> 00:17:43,575
all the,

486
00:17:44,194 --> 00:17:46,134
materials and all the

487
00:17:46,515 --> 00:17:49,795
parts so the kids could have laboratories and

488
00:17:49,795 --> 00:17:51,795
work on things, one of the things the

489
00:17:51,795 --> 00:17:54,194
FAA said was, you know, you need a

490
00:17:54,194 --> 00:17:57,250
jet engine. Mhmm. Well, you just don't go

491
00:17:57,250 --> 00:17:58,950
out and get a jet engine

492
00:17:59,250 --> 00:18:01,809
with a budget. Right? They even the ones

493
00:18:01,809 --> 00:18:03,269
that are run out cost

494
00:18:04,849 --> 00:18:05,349
maybe

495
00:18:05,650 --> 00:18:08,369
thousands and thousands and tens of twenties and

496
00:18:08,369 --> 00:18:10,849
thirties and forties and maybe a $100,000

497
00:18:10,849 --> 00:18:12,335
just to get one of those. Right?

498
00:18:12,714 --> 00:18:14,634
So I I call over to,

499
00:18:15,035 --> 00:18:16,095
Coletta Airlines,

500
00:18:17,275 --> 00:18:19,694
over in Oscoda, Michigan, and I said,

501
00:18:20,234 --> 00:18:20,894
you know,

502
00:18:21,275 --> 00:18:23,115
I need a favor. I mean, we're we're

503
00:18:23,115 --> 00:18:24,714
gonna be in A and P school. They're

504
00:18:24,875 --> 00:18:27,039
I'm sure our kids will wanna stay in

505
00:18:27,039 --> 00:18:29,759
Michigan, and you're in Michigan. But the FAA

506
00:18:29,759 --> 00:18:32,180
said, you know, you've gotta have,

507
00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:33,619
a jet engine.

508
00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:35,840
And they said, well, let us think about

509
00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:36,820
that a little bit.

510
00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:38,640
And I think it was the next day

511
00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:39,600
they called up and said,

512
00:18:40,414 --> 00:18:42,654
we got a seven twenty seven here Mhmm.

513
00:18:42,734 --> 00:18:44,734
That we're gonna donate to you. It has

514
00:18:44,734 --> 00:18:47,534
four jet engines. Mhmm. Three on the airplane

515
00:18:47,534 --> 00:18:48,595
and the APU.

516
00:18:49,054 --> 00:18:51,534
Yeah. And, So you got the whole airplane?

517
00:18:51,534 --> 00:18:53,294
We got the whole airplane, and we'll let

518
00:18:53,294 --> 00:18:55,200
you even keep it here for free. Oh,

519
00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:56,799
nice. And you can bring the students over

520
00:18:56,799 --> 00:18:58,740
here and do whatever you want to it,

521
00:18:59,039 --> 00:19:01,759
whenever you want. Nice. And, the next thing

522
00:19:01,759 --> 00:19:02,399
you know, they,

523
00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:05,039
we said, well, they said we gotta have

524
00:19:05,039 --> 00:19:07,039
a a jet engine in our building here.

525
00:19:07,039 --> 00:19:09,039
They said, well, we'll take the number one

526
00:19:09,039 --> 00:19:11,575
engine off, and you get a trailer and

527
00:19:11,575 --> 00:19:13,015
come over here. We'll put it on the

528
00:19:13,015 --> 00:19:14,615
trailer for you, and you can bring it

529
00:19:14,615 --> 00:19:15,115
home.

530
00:19:15,734 --> 00:19:17,414
Yeah. Yeah. I've seen it sitting out there.

531
00:19:17,575 --> 00:19:19,494
Sitting out there. And now it's got all

532
00:19:19,494 --> 00:19:21,575
the numbers on it. Every single part that

533
00:19:21,575 --> 00:19:23,654
we teach the kids what every single part

534
00:19:23,654 --> 00:19:26,750
of that seven twenty seven's engines are. And,

535
00:19:27,069 --> 00:19:28,750
it's a great experience. Then we take them

536
00:19:28,750 --> 00:19:30,509
to Oscoda once or twice a year, and

537
00:19:30,509 --> 00:19:32,589
we go through the airplane. It's great fun.

538
00:19:32,589 --> 00:19:35,149
And Oscoda, that's an old Air Force Base.

539
00:19:35,149 --> 00:19:37,710
Wertz Smith Air Force Base was what it

540
00:19:37,710 --> 00:19:40,190
was. It was a B 52 base. That's

541
00:19:40,190 --> 00:19:42,129
right. At least when they shut it down.

542
00:19:42,695 --> 00:19:45,515
And now over there, there's lots of maintenance

543
00:19:45,575 --> 00:19:46,875
activity going on.

544
00:19:47,734 --> 00:19:50,934
Coletta is there. What's the other? Evergreen is

545
00:19:50,934 --> 00:19:53,015
at the other one. Yeah. That's there. Plus,

546
00:19:53,015 --> 00:19:55,494
there's a seven forty seven engine shop over

547
00:19:55,494 --> 00:19:57,195
there. Right. It's a boneyard.

548
00:19:57,619 --> 00:19:59,380
Yeah. And it's a boneyard. Lots of seven

549
00:19:59,380 --> 00:20:01,940
forty sevens out there. Seven forty sevens. We

550
00:20:01,940 --> 00:20:03,220
actually had a kid,

551
00:20:03,619 --> 00:20:04,279
a student.

