Avionics News June 2017 - 36

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Scott Cole of Cincinnati Avionics

If I knew you as a
child, would I be
surprised at your
career choice?

innati Avionics
Scott Cole of Cinc

W

hether installing a single
unit or a fully integrated
package, Cincinnati
Avionics, based at Clermont County
Airport is recognized as an industry
expert. According to the company, its
professional staff of experienced FAA
licensed technicians and installers has
been hand-picked to produce a modern, user-friendly package tailored to
the individual aircraft and the pilot's
needs. Providing more than just an installation, Cincinnati Avionics supplies
the documentation, wiring diagrams
and after-sale support to ensure that
all installations and future service are
trouble-free.
Recently, Avionics News spoke with
the company's vice president, Scott
Cole, to learn more about his work at
Cincinnati Avionics and his life outside
the hangar.
36

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june

2017

With...

That's an interesting
question. I was born in
Indianapolis, but we moved
to Danville, Illinois, when I
was in kindergarten. My dad
worked for Westinghouse
and was involved with a
project, building things with
wiring and components. He
took homestyle movies of his
work and, looking at them
today, the work was similar
to what I do in aircraft. In
the sixth grade, we moved
back to Indianapolis, which I
consider my hometown. As a
kid, I was into aircraft model
building. I may have built one
or two cars, but I built dozens
of airplanes. I was a stickler
to detail. I'd even paint the
instrument panel black and
then show the details of the
instruments. If there was a
pilot, I'd paint his face - even
if no one would ever see these
things. I find that retrospective
interesting, as I never intended
to work on airplanes.

When you graduated
from high school, what
did you do?
I didn't know what I wanted to do
so I took a job in a drugstore. I saw
kids who had gone to college who
were working in jobs such as managing a men's clothing store. Another
one was an assistant manager at
Dairy Queen, so I never felt college
was the path for me. After a year
at the drugstore, I decided this was
not the life for me, so I joined the
Marines. I fell for the recruiter's story
- hook, line and sinker. I did well
on the Armed Services Vocational
Aptitude Battery, and the Marines
offered me a technical skills bonus of
$1,500, which was a lot of money to
me. Within three days of seeing the
recruiter, I was ready to ship to San
Diego for boot camp.
After boot camp, I was sent to
NAS Memphis to start schooling
IFFs - that's identification friend or
foe and the military equivalent of a
transponder. In Memphis, I started
taking courses - aircraft fundamentals, basic electricity and electronics,
and avionics technician school where
I started learning about comms, navs,
radio theory, and troubleshooting
techniques. Having done well in these
courses, I attended a class called
Advanced First Term Avionics.
At the end of the course, I was
the top Marine in the class and was
meritoriously promoted to corporal. I
was sent to Chicago - NAS Glenview,
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News June 2017
