July/August 2023 - 20

40 UNDER 40
Jacob Davis
Maintenance Shop Manager,
International Jet Aviation Services
Age: 39
Hometown: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Years in the industry: 19
Favorite thing about aviation: With enough money,
anything's possible.
Jacob Davis is a lifelong aviation enthusiast. After earning an
associate degree from Westwood College of Aviation Technology,
now Spartan College, and an A&P certificate, he gained experience
in a variety of aviation-related jobs.
He worked under a military maintenance contract for more
than 10 years and held various positions, including aircraft
mechanic, avionics technician, project manager and maintenance
shop manager. While he enjoys seeing airplanes, he doesn't like
seeing them broken. " I love fixing problems whether it's aging
aircraft or refining processes to make work flow smoothly in the
maintenance shop - even if it's not me, it's my team members
that are fixing it, " he says.
Davis describes himself as mission-centered - focused on getting
airplanes out the hangar door so owners can make their trips
and the airplanes can fly their missions.
www.AviationPros.com/53065947
SSgt. Joshua D. Hensley
Aircraft Metals Technician, 2nd
Maintenance Squadron (2MXS),
Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana
Age: 34
Hometown: Lake City, South Carolina
Years in the industry: About 10
Favorite thing about aviation: Though Metals Technology is a small AFSC (Air Force
Special Code), we have a great impact on a larger scale.
SSgt. Joshua D. Hensley describes himself as a fourth-generation
active-duty Army brat who went blue. Hensley's family never
pushed him to join the military. In fact, it was quite the opposite
at times. But after getting married, Hensley joined the Air
Force. " I chose to go into fabrication mostly because I am color
deficient, " he says, adding that color doesn't determine how metal
is machined or welded.
The B-52 jets that Hensley works on are 60+ years old - and
they don't make parts for them anymore, he says.
Anytime someone says " it can't be fixed " that fuels Hensley's
desire to show that it can be fixed. He says, " Maybe it takes an
out-of-the box thinker or an unorthodox method to achieve the
goal, but when you do fix or create a part from scratch, people
tend to look at you like you're Merlin. "
www.AviationPros.com/53065949
20 JULY/AUGUST 2023
Michael Green
Global Business Services Manager,
AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings
Age: 36
Hometown - Monroe, Georgia
Years in the industry: 2
Favorite thing about aviation: It never gets old how big
everything is and how much paint it takes to cover it.
Michael Green at age 15 helped in the body shop his mom managed.
He assisted the painter, then in his 20s, he painted vehicles.
At AkzoNobel he was hired as a key account manager and
worked with Advance Auto Parts before transitioning to the
AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings global management team. As
the company's first aerospace global business services manager,
Green was brought in to help establish a new business services
segment (AkzoNobel Business Solutions). The first service was
Aerofleet Coatings Management, a data-driven service to help
airlines and large operators tailor and optimize their coatings'
replacement and maintenance schedule for individual aircraft.
Green described the coatings program introduced this year as
a fleet monitoring and predictive maintenance program. Other
programs are in the works. " It really comes down to instead of
being a paint vendor, we really want to be a partner, " he says.
www.AviationPros.com/53065951
Megan Bringham
A&P Mechanic, Thrust Flight
Age: 34
Hometown: Chico, California
Years in aviation: 3.5
Favorite thing about aviation: The rewarding feeling that
comes with solving a challenging problem.
Megan Bringham attended the Aviation Institute of Maintenance
in Irving, California, and got her A&P at age 30. She then went
to work for Thrust Flight in Addison, Texas, and got her IA after
training at the Thrust Institute of Maintenance.
She was inspired by her uncles, one flew C-5As and one was
mechanic for United Airlines. " I knew I wanted to do something
aviation, " said Bringham, one of a few females in the North Texas
FSDO to be an A&P mechanic with an IA.
To anyone considering a career in aircraft maintenance, she
says the work is never dull and is always important. There's no
pulling over to the side of the sky, if something goes wrong, she
said. " You got to make sure everything you're doing is correct, "
she emphasized. " When people are getting in their plane to take
off, they have trusted you and they put their life in your hands,
basically saying, 'I trust you and your work.' That, to me, is a
huge responsibility and that's not something I ever take lightly. "
www.AviationPros.com/53065950
AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY
http://www.AviationPros.com/53065947 http://www.AviationPros.com/53065951 http://www.AviationPros.com/53065949 http://www.AviationPros.com/53065950
July/August 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July/August 2023