552
00:20:04,980 --> 00:20:06,660
I call them kids because they're all way

553
00:20:06,660 --> 00:20:07,720
younger than me.

554
00:20:08,420 --> 00:20:08,740
But,

555
00:20:09,634 --> 00:20:11,875
one of our students wanted to be a

556
00:20:11,875 --> 00:20:12,615
de assembler.

557
00:20:13,075 --> 00:20:13,575
Mhmm.

558
00:20:14,355 --> 00:20:16,275
And I That's a good place to do.

559
00:20:16,434 --> 00:20:20,295
And work and take airplanes apart. Yep. And,

560
00:20:20,835 --> 00:20:22,994
we all thought that was pretty pretty funny

561
00:20:22,994 --> 00:20:25,340
and pretty unique. Well, in the beginning, he

562
00:20:25,340 --> 00:20:27,180
thought, well, he really didn't have to learn

563
00:20:27,180 --> 00:20:27,920
how to fix

564
00:20:28,220 --> 00:20:30,299
them. Mhmm. And he doesn't know what was

565
00:20:30,380 --> 00:20:33,100
studying too hard. And so we call I

566
00:20:33,500 --> 00:20:36,140
yeah. One of our instructors called Colette and

567
00:20:36,140 --> 00:20:38,235
said, you know, what's it gonna take? They

568
00:20:38,235 --> 00:20:39,674
said, well, first, he's gotta get his A

569
00:20:39,674 --> 00:20:41,755
and P license. He's also gotta learn how

570
00:20:41,755 --> 00:20:42,955
to fix them because you gotta know how

571
00:20:42,955 --> 00:20:44,235
to fix them in order to know how

572
00:20:44,235 --> 00:20:46,154
to take them apart. Right. Because, yeah, if

573
00:20:46,154 --> 00:20:47,835
you take a part off of an airplane

574
00:20:47,835 --> 00:20:49,914
that's gonna be reused, you gotta know how

575
00:20:49,914 --> 00:20:50,975
it works because

576
00:20:51,589 --> 00:20:52,789
if you take it off in the wrong

577
00:20:52,789 --> 00:20:54,890
way, it might not be any good. Exactly.

578
00:20:55,029 --> 00:20:56,630
You know? So the next thing you know,

579
00:20:56,630 --> 00:21:00,170
the kid really really engaged in class and

580
00:21:00,230 --> 00:21:01,210
really became,

581
00:21:03,430 --> 00:21:04,170
a learning,

582
00:21:05,474 --> 00:21:07,714
smart, young person. Yeah. And,

583
00:21:08,434 --> 00:21:09,255
he graduated,

584
00:21:09,795 --> 00:21:10,295
and,

585
00:21:12,194 --> 00:21:14,194
yeah, I haven't heard yet if he got

586
00:21:14,194 --> 00:21:15,474
the job. Right. But,

587
00:21:16,275 --> 00:21:17,795
he could have changed. You know? A year

588
00:21:17,795 --> 00:21:19,789
can Yeah. You just never know. You know?

589
00:21:19,789 --> 00:21:21,470
Forever and I know. Wanna go work on

590
00:21:21,470 --> 00:21:24,049
Cessnas or something. You know? Exactly. Yep.

591
00:21:24,910 --> 00:21:26,049
Yeah. Because, yeah,

592
00:21:26,509 --> 00:21:28,349
as an air force, you know, we'd have

593
00:21:28,349 --> 00:21:31,335
to go pull parts off of either racks

594
00:21:31,335 --> 00:21:33,355
or, you know, even go to the boneyard

595
00:21:33,494 --> 00:21:34,075
in Tucson

596
00:21:35,015 --> 00:21:36,934
and pull something, you know. And and, yeah,

597
00:21:36,934 --> 00:21:38,295
I don't know what you were doing.

598
00:21:39,174 --> 00:21:43,269
Just, plain and simple. Yeah. And, so so

599
00:21:43,269 --> 00:21:45,450
you've had, you said 27,

600
00:21:46,309 --> 00:21:47,769
now that have graduated.

601
00:21:48,390 --> 00:21:51,349
Yeah. And pretty good, job placement, I'm sure.

602
00:21:51,349 --> 00:21:53,849
Yeah. They all get jobs. Yeah. Yeah. It's

603
00:21:53,910 --> 00:21:55,769
it's a 100% job placement.

604
00:21:56,944 --> 00:21:59,825
They're gonna get two, three, four offers. We've

605
00:21:59,825 --> 00:22:00,884
got kids in,

606
00:22:01,505 --> 00:22:05,204
Marquette, Michigan working for Envoy. We've got kids,

607
00:22:06,304 --> 00:22:07,204
down at,

608
00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,740
boy, we're in Chicago at SkyWest.

609
00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:14,179
We've got kids,

610
00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:17,039
working down in Battle Creek at one of

611
00:22:17,039 --> 00:22:17,779
the MROs.

612
00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:21,380
We've got kids in Salt Lake City.

613
00:22:21,694 --> 00:22:24,255
They're all over. We've got one student that,

614
00:22:24,255 --> 00:22:26,815
you know, was, bound determined to work for,

615
00:22:27,134 --> 00:22:30,914
Delta, which has an extremely difficult, you know,

616
00:22:30,974 --> 00:22:34,414
application process. They're top notch. They're very good.

