Brandon Feagan said he just kind of fell into aviation. No one in his family had worked in it before, and his working life started out with a position in his father’s machine shop. But needing a change, Feagan sought out a new opportunity. When a customer of the machine shop needed an apprentice for his Warbird work, Feagan joined up.
“I started apprenticing under him and that's how it happened,” he said. “I immediately fell in love. It's all I've done since.”
In 2014, Feagan received his A&P and, as a requirement of his apprenticeship, is also a certified pilot.
“That way, when an owner comes in and is explaining what’s wrong with the airplane, you have a little better understanding of what he’s trying to explain if it’s something that it’s doing in flight, not duplicable on the ground,” Feagan said. “And nothing beats going flying on a nice sunny day.”
After his apprenticeship, Feagan moved around several area workplaces, such as Kritter Cropdusting, Robinson Helicopter School, gaining varied experience in fixed wing and rotorcraft vehicles. Eventually landing at SkyWorld Aviation & Avionics, where he took on new skills as an avionics professional.
Feagan said the most enjoyable part of his work is the satisfaction of completing projects.
“You get to see the end result; I like leaving things better than the way I found them. Whether it's just fixing whatever an airplane comes in for or fixing some additional things we see and helping the customer improve the quality of their aircraft,” he continued.
Feagan’s first install with SkyWorld Aviation & Avionics was on a Piper Arrow and he has led numerous full-panel upgrades since.
His apprenticeship is what Feagan said he owes much of his knowledge to and he encourages more people to take the same route.
“I wish more kids would get involved and want to be hanging out at the airports, asking if they can help with any shop and do an apprenticeship thing. It's definitely a more well-rounded way to go about getting an A&P and becoming a maintenance technician that's for sure,” he said.
