Avionics News September 2015 - 60

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Chuck Gallagher of Cincinnati Avionics

aircraft. Providing more than just
an installation, Cincinnati Avionics
supplies the documentation, wiring
diagrams and after-sale support to
ensure all installations and future
service are trouble free.
Recently, Avionics News spoke
with Chuck Gallagher to learn about
his work and life outside the shop.

Tell me about
Cincinnati Avionics.

h his wife, Andrea;
Chuck Gallagher wit ughter, Caroline
da
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an
son, Collin;

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he Cincinnati Avionics facility
is located at Clermont County
Airport, home of Sporty's Pilot
Shop. According to the company, a
business should be a reflection of
the work it performs. Modern, clean,
well-organized, properly managed,
and equipped with some of the most
advanced equipment in the industry,
Cincinnati Avionics exemplifies
this belief. Cincinnati Avionics
utilizes the latest in vertical milling
technology and computer-aided
design to precisely manufacture/
modify instrument panels. Need
a physical weight and balance
or just want to know what your
aircraft really weighs? Cincinnati
Avionics is certified by the Federal
Aviation Administration to weigh
60

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Cincinnati Avionics is part
of Eastern Cincinnati Aviation,
which is the FBO at Clermont
County Airport. We are a wholly
owned subsidiary of Sporty's.
We've been a Part 145 repair
station since 1996. We built
our newest hangar in 2000; it's
7,600 square feet. We specialize
in light twins, light turboprops
and down. We used to say
we specialize in owner-flown
aircraft less than 6,000 pounds,
but now we work on some
bigger aircraft. Having said that,
though, we are definitely little
airplane people.

Did your career start in the
avionics industry?
I graduated from the University of
Cincinnati in 1993 with a mechanical
engineering degree and started at
Sporty's in facilities maintenance -
the buildings and grounds - which

I still do. As time went on, my
responsibilities grew, so I also have
a professional engineer license for
the state of Ohio. We've built 100
T-hangars since I've been here,
and most of the construction flows
through me. Cincinnati Avionics
came into being since we needed a
quality avionics shop on the field to
help maintain our own rental fleet,
and it grew from there. In 1996,
we started sharing a maintenance
hangar and then outgrew that
and built a dedicated hangar for
Cincinnati Avionics.
What's a typical day for you?
There is nothing routine here,
which is a good thing. We have jobs
to get invoiced and FAA paperwork.
Customer quotes are the first thing
that happens every day. We go
through the emails and feel as if
the quicker you can get a quality
quote to a customer, the better.
That's what we aim to do.
On the FBO side, we have a rental
fleet of 17 aircraft, so we have a
group of mechanics that work for
me. We keep the fleet running and
maintained for rental customers
and for the flight school. On the
airport manager side, we keep
the grass cut, the snow plowed
and the airport lights on. I field
any complaints and keep hangar
customers happy, whether it's to
solve a leak or change a lightbulb. I
work with county administration for
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News September 2015