617
00:22:34,414 --> 00:22:35,795
And, and she

618
00:22:36,190 --> 00:22:37,490
wants to work in Tokyo.

619
00:22:38,029 --> 00:22:40,769
And so, you know, we've got, job

620
00:22:41,789 --> 00:22:44,109
jobs available for kids where they can work

621
00:22:44,109 --> 00:22:45,330
six months in Alaska

622
00:22:45,710 --> 00:22:47,250
and six months in Honolulu.

623
00:22:47,630 --> 00:22:48,930
Yeah. You know? I mean,

624
00:22:50,025 --> 00:22:52,265
we got jobs where they can fly on

625
00:22:52,265 --> 00:22:54,265
airplanes. It's hard to find a mechanic. You

626
00:22:54,265 --> 00:22:56,585
know, if you own an airplane yourself and

627
00:22:56,585 --> 00:22:59,305
you, you know, need something done, there's not

628
00:22:59,305 --> 00:23:01,305
a ton of places you can take your

629
00:23:01,305 --> 00:23:03,849
airplane. You know? Exactly. You know, there's a

630
00:23:03,849 --> 00:23:05,769
few around, but, and, you know, and a

631
00:23:05,769 --> 00:23:07,309
lot of those guys are getting older,

632
00:23:07,929 --> 00:23:08,429
so

633
00:23:08,890 --> 00:23:11,210
they're gonna need new blood. Yeah. All the,

634
00:23:11,769 --> 00:23:12,269
AMPs

635
00:23:12,650 --> 00:23:15,384
from, World War two are, you know, they're

636
00:23:15,384 --> 00:23:18,184
not working anymore. And so now you got

637
00:23:18,184 --> 00:23:21,325
the next generation AMPs from the military. And

638
00:23:21,384 --> 00:23:21,884
and,

639
00:23:22,664 --> 00:23:24,265
you know, now we're having to produce our

640
00:23:24,265 --> 00:23:26,605
own. And there's about, I don't know, a

641
00:23:26,664 --> 00:23:27,785
150

642
00:23:27,785 --> 00:23:29,085
schools around the country

643
00:23:29,464 --> 00:23:30,204
is all,

644
00:23:30,789 --> 00:23:31,529
that are

645
00:23:32,230 --> 00:23:34,789
doing this and, training kids. Some of the

646
00:23:34,789 --> 00:23:35,289
programs

647
00:23:35,670 --> 00:23:37,589
most of the programs are still two year

648
00:23:37,589 --> 00:23:38,089
programs.

649
00:23:38,549 --> 00:23:40,869
So that's what makes our program unique. We're

650
00:23:40,869 --> 00:23:42,630
a one year program and,

651
00:23:43,269 --> 00:23:45,029
you know all done at one, you know,

652
00:23:45,029 --> 00:23:47,644
in one fell swoop. One fell swoop. You

653
00:23:47,644 --> 00:23:49,244
know, Traverse City is a nice place to

654
00:23:49,244 --> 00:23:50,625
be most of the year.

655
00:23:51,325 --> 00:23:52,684
I think it's a good place to be

656
00:23:52,684 --> 00:23:54,285
even in the winter. Oh, yeah. For sure.

657
00:23:54,285 --> 00:23:56,865
We, the kids that come here that don't

658
00:23:56,924 --> 00:23:57,424
already

659
00:23:58,045 --> 00:24:01,400
live here, we have an apartment complex that,

660
00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:03,019
that we put,

661
00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:05,880
we turn into a dorm room. And, you

662
00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:07,420
know, they've got a pool.

663
00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:10,759
They've got an exercise room. I mean, it's

664
00:24:10,759 --> 00:24:13,255
pretty challenging around here to find housing. Right.

665
00:24:13,255 --> 00:24:14,695
Well, there's a lot of them going up

666
00:24:14,695 --> 00:24:16,295
right now, so it's a little easier than

667
00:24:16,295 --> 00:24:18,154
it used to be a couple years ago.

668
00:24:18,215 --> 00:24:19,275
For sure. Yeah.

669
00:24:19,815 --> 00:24:20,875
Apartments everywhere.

670
00:24:21,174 --> 00:24:23,779
Yeah. Going up. We're very blessed. But, But

671
00:24:23,779 --> 00:24:25,940
we'll put four kids in a, you know,

672
00:24:25,940 --> 00:24:28,900
two bedroom apartment, do a bunk bed, and

673
00:24:28,900 --> 00:24:32,200
it's unbelievably reasonable for the students. And,

674
00:24:32,980 --> 00:24:35,220
and they're loving it. Yeah. Yeah. We even

675
00:24:35,220 --> 00:24:37,894
provide maid service. We know that putting four

676
00:24:37,894 --> 00:24:39,034
boys in a room

677
00:24:39,414 --> 00:24:41,894
without a little maid service on occasion is

678
00:24:41,894 --> 00:24:44,134
probably not gonna be a good experience after

679
00:24:44,134 --> 00:24:45,674
Christmas. The girls aren't much better.

680
00:24:47,174 --> 00:24:48,234
Probably right.

681
00:24:48,694 --> 00:24:50,954
Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, so

682
00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:53,679
so, yeah, you guys are you start classes,

683
00:24:53,679 --> 00:24:56,019
what, twice a year? We used to,

684
00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:58,240
but now we're down to once a year.

