Raised in the Akron, Ohio, area, John watched those massive Goodyear blimps fly overhead, and wondered what it was like to fly above, and around, those wonderful Midwest clouds. Living less than 15 miles from the blimp hangars, he saw those 11th wonders of the world from his home. Little did he know that the path of his life would lead him into the world of aviation.
After spending 8 years as an Aircraft Control Radar technician in the US Air Force during the Vietnam Era, John decided to formalize his electronics training by pursuing an Electrical Engineering degree at the University of Washington (Seattle). Graduating in 1979, he became an FAA employee in the Northwest Region serving as Sector Staff Engineer in support of the Instrument Landing Systems (ILS), VOR and communications sites east of the Cascade Mountains.
In 1983, soon after the notorious Air Traffic Controllers strike, his office in Spokane, Washington, closed and he accepted a position with the FCC in Seattle, rather than relocate with the FAA to Billings, Montana. (Spokane was cold enough!) After a couple of years with the FCC, his friends at the newly formed Boeing Electronics Company (BECO) lured him ($$) over to join their RF design group.
Next came a job offer involving C3 at the DOD. John had been working on certain "dark" programs at BECO and his expertise was desired in the Washington, DC area (Pentagon). After working in, and exploring that region, John felt it was time to return to where the sun sets on the ocean, rather than rising over it. (It must be noted that the sun rarely sets in Seattle, as the sun itself is a rarity).
In 1988, John returned to the FAA, this time to the Aircraft Certification Service in Seattle, where he has been since. His focus is aircraft avionics and electrical systems, including High Intensity Radiated Fields (HIRF), Lightning effects, and Electromagnetic and Radio Frequency Interference (EMI/RFI).
John is currently sponsoring research at NASA/Langley to study the use of Portable Electronic Devices (PEDs), aka: passenger carryon devices (such as laptops, cell phones, PDAs and other wireless devices) to determine what potential these devices may pose for interference to aircraft Nav/Com systems. He is also sponsoring research thru NASA/Langley to study a phenomenon called single event effects (SEE) or neutron radiation effects on micron level electronic devices. This research is also being conducted at NASA/Langley with support from the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE).
John finally fulfilled his childhood dream of floating around, and above, the clouds by learning to fly, restoring a Cessna 172 Skyhawk, and by attending the National Test Pilot School in Mojave, California.
To reduce the stress in his life, John enjoys killing moss (in his lawn and on his roof), flying his Skyhawk (and anyone else's airplane), listening to music, playing tennis and showing his '69 Mustang Mach I (purchased new in 1969). With his daughter's imminent graduation from Washington State University, John is also looking forward to a BIG pay raise!
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Last Revised: April 02, 2003
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