Aircraft Maintenance Technology

MAY 2016

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www.AviationPros.com | www.AMTSociety.org 25 his is a story about how the 1986 movie "Top Gun" transformed a young Irishman from being an aviation mechanic to becoming a highly educated Naval officer charged with overseeing maintenance for the world- famous Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Squadron. Growing up in Ireland, Declan Hartney admits that he watched "Top Gun" one too many times. "I was always interested in U.S. military aviation. I was fascinated with the Navy, the aircraft it flew and the aircraft carriers. That really did it for me," he says. Hartney began his aviation career working as a mechanic for De Beers at Shannon Airport in 1990. "Although I was interested in aviation, there wasn't a lot of opportunity for me in Ireland, since we had only one airline," he recalls. "But then Shannon Aerospace built a new facility, which allowed young people like me to enter the industry. "Shannon Aerospace was looking for maintenance technicians, so I applied for its aviation structural tech- nician program. They say I was very enthusiastic dur- ing my interview, and I was accepted into its two-year program in May 1992," says Hartney. During the program, Hartney was trained in structural and composite repair on Boeing and Airbus aircraft. "It was a mix of classroom and hands-on training to do repairs on those aircraft," he says. JOINED THE NAV Y After graduating in 1994, Hartney won the visa lottery to go to the United States. He immigrated, and two months later, joined the Navy as an aircraft mainte- nance technician. Hartney's first job in the Navy was as an aviation maintenance technician for the Strike Fighter Squadron 131 in July 1995. "The squadron, known as the Wildcats, was based at Naval Air Station Cecil Field in Jacksonville, FL. It flew F18s, the same fighter flown by the Blue Angels," he says. "As I was doing my Naval training, we competed. Whoever finished top of the class got to pick the orders that were available. I was number two in a class of 35, so I got a wide choice of orders to choose from." His original choice — the F14 Tomcat — wasn't avail- able at the time. "So I took the next best thing, which was still a fighter jet," says Hartney. That was an intimidating time for Hartney. "Not only did I find myself in a foreign military, but I was also trying to fit into a new country. I had only been in the states a year when I started that first job," he says. "I was still trying to figure things out. It was a fast work environ- ment that encouraged a work hard, play hard mentality." In Ireland Hartney says he was a hard worker, but felt that he was being held back. "After I joined the THE U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, maintenance and support team members perform a practice ground demonstration prior to the F/A-18 Hornets' launch. U.S. NAV Y PHOTO BY MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 2ND CLASS K ATHRYN E. MACDONALD/RELEASED

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