685
00:24:58,240 --> 00:24:59,859
We're looking at other options.

686
00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:01,220
But

687
00:25:01,759 --> 00:25:04,339
most kids think that school starts,

688
00:25:04,684 --> 00:25:07,265
you know, in August or September. Right. Makes

689
00:25:07,565 --> 00:25:09,825
sense. Spend their whole year. And to start

690
00:25:10,444 --> 00:25:12,384
a a new class in January

691
00:25:13,085 --> 00:25:14,704
Mhmm. Takes a lot

692
00:25:15,085 --> 00:25:16,544
of mental strength

693
00:25:16,924 --> 00:25:19,345
to to get your brain around that. Sure.

694
00:25:19,484 --> 00:25:21,660
Yeah. So the Air Force was funny. They

695
00:25:21,660 --> 00:25:23,660
just started it whenever they needed to. Well,

696
00:25:23,660 --> 00:25:25,500
yeah, well, that's because they can control you

697
00:25:25,500 --> 00:25:28,079
a lot better. Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah.

698
00:25:28,460 --> 00:25:30,799
Yeah. Nothing nothing like being in a cornfield

699
00:25:30,859 --> 00:25:32,240
in Illinois marching

700
00:25:32,539 --> 00:25:33,200
to class.

701
00:25:33,500 --> 00:25:36,224
Exactly. Yeah. We don't do that. Right?

702
00:25:37,565 --> 00:25:39,164
So a lot of other things you got

703
00:25:39,164 --> 00:25:40,605
going on here in this building.

704
00:25:41,244 --> 00:25:42,704
I know, you allow,

705
00:25:43,244 --> 00:25:43,984
the EAA,

706
00:25:45,325 --> 00:25:48,365
local group to use the building somewhat and,

707
00:25:48,605 --> 00:25:49,105
also

708
00:25:49,484 --> 00:25:50,625
civil air patrol.

709
00:25:51,139 --> 00:25:53,559
Right. When I bought the building, I wanted

710
00:25:53,859 --> 00:25:56,259
this to be the center of aviation for

711
00:25:56,259 --> 00:25:59,639
our airport. Because once, you know, nine eleven

712
00:25:59,700 --> 00:26:01,940
happened, you know, you just can't go out

713
00:26:01,940 --> 00:26:02,440
and

714
00:26:02,819 --> 00:26:05,220
walk up to an airplane and say hi

715
00:26:05,220 --> 00:26:06,519
to the pilot and

716
00:26:07,445 --> 00:26:08,345
and sit in

717
00:26:09,045 --> 00:26:11,305
the side of the runway and watch airplanes

718
00:26:11,445 --> 00:26:13,785
take off. You know, they put up fences.

719
00:26:13,924 --> 00:26:15,625
They gave you badges.

720
00:26:16,325 --> 00:26:18,404
You know, it made it very difficult for

721
00:26:18,404 --> 00:26:21,000
people to congregate. Can't hang out at the

722
00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:23,240
airport here. No. Now, you know, some other

723
00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:25,319
airports you can, but Yep. You know, like

724
00:26:25,319 --> 00:26:27,240
Antrim, I I, you know, I've been up

725
00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:28,759
there a few times. You can go hang

726
00:26:28,759 --> 00:26:30,279
out in the in the building there, and

727
00:26:30,279 --> 00:26:32,200
there's always people around, and it's kind of

728
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:34,455
fun. But, yeah, this is kind of what

729
00:26:34,455 --> 00:26:35,355
this is becoming

730
00:26:35,974 --> 00:26:38,455
here. You know, I've I've joked with people

731
00:26:38,455 --> 00:26:40,615
that I I've gotta go to coffee klatch,

732
00:26:40,615 --> 00:26:42,795
you know? Yes. And we come over here

733
00:26:42,934 --> 00:26:45,815
Saturday mornings and drink coffee, eat donuts, and,

734
00:26:46,055 --> 00:26:47,980
you know, just shoot the bull. Just like

735
00:26:47,980 --> 00:26:50,140
you used to thirty years ago when you

736
00:26:50,140 --> 00:26:51,200
had the old building,

737
00:26:51,740 --> 00:26:54,799
for general aviation. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So

738
00:26:55,900 --> 00:26:58,640
that's one of the things that, my partner

739
00:26:58,700 --> 00:27:00,779
understood in the air when we bought this

740
00:27:00,779 --> 00:27:02,464
building is that we were

741
00:27:02,845 --> 00:27:03,484
gonna give,

742
00:27:03,884 --> 00:27:05,744
the EAA and the CAP,

743
00:27:06,365 --> 00:27:07,265
free office,

744
00:27:07,884 --> 00:27:08,384
and,

745
00:27:09,644 --> 00:27:11,005
and rooms to,

746
00:27:11,484 --> 00:27:12,444
the same rooms.

747
00:27:12,845 --> 00:27:16,900
On Mondays and Thursday nights and other days

748
00:27:16,900 --> 00:27:19,059
of the week, Saturdays when we're not in

749
00:27:19,059 --> 00:27:21,700
school. Yeah. And, it works great. And we

750
00:27:21,700 --> 00:27:23,940
got quite the sim room here now too.

