Jon McIlhargie joined the United States Air Force and wound up in aircraft electronics, guidance and control systems, specifically. “I never really intended to stay in aviation, but as I am sure everyone knows, if you fit, it becomes a lifestyle,” he explained.
McIlhargie has been fortunate enough to have a number of great mentors over the years. “Brad Hackett taught me quite a bit while we worked together at Spirit Avionics,” he said. “I learned most of my general and business aviation knowledge during this time frame. Then, after I was hired on at Spectra Jet, John Yegerlehner and all the experienced mechanics here have been more than willing to share their vast wealth of knowledge.”
McIlhargie was in the Air Force for four years. After his time in the Air Force came to an end, he worked in a variety of aviation positions. He first went on to work on the glass cockpit modification for C-5 Galaxy aircraft with Lockheed-Martin for about two and a half years. When McIlhargie left Lockheed-Martin, he wound up working in general aviation in Columbus, OH as an avionics technician installing and maintaining everything from experimental home builds to 737 business jets. Later, he left and worked as quality assurance for a defense logistics agency for a couple of years, which he says was not a good fit for him. It was then that he landed back to general aviation aircraft. "I was hired on here at Spectra Jet in 2015 and got us up and running doing RVSM recertifications. We became a dealer for Universal Avionics in August 2015 and I started doing installations and modifications working up to the ADS-B mandate. Ever since, work has been growing steadily," McIlhargie said.
While most of his training came from being in the Air Force, McIlhargie has been through a good number of additional training courses. These courses include GoGo Biz Wi-Fi installations, Garmin, RVSM Training seminars, NCATT certification, Universal Avionics FMS installations and more. He has attended Aircraft Electronics Association events and has been to a few of the Central Ohio Professional Aviation Maintenance Association meetings.
“I genuinely do not really know,” McIlhargie said of what is in store for his future. “This career has changed like a life of its own since I started working in aviation. My next step is completing my Airframe and Powerplant. Hopefully, an IA will be in the works after that.”
