Avionics News June 2023 - 43

Back to the future
Like many Avionics News readers, Conroy grew up
dreaming of becoming a pilot.
" I have been fascinated with airplanes and aviation since
I was a little kid, " Conroy said. " I'd watch every episode of
'Sky King' and 'Whirlybirds' and thought flying an airplane
would be the coolest thing I could do. My older brother, Tim,
caught the same aviation bug and learned to fly in a Cessna
120 when he was 17.
" Back when he was taking lessons, he and his instructor
were flying a 172 on a long
cross-country and invited me
to go along. I was 11 years
old and hooked right there. "
The younger Conroy went
on to earn his pilot's license
in 1979 when he was 19. He
then went to work fueling
and cleaning airplanes at the
Rockwell Commander dealer
in Hillsboro, Oregon.
" I continued my flight
training with the goal of
becoming an airline pilot,
but the economy went
downhill, and my prospects
looked pretty dim, " he said.
" In 1984, I accepted an offer
to join American Avionics
in Seattle as their inventory
control manager.
" As my knowledge grew,
I got into taking some sales
calls. I guess I was pretty
good at it. They asked me to
move to avionics sales full
time, and I was made avionics sales manager in 1989. "
East meets west
Like many things in life, you never know when a chance
meeting with an industry peer may end up being a turning
point in your career. That's why it's a good idea to be nice to
everyone.
" I had met Rick Garcia, owner of Gulf Coast Avionics,
several times at various trade shows and AEA Conventions, "
Conroy explained. " During one of these meetings, Rick
asked me to partner in starting a new West Coast avionics
shop. On June 1, 1991, Pacific Coast Avionics opened its
doors in Auburn, Washington.
" We had one employee - me. We rented space in a
maintenance hangar a year later and hired our first installer.
The business grew, and we added a second installation tech
before our second anniversary. "
Pacific Coast Avionics celebrated its sixth anniversary by
moving to its current location at Aurora State Airport south
of Portland, Oregon. Since then, the company has grown
from five employees and 6,500 square feet to 24 employees
and over 18,000 square feet of space.
Although that's plenty to be proud of, he's even more delighted
by the company receiving the Garmin Platinum Elite
Dealer Award for 16 straight
years and that the team has
built a reputation of being
one of the best avionics
shops on the West Coast.
Conroy noted that while
the business side hasn't
changed much over the
years - they still approach
each project and customer
like they're the only ones in
the shop - the changes he's
seen on the technological
side of avionics have been
tremendous.
" ...TO BE
RECOGNIZED
BY MY FRIENDS
AND INDUSTRY
PEERS MAKES
IT AN EVEN
HIGHER
HONOR. "
LORANs, EFISs, and
GPSs - oh my!
" I remember back in
1985, taking a pallet full of
new Apollo 602 LORAN C
units to Oshkosh and blowing
through them before the
show's end, " Conroy said.
" We all thought, 'Wow,
navigation can't get any
better than this.' Then, GPS came along and made LORAN
C almost instantaneously obsolete. Today, we have very affordable
EFIS, synthetic vision, digital engine monitors, and
weather systems that even go in the smallest GA airplanes.
Instrument flying has never been easier or safer.
" I think the biggest change in our business has been going
from selling and installing a single VHF radio, with maybe
a VFR GPS, to doing more and more complex full-panel
upgrades with EFIS, GPS navigators, and engine displays.
We can give older airplanes the same cockpit capabilities as
the new models. It's been exciting and rewarding to be part
of it all. "
Continued on following page
avionics news * june 2023 43
Avionics News June 2023

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