751
00:27:24,259 --> 00:27:26,099
What is there? Four or five, six of

752
00:27:26,099 --> 00:27:28,019
them in that room? Six sims and even

753
00:27:28,019 --> 00:27:30,099
one moving sim. Yeah. And that's one of

754
00:27:30,099 --> 00:27:31,345
the things we do at our school too

755
00:27:31,345 --> 00:27:33,765
is we teach all the prospective

756
00:27:34,225 --> 00:27:34,725
AMP

757
00:27:35,505 --> 00:27:37,585
students, you know, how to fly an airplane

758
00:27:37,585 --> 00:27:39,345
on a Sim. Yeah. So they have a

759
00:27:39,345 --> 00:27:41,904
general idea. Yeah. It's always a good thing,

760
00:27:41,904 --> 00:27:44,065
you know. A lot of the AMPs I

761
00:27:44,065 --> 00:27:44,565
know,

762
00:27:44,865 --> 00:27:47,220
also are pilots. So that's that's a good

763
00:27:47,220 --> 00:27:49,059
thing, but not all of them. Oh. You

764
00:27:49,059 --> 00:27:50,500
know? And some of them, you know, I

765
00:27:50,500 --> 00:27:52,359
don't like flying, but I like airplanes.

766
00:27:52,660 --> 00:27:55,000
Yeah. Yeah. Being on,

767
00:27:55,460 --> 00:27:58,179
you know, around airplanes is pretty sexy. Right?

768
00:27:58,179 --> 00:28:00,420
Yeah. It can be. I mean, airplanes are

769
00:28:00,420 --> 00:28:02,894
really cool. Yeah. And, to know how to

770
00:28:02,894 --> 00:28:04,515
fix them or fly them is,

771
00:28:05,054 --> 00:28:08,414
you know, not not for everybody. And, it's

772
00:28:08,414 --> 00:28:10,015
pretty cool if you're one of those people

773
00:28:10,015 --> 00:28:11,534
that are. Yeah. It's,

774
00:28:12,255 --> 00:28:12,994
it's definitely,

775
00:28:13,694 --> 00:28:16,174
it's a muscle memory thing because, you know,

776
00:28:16,174 --> 00:28:16,619
it's

777
00:28:17,180 --> 00:28:19,180
that was my trouble in training is, you

778
00:28:19,180 --> 00:28:21,740
know, just gaining the muscle memory. Once once

779
00:28:21,740 --> 00:28:24,059
you do that, though, you can jump into

780
00:28:24,059 --> 00:28:26,000
a different airplane, and it's

781
00:28:26,299 --> 00:28:27,359
everything's similar.

782
00:28:27,740 --> 00:28:30,779
Yeah. You know? I'm a pilot also. I'm

783
00:28:31,019 --> 00:28:32,240
I have no tools.

784
00:28:33,025 --> 00:28:33,825
Why I picked,

785
00:28:34,384 --> 00:28:36,945
the mechanic school, the AMP school, I have

786
00:28:36,945 --> 00:28:39,525
no clue. All I know is they made

787
00:28:40,144 --> 00:28:42,005
it my life so much better

788
00:28:42,384 --> 00:28:43,525
keeping my airplanes

789
00:28:44,305 --> 00:28:46,884
flyable and safe with my family

790
00:28:47,259 --> 00:28:50,299
that I always appreciated and admired them. Right.

791
00:28:50,299 --> 00:28:50,779
And,

792
00:28:51,179 --> 00:28:53,099
that's why I thought, wow. This would be

793
00:28:53,099 --> 00:28:54,700
great because I don't know a thing about

794
00:28:54,700 --> 00:28:56,220
it, but wouldn't it be cool to have

795
00:28:56,220 --> 00:28:59,019
more around? Yeah. For sure. And I've seen

796
00:28:59,019 --> 00:29:01,579
your airplane in the hangar here getting this

797
00:29:01,579 --> 00:29:03,554
done on it, and that's kind of a

798
00:29:03,554 --> 00:29:07,335
handy bonus. Yeah. So yeah. So the students

799
00:29:07,954 --> 00:29:10,454
can't work on an airplane that's flyable

800
00:29:10,755 --> 00:29:13,654
Mhmm. But they can observe work. Sure. So

801
00:29:14,115 --> 00:29:15,875
I'll make it so that the A and

802
00:29:15,875 --> 00:29:18,774
P who has a inspector's license, IA,

803
00:29:19,850 --> 00:29:21,150
he can do my annual

804
00:29:21,690 --> 00:29:23,289
in the hangar, and the students can watch

805
00:29:23,289 --> 00:29:24,809
it. Yep. And,

806
00:29:25,450 --> 00:29:28,809
invaluable. Right? And, you know, they can watch

807
00:29:28,809 --> 00:29:31,384
all the plates get taken off and do

808
00:29:31,384 --> 00:29:32,605
a lot of things and,

809
00:29:33,144 --> 00:29:35,144
stick their head in. They do have a

810
00:29:35,144 --> 00:29:37,784
apprentice program of some sort, don't they? They

811
00:29:37,784 --> 00:29:40,065
do. It's like a three year program Yeah.

