Richard Lytle has always been fascinated by aviation along with how things operated and went together. Encouraging this, his father would always seek out and take the family to aviation museums and airshows either for or during family vacations.
He received training from Southwestern Illinois College. He received his IA in 2004. Advanced training includes Bombardier Global Express, XRS & 5000 Initial, Refresher, and Taxi Training; Bombardier Global Vision Flight Deck Differences; and Bombardier Global Series Engine Run-Up from Bombardier Training; and Bombardier Global Avionics, Gulfstream IV Initial and Update; Gulfstream V Initial and Engine Run & Taxi; Falcon 900 Initial and Refresher; Falcon 2000EX EAsy Initial; Cessna 208 Series Maintenance Initial, Update, and Troubleshooting; P&WC PT6A Small Series Line & Base MX; and Misc Mx Principles of Troubleshooting from FlightSafety International.
Lytle has received the NBAA Safety Award for 15 years accident free in maintenance and several FAA Aviation Maintenance Technician Awards (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Ruby) for yearly training. He is a member of NBAA and the local PNBAA. He participates in local FAA IA renewal seminars and conferences.
Nominated by Matthew Harter, instructor, Southwestern Illinois College: "Having started in the workforce at a young age in a family business, he strove to move to a rewarding career with greater opportunities. Never one to sit idle, he found employment at Midcoast Aviation in Cahokia, IL, three months before finishing A&P school. He quickly rose from being a tech, to lead, to crew chief on the always “exciting” third shift. A professional, quality product was what he expected from his workers and what he delivered to his customers. With his level of knowledge and expertise, customers noticed and soon he departed Jet Aviation for Mente LLC in December 2013. While at Mente, he has expanded his knowledge base from Bombardier to Cessna and Pratt & Whitney products. He continues to work tirelessly to deliver a quality product. Even exercising his IA privilege from time to time at his new workplace. Rich has made a positive impact on every worker and workplace he has been. A constant can-do attitude and “thinking outside of the box” are two things that exude from his workplace approach."
To give back to the industry Lytle attends PNBAA fundraisers that raise money for scholarships and educational programs. Attending recurrent training is a "great way to share experiences and gained knowledge on aircraft and in general with fellow technicians," Lytle says.
As for the future Lytle plans to continue to work with safety being a top priority, and continue to learn and adapt to the new technologies and techniques coming to aviation.
