Cole Harris: Maintaining A Future in Maintenance

Cole Harris: MAINTAINING A FUTURE IN MAINTENANCE

by Grant Boyd

Oftentimes, people have the tendency to focus their attention on immediate and ultimate goals, disregarding entirely how much they can better themselves in a period of say five to ten years.

Cole Harris is no stranger to a high amount of personal growth over a relatively short time period, having gone from a sixteen-year-old kid with no interest in aviation to President of a growing aircraft maintenance facility in only seven short years.

Harris notes that the industry was something that he kind of fell into. Prior to his junior year of high school, his parents briefly mentioned the Central Florida Aerospace Academy (Kathleen High School, Polk County Schools) and its track record for being a school that prepares its graduates well for the world after graduation, whether they pursue a career in aviation or something else.

Based upon this conversation and thinking that “airplanes are pretty cool,” he decided to apply to be a part of the program and began classes in the fall of 2013. He quickly became immersed in his curriculum and worked to learn as much as he could about aircraft, as well as their systems and operations.

His first aviation-related goals were directly related to flying aircraft. Shortly after beginning the program, Harris was chosen as a recipient for the James C. Ray Flight Training Scholarship, (merit related to good grades and other factors) which provides funds to high school students who are pursuing their Private Pilot Certificate.

Flying a Breezer aircraft, he soloed after roughly twenty-four hours and then went on to pass the FAA written exam and checkride the December of his Senior Year. During this period, Harris was concurrently working towards gaining knowledge related to aircraft maintenance. Outside of the classroom, he improved his mechanical skills in a practical manner through hands-on work at the Lakeland Aero Club, where the group was at the time restoring a 1953 Piper Super Cub. Fabric work was the burgeoning mechanic’s favorite part of the restoration, something which he enjoys to this day.

Additionally, he notes that the work of “becoming a skills, as well as gained a better understanding for the mechanic made him a better pilot,” while being a pilot maintenance business as a whole and “how to run a allowed him to have a deeper understanding of the shop from a business perspective.” maintenance side of aircraft-a “win-win” situation.

Upon graduation, Harris was well into his newfound goal of gaining his A&P certifi cation and began working at a local maintenance facility, Aircraft Engineering, Inc., full-time as a mechanic. Here, Harris was able to gain experience on a wide variety of general aviation aircraft and learn more about the business of providing exemplary customer service.

Related to this was the ability to combine flight with mechanics, by having the ability to transport customers to their homebase from the maintenance facility in Bartow, FL whenever there was an extended downtime anticipated for their aircraft. By this, Harris was able to get “quite a few” more hours in his logbook (PIC) in their 180 horsepower Cessna 172.

After three and a half years working with that organization and being a newly minted A&P mechanic, Harris transitioned to working at two separate maintenance facilities over the subsequent year, in which at the culmination he was chosen by another local company as their Director of Maintenance. Beginning as DOM in August of 2019 at Wilco Aircraft Services, which specializes in maintenance on aerial imaging camera planes, Harris honed his management skills, as well as gained a better understanding for the maintenance business as a whole and "how to run a shop form a business perspective." 

The experiences Harris had during his years working on various aircraft for a litany of customers led him to supporting them in a new role; maintenance facility owner. In December 2020, Central Florida Aircraft Services opened its hangar doors at Lakeland Linder International Airport (KLAL) with one simple mission: to provide exceptional maintenance services to the general aviation community.

In less than half a year, the business has already seen the shop floor at close to full capacity throughout most of the time. Much of this can be attributed to its founder’s positive image within the local aviation industry, largely in part to his honesty and attention to small details, even those that are easily overlooked by other facilities. For instance, Harris prides himself on detailing each customer’s aircraft after their service, something he says many other shops neglect to do. “Although I am not a professional detailer, the small things matter, and it is important for me to see an aircraft fly away from our hangar looking the best that it can. We vacuum the interior, clean the exterior, and do other related tasks to ensure the owner is impressed when they pick their aircraft back up.”

Central Florida Aircraft Services provides a variety of services, from annual inspections to refurbishments, and much more. Serviced aircraft have included: several Air Cams, Cessna 172’s, an RV6, a Champ, Beechcraft Barons, quite a few Piper Cubs (which Harris has become a specialist of sorts), Twin Comanches, a Cessna Citation CJ3, and others.

There have already been several memorable events at the shop. One of these was an annual that was performed on a Piper PA-32R-300 which ultimately required a right-side wing replacement. The work on the aircraft lasted roughly forty hours and included a spar corrosion inspection, an annual, and reskinning of the removed wing section. Harris was thankful for this experience, as he was able to perform something he hadn’t previously in his other roles (performing a wing removal).

Currently billing at $95.00 an hour for shop services, the company has positioned itself well against competing shops in the area and beyond. Harris notes that much of the shop’s current success has been related to word of mouth from past clients in his previous roles, and those who have either transitioned to being serviced by his shop or are first time customers.

Other marketing activities predominantly relate to the company’s social media presence, where on Facebook and Instagram prospective customers and others can see status updates from the shop floor and other notable information.

Carving his own path within the industry has been a welcome challenge for Harris, who has continued support from family members and mentors alike. Currently, he does most of the wrench turning himself, and is occasionally assisted by others, which he estimates will change in early 2021. The goal is for the company to grow by two or three mechanics this year. Currently there is an IA on staff who signs off on all work, but Harris himself will be taking his Inspector Authorization test with the FAA in July of this year.

Additionally, Harris’ girlfriend Emily Wenglarz acts as the Office and Business Manager, ensuring that the company’s operational tasks are handled smoothly.

On top of employee growth, another goal is to grow revenue towards profitability in the first half of 2021, which lays the groundwork for other milestones to come to fruition thereafter. Some of these business goals include billing more hours from turbine aircraft, which is supported by Harris’ future plan of going to PT6 maintenance training school and purchasing an aircraft for the business to be used for various purposes.

This aircraft, likely a Cessna 170, would be the bridge between Harris’ short-term plans for the business and its ideal future, with a fleet of turbine aircraft used for charter flights and others for primary instruction. Harris intends to continue gaining additional flight ratings, as well, and is currently working towards his Instrument Rating with Commercial and CFI coming thereafter.

As far as words of advice to the “younger” generation, Harris notes that mechanics (or any aviation professional, for that matter) should not undervalue themselves, or rather, have others hold their value down. This is derived from seeing others in maintenance and other similar roles who have tied themselves down and are barring themselves from reaching their potential within the industry.

Another nugget of wisdom is for those interested in aviation to explore the possibility of a career in maintenance, especially as the current industry leaders will soon age out and retire-leaving ample opportunity for motivated professionals.