812
00:29:40,264 --> 00:29:42,044
Where you can work at a

813
00:29:42,664 --> 00:29:43,384
at an eight at

814
00:29:44,149 --> 00:29:46,549
In a shop. In a shop somewhere. And,

815
00:29:46,869 --> 00:29:50,869
but holy mackerel. It's not great wages. And,

816
00:29:51,190 --> 00:29:52,710
three years is a long time in our

817
00:29:52,710 --> 00:29:54,309
life when you can come to a school

818
00:29:54,309 --> 00:29:55,589
and in one year You're gonna get it

819
00:29:55,589 --> 00:29:57,429
knocked out. Get it knocked out and be

820
00:29:57,429 --> 00:30:00,484
making really good wages. Our kids are making,

821
00:30:00,625 --> 00:30:02,244
you know, upper twenties

822
00:30:02,944 --> 00:30:04,484
and into the thirties

823
00:30:04,865 --> 00:30:05,924
really rapidly.

824
00:30:06,545 --> 00:30:06,944
And,

825
00:30:07,744 --> 00:30:09,744
most of them will be making in five

826
00:30:09,744 --> 00:30:13,045
years into the forties. Mhmm. $40 an hour.

827
00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:17,160
It's it's a, you know, life changing event

828
00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:19,799
and making enough money to to have a

829
00:30:19,799 --> 00:30:22,119
good middle class living. The only reason I

830
00:30:22,119 --> 00:30:24,200
never went for the AMP was the the

831
00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:26,039
length of the time you had to go

832
00:30:26,039 --> 00:30:28,394
to to school, you know, and what we

833
00:30:28,394 --> 00:30:31,215
did in the Air Force didn't count. Right.

834
00:30:31,355 --> 00:30:33,434
You know, so that was, you know, if

835
00:30:33,434 --> 00:30:35,195
if I could have just got out and

836
00:30:35,195 --> 00:30:37,595
I'd probably be doing that right now. Sure.

837
00:30:37,595 --> 00:30:39,674
But one of the things we're starting here

838
00:30:39,674 --> 00:30:40,174
soon,

839
00:30:40,475 --> 00:30:42,174
not exactly sure when,

840
00:30:42,759 --> 00:30:45,079
is we're gonna do a special program for

841
00:30:45,079 --> 00:30:47,400
the veterans Mhmm. That get out of the

842
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:48,619
service. And

843
00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:51,099
for some reason, the FAA doesn't

844
00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:54,920
acknowledge that they probably are AMPs in the

845
00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:55,420
service.

846
00:30:56,279 --> 00:30:59,005
But there's a two week program that we

847
00:30:59,005 --> 00:31:00,765
could do for them Mhmm. That would teach

848
00:31:00,765 --> 00:31:02,785
them how to pass the FAA test.

849
00:31:03,164 --> 00:31:03,644
And,

850
00:31:04,445 --> 00:31:05,904
and we're gonna do that,

851
00:31:06,445 --> 00:31:08,525
as soon as we can. That's changed since

852
00:31:08,525 --> 00:31:10,180
I got I got out thirty years ago.

853
00:31:10,180 --> 00:31:12,500
So Yeah. I have no idea how that

854
00:31:12,500 --> 00:31:14,500
works now. I have no idea how it

855
00:31:14,500 --> 00:31:16,680
works either, but all I know is that,

856
00:31:18,420 --> 00:31:20,980
two of our three instructors right now are

857
00:31:20,980 --> 00:31:24,019
retired military, and they wanna help their, you

858
00:31:24,019 --> 00:31:25,595
know, their fellow

859
00:31:26,295 --> 00:31:28,474
military friends get their license.

860
00:31:28,934 --> 00:31:30,855
And, so we're gonna start one of those

861
00:31:30,855 --> 00:31:33,255
programs soon. That that'd be great. Yeah. You

862
00:31:33,255 --> 00:31:35,174
know, especially, you know, we've got the coast

863
00:31:35,174 --> 00:31:37,015
guard base here, and there's a lot of

864
00:31:37,015 --> 00:31:38,694
guys over there that wanna come back here

865
00:31:38,694 --> 00:31:41,369
when they retire. Yep. Maybe that'd be perfect

866
00:31:41,369 --> 00:31:43,609
for them. Yeah. We have one coast guard

867
00:31:43,609 --> 00:31:46,330
retiree. We have one air force retiree. We

868
00:31:46,330 --> 00:31:46,830
have,

869
00:31:47,369 --> 00:31:48,830
one instructor that,

870
00:31:49,609 --> 00:31:50,670
she worked for

871
00:31:50,970 --> 00:31:53,210
two major airlines in her life and then

872
00:31:53,210 --> 00:31:54,269
a major airline

873
00:31:54,974 --> 00:31:55,474
manufacturer.

874
00:31:55,855 --> 00:31:56,174
And,

875
00:31:56,734 --> 00:31:58,894
so we've got lots of different experiences here.

876
00:31:58,894 --> 00:32:00,974
Yeah. And, yeah, all here in Little Traverse

877
00:32:00,974 --> 00:32:03,934
City. Yeah. Little Traverse City. Yeah. And that's

878
00:32:03,934 --> 00:32:05,855
what makes our school special too, is that

879
00:32:05,855 --> 00:32:08,015
we're a smaller school. There are lots of

880
00:32:08,015 --> 00:32:11,019
really big schools out there, but, you know,

881
00:32:11,019 --> 00:32:12,480
our main goal is

882
00:32:12,859 --> 00:32:16,059
everyone becomes an A and P. It's not

883
00:32:16,059 --> 00:32:19,099
just getting through the school. You're gonna get

884
00:32:19,099 --> 00:32:20,080
out and,

885
00:32:20,539 --> 00:32:23,099
you know, get your licenses. That's really important

886
00:32:23,099 --> 00:32:24,539
to us. We don't give up on you

887
00:32:24,539 --> 00:32:26,515
if you don't get it done exactly by

888
00:32:26,515 --> 00:32:28,275
the last day of school. Sure. You can

889
00:32:28,275 --> 00:32:30,275
come back as often as you need to

890
00:32:30,275 --> 00:32:31,575
practice, to study,

891
00:32:31,955 --> 00:32:35,154
to go over what maybe isn't perfectly clear

892
00:32:35,154 --> 00:32:38,115
to you. We've always got instructors available for

893
00:32:38,115 --> 00:32:38,819
you on,

894
00:32:39,220 --> 00:32:41,639
certain nights of the week and on weekends.

