Avionics News April 2023 - 64

MEET THE NOMINEES
Continued from page 62
Michael Sichmeller
West Star Aviation - East Alton, Illinois
Michael Sichmeller's career started
with troubleshooting systems while in
the United States Air Force on FB111
systems, basically checking available
analog signals to see if equipment
has failed and then changing a box.
The first-generation GPS satellite
constellation was still a vision. The
USAF A10 and the F16 were the latest
war-fighting technologies.
Moving into business aviation at
Mitsubishi Aircraft, he saw a digital
DME indicator as being cool. Longrange
navigation was done with Loran
C and VLF/Omega systems.
Opportunities became available at
Arkansas Modification Center to be
involved in developing fully integrated
avionics suites with cathode-ray tubes
presenting navigation information
in a multitude of formats with
multifunction displays. Navigation
systems like R-Navs
and GNS 500s got
replaced with flight
management systems
to manage aircraft
weight, V-speeds, fuel
and radio tuning.
While at Dassault Falcon Jet,
Sichmeller saw the advent of the
Honeywell EASy cockpit.
Moving into the aircraft service part
of the business, safety improvements
got mandated with ground proximity
warning (EGPWS/TAWS). The skies
got a little tighter with reduced vertical
separation (RVSM), and even closer
spacing with wide area augmented
(WAAS) GPS and ADS-B. Even
tighter positions are available in remote
regions with automatic reporting with
the future air navigation system. Digital
pilot communication is available with
data comm (CPDLC).
Cabin communication technology
has developed along with cockpit
technologies to bring connectivity to
the person sitting in the back. In the
early days of his career, a Wulfsberg
Flitefone was the technology of the
day. Today, you can get multiple
people watching movies, texting, video
chatting and playing games halfway to
Europe without a hiccup.
Education has been and should be
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Continued on page 66
64 avionics news * april 2023
a focus for anyone working in the
avionics industry. Spending countless
hours on the phone with various field
service engineers and tech support has
helped connect the knowledge points.
Numerous system courses, airframe
and engine courses continues to be a
good education. Getting a professional
aeronautics degree from EmbryRiddle
Aeronautical University was
a challenge while working full time,
so he continued the formal education
process and earned a master's degree of
aeronautical science.
The avionics business is a
challenging career. The rewards come
by finding the fault that's been flying
on an airplane for years. Satisfaction
happens when you turn on a system
that's never been installed - and it
works.
Sichmeller is currently working
at West Star Aviation as an avionics
technical sales manager. Previous
positions at Textron Aviation, Hawker
Beechcraft, Dassault Falcon Jet and
Central Flying Service have provided
him with the background and technical
understanding. In the avionics industry,
there are technical challenges every day.
Since his career choice to move into a
sales role, the technical challenges still
arise along with a bigger test to meet
the customer expectation with price and
http://www.PICwire.com
Avionics News April 2023

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