895
00:32:42,259 --> 00:32:42,740
And,

896
00:32:43,299 --> 00:32:45,399
that's really important to us. Alright.

897
00:32:45,700 --> 00:32:47,539
Our goal is to have one hundred percent

898
00:32:47,539 --> 00:32:48,279
of the kids

899
00:32:48,899 --> 00:32:52,244
graduate from our school and become AMPs. Yeah.

900
00:32:52,404 --> 00:32:53,924
Yeah. Because a lot of, you know, like

901
00:32:53,924 --> 00:32:56,244
nursing school, for instance, they don't care whether

902
00:32:56,244 --> 00:32:58,884
you ever, get the license. They just want

903
00:32:58,884 --> 00:33:01,125
you to get through the school. Yeah. Yeah.

904
00:33:01,125 --> 00:33:03,305
That's not us. Yeah. We are

905
00:33:03,765 --> 00:33:07,029
doing everything humanly possible to we even make

906
00:33:07,029 --> 00:33:09,509
it so that we pay included in your

907
00:33:09,509 --> 00:33:10,009
tuition

908
00:33:10,390 --> 00:33:10,890
is

909
00:33:11,190 --> 00:33:14,230
the, fee to take the test. Oh, nice.

910
00:33:14,230 --> 00:33:16,630
And that's thousands of dollars that a lot

911
00:33:16,630 --> 00:33:18,970
of these kids don't have. But that's included.

912
00:33:19,204 --> 00:33:21,605
We even pay for tools. That's similar to

913
00:33:21,605 --> 00:33:23,525
a check ride with a DPE. You know,

914
00:33:23,525 --> 00:33:25,365
you have to pay them to Yeah. What's

915
00:33:25,365 --> 00:33:28,025
a check ride with a DPE cost nowadays?

916
00:33:28,805 --> 00:33:29,944
I paid 800.

917
00:33:30,164 --> 00:33:31,625
Thank you. Yeah.

918
00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:32,740
So

919
00:33:33,279 --> 00:33:36,080
a lot of these students don't have $800.

920
00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:38,100
So we include it in their tuition

921
00:33:38,799 --> 00:33:39,200
and,

922
00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:42,240
so that when they're ready to do it,

923
00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:43,680
they come to us, tell them they're ready.

924
00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:44,180
We

925
00:33:44,484 --> 00:33:45,304
write them a

926
00:33:45,605 --> 00:33:47,845
check. It's simple as that. Nice. And, they

927
00:33:47,845 --> 00:33:49,764
can go take the test. Yeah. And then

928
00:33:49,764 --> 00:33:51,524
you get that all done. They got the

929
00:33:51,524 --> 00:33:53,764
the nice piece of plastic or paper. I

930
00:33:53,764 --> 00:33:55,605
think it's the same as a pilot's license,

931
00:33:55,605 --> 00:33:57,384
isn't it? Yeah. It's a plastic.

932
00:33:58,005 --> 00:34:01,640
Yeah. It's it's pretty darn special. Yeah. And,

933
00:34:01,940 --> 00:34:03,960
and, yeah, it's really important

934
00:34:04,259 --> 00:34:04,579
that,

935
00:34:05,059 --> 00:34:07,059
we're a little unique that way and that

936
00:34:07,059 --> 00:34:08,440
we really, really,

937
00:34:08,980 --> 00:34:11,559
really, really push hard to make sure everyone,

938
00:34:13,445 --> 00:34:14,605
you know, if you're gonna just their goal.

939
00:34:14,724 --> 00:34:16,724
Spend all that time doing it. And even

940
00:34:16,724 --> 00:34:18,025
though it's only a year,

941
00:34:18,724 --> 00:34:19,945
you wanna make sure

942
00:34:20,565 --> 00:34:21,144
it finishes,

943
00:34:21,525 --> 00:34:23,125
you know, and that's the thing, you know.

944
00:34:23,125 --> 00:34:24,565
And it I mean, you you probably don't

945
00:34:24,565 --> 00:34:26,085
have a lot of people dropping out of

946
00:34:26,085 --> 00:34:28,692
it, do you? We don't. Yeah. I was

947
00:34:28,692 --> 00:34:29,619
gonna say

948
00:34:30,084 --> 00:34:32,868
Dropout rate is virtually zero. Yeah.

949
00:34:33,332 --> 00:34:37,044
We had one young man who dropped out.

950
00:34:37,044 --> 00:34:40,757
We found out that, you know, he had

951
00:34:40,757 --> 00:34:41,684
some prior

952
00:34:42,164 --> 00:34:44,344
challenges with the law. And

953
00:34:44,644 --> 00:34:47,625
we knew that because of that, most employers

954
00:34:47,765 --> 00:34:50,324
wouldn't hire him. Right. And so we helped

955
00:34:50,324 --> 00:34:52,485
him to realize that maybe it wasn't in

956
00:34:52,485 --> 00:34:55,224
his best interest. Yeah. And so, you know,

957
00:34:55,579 --> 00:34:57,659
we're not doing this just to, you know,

958
00:34:57,659 --> 00:35:00,480
get their money to, you know, for tuition.

959
00:35:00,780 --> 00:35:02,960
If we don't think they're gonna become AMPs,

960
00:35:03,579 --> 00:35:05,420
we're gonna help them to find something else

961
00:35:05,420 --> 00:35:07,900
that they'll be better at. Mhmm. Right? Sure.

962
00:35:07,900 --> 00:35:09,820
And, you know, that's that's the thing. It's

963
00:35:09,820 --> 00:35:10,639
more of a,

964
00:35:11,074 --> 00:35:14,054
you you know, obviously, it's a for profit

965
00:35:14,194 --> 00:35:16,054
thing. Oh, we're actually a nonprofit.

966
00:35:16,355 --> 00:35:18,755
Oh, you are a nonprofit. Okay. Then that's

967
00:35:18,755 --> 00:35:20,674
even better. Yeah. That's why we were able

968
00:35:20,674 --> 00:35:22,194
to get that $7.27

969
00:35:22,194 --> 00:35:24,269
donated to us. Oh, very good. Took a

970
00:35:24,269 --> 00:35:25,789
tax write off. Oh, I'm sure they did.

971
00:35:25,789 --> 00:35:27,150
What what is the 7 they did? I

972
00:35:27,150 --> 00:35:28,590
wonder what a $7.27

973
00:35:28,590 --> 00:35:29,969
would go for these days.

974
00:35:30,670 --> 00:35:31,949
I don't think any of them are flying

975
00:35:31,949 --> 00:35:34,289
anymore, are they? I don't think so. Yeah.

976
00:35:34,510 --> 00:35:36,724
Anyway, so, yeah, it's a great thing you

977
00:35:36,724 --> 00:35:38,965
guys are doing here. And, like I said

978
00:35:39,125 --> 00:35:41,864
and myself, I appreciate the, EAA,

979
00:35:42,644 --> 00:35:43,144
connection

980
00:35:43,765 --> 00:35:45,525
and just the chance to hang out with

981
00:35:45,525 --> 00:35:48,885
people. You know, I've retired military, retired air

982
00:35:48,885 --> 00:35:51,480
for or airline pilots that come in here

983
00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:53,760
for coffee and We got students and

984
00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:57,320
astronauts that come here. Yeah. Exactly. We've got

985
00:35:57,320 --> 00:35:59,900
every single type of aviation you can imagine.

986
00:35:59,960 --> 00:36:01,019
Today, there are,

987
00:36:02,039 --> 00:36:03,159
five or six kids,

988
00:36:03,844 --> 00:36:04,585
from the,

989
00:36:04,964 --> 00:36:06,025
Legacy Aviation

990
00:36:06,324 --> 00:36:09,444
AMP school that are doing virtual reality things

991
00:36:09,444 --> 00:36:11,684
around here. And, you know, I mean, there's

992
00:36:11,684 --> 00:36:14,005
just so fun. Something going on all the

993
00:36:14,005 --> 00:36:16,484
time. All all day Saturday. And if you

994
00:36:16,484 --> 00:36:19,065
come on at most nights, there's something happening.

995
00:36:19,250 --> 00:36:21,569
Nice. You know, between the civil air patrol,

996
00:36:21,569 --> 00:36:22,389
the EAA,

997
00:36:22,849 --> 00:36:23,349
the

998
00:36:23,650 --> 00:36:25,589
students getting extra help.

999
00:36:26,369 --> 00:36:27,989
It's crazy busy building.

1000
00:36:28,369 --> 00:36:31,409
Yeah. Very good. I guess we'll call this

1001
00:36:31,409 --> 00:36:33,969
an interview, and, thanks for being on. We've

1002
00:36:33,969 --> 00:36:35,965
been talking about this, what, for a year?

1003
00:36:36,505 --> 00:36:37,005
Yeah.

1004
00:36:37,465 --> 00:36:39,304
Finally just set a date, said we're gonna

1005
00:36:39,304 --> 00:36:41,465
do this. Damn it. Yep. And we got

1006
00:36:41,465 --> 00:36:43,625
her done. Thank you. Thank you for letting

1007
00:36:43,625 --> 00:36:46,265
me share what a cool program we have.

1008
00:36:46,265 --> 00:36:47,704
If you're, looking to,

1009
00:36:48,265 --> 00:36:50,425
find us on the Internet, we are under

1010
00:36:50,425 --> 00:36:53,239
legacyaviation.org.

1011
00:36:53,619 --> 00:36:56,180
Okay. And I will also have links and

1012
00:36:56,180 --> 00:36:58,739
whatnot in the show notes. So, just go

1013
00:36:58,739 --> 00:36:59,239
to

1014
00:36:59,693 --> 00:37:01,853
whichever podcast you're listening to because I'm gonna

1015
00:37:01,853 --> 00:37:03,073
put this out on two,

1016
00:37:03,773 --> 00:37:06,093
and, there'll be links to everything in the

1017
00:37:06,093 --> 00:37:06,833
show notes.