Scott Cole - Vice President, Cincinnati Avionics

His business card says he is the vice president of Cincinnati Avionics. But when we asked Scott Cole what his title is, his humble reply was, “You could say I am the person who oversees operations. I’m the one who signs the work order off at the end of the day.”

Whatever he feels his job title is, Cole runs Cincinnati Avionics, a four-person avionics shop that focuses on avionics upgrades on small general aviation aircraft. Cincinnati Avionics is a part of Sporty’s and is located at Clermont County Airport, just east of Cincinnati. This month, D.O.M. magazine sat down with Cole to learn about his career in avionics and the paths he took toward becoming vice president at Cincinnati Avionics.

Uncle Sam Introduces Cole to Aviation

Cole graduated from high school when he was 17. He didn’t know what he wanted to do at the time. Attending college wasn’t something he was considering seriously. “I had seen people go off to college,” Cole says. “Some of them ended up dropping out. I tell the story of someone I knew who graduated from college and was the manager of a men’s clothing store. Another friend graduated from college and was the assistant manager at a Dairy Queen. I thought to myself, ‘A college education, and that’s what you get?’”

Although he didn’t have any friends or family who worked in aviation, his father and brother had both served in the Army. Cole thought joining the military might be a good option. “My dad and brother had both served in the Army and had made good lives for themselves,” says Cole. “So I decided to visit the local recruiting office and see what they had to offer. I walked into the door of the recruiting building and the first door on the left was the Marine Corps. I walked in, listened to the recruiter for a while, and bought it hook, line and sinker.”

Cole took the ASVAB military aptitude test the next morning. When his score came in, Cole’s recruiter called. “He told me I did very well on the test,” shares Cole. “He told me, ‘We are going to offer you a technical skills bonus.’ This was in back in 1980. They were offering me a $1,500 technical skills bonus. It was a lot of money to me, so I decided to join the Marine Corps.”

It wasn’t until boot camp was almost over that Cole learned that his “technical skill” was going to be avionics.

After Marine Corps boot camp, Cole was sent to Memphis, TN, to begin his technical training. His first training course was aircraft fundamentals, where he learned the basics of aircraft theory. After that, he attended basic electronic and electricity training, where the focus was on electrical theory. He then went to A School for avionics technicians, where he learned more about aircraft avionics systems, how they worked, and how to troubleshoot and repair avionics systems. While he was in A School, he heard about an opportunity to sign up for an advanced course called advanced first-term avionics (AFTA). “To get that school, you had to extend for two years,” says Cole. “So you had to extend your four-year commitment to a six-year commitment. For whatever reason, they offered the AFTA course to me without the requirement to extend my commitment. Another benefit of extending the commitment was that upon completion, you were automatically promoted to an E-4 (corporal). That wasn’t guaranteed to me, but I also didn’t have to extend two years. I enrolled in the course.”

Cole says AFTA was a 20-week instructor-led course. Cole graduated as the top Marine in the class, and was second in the class overall. “There was one Navy guy who just blew my test scores away,” says Cole, who jokingly adds, “I had a life, and any time you saw him, he was in his room studying.”

When he completed the AFTA course, Cole was promoted to E-4. By that time, he had spent 1 ½ years out of his four-year Marine Corps commitment training. It was now time to report to duty.

As the top Marine graduate of his class, Cole had the first choice for duty assignment. There were two possible assignments: Buford, SC, or Chicago. “The whole time we were in school, the Marine who ended up finishing second and I were neck and neck,” Cole tells D.O.M. magazine. “In the end, I managed to beat him out in the last couple of weeks. He was from the south, and when the duty assignment choices came up, he told me ‘I’d really like to go to Buford.’ So I went ahead and chose Chicago and let him go to Buford. I grew up in Indianapolis, so I was used to Midwest winters. Funny thing is, two days before I was to report to Chicago, the wind chill there was 87 below!”

Cole spent the rest of his Marine Corps days in Chicago at NAS Glenview. He spent time in an intermediate-level depot repairing avionics components, and also trained reservists on avionics systems.

Transition to a Civilian Career

After leaving the Marine Corps, Cole got a job in Terre Haute, IN, at a small avionics shop. “It was a one-man radio shop,” shares Cole. “Although I had no experience dealing with the FAA or working under FAA regulations, they hired me to help get the shop certified. I also worked on the company’s charter airplanes and training aircraft.”

Cole tells D.O.M. magazine that there were often down times in the avionics shop. During that time, he would help mechanics out in the shop. “I would work with the sheet metal and engine guys,” he says. “The time I spend working under the supervision of the A&Ps would be valuable later in my career.”

Cole was in Terre Haute for 16 months when he saw a job posting for an avionics job at Diamond Avionics at Lunken Airport in Cincinnati. His brother lived in Columbus, OH, so he took a long weekend to visit his brother and apply for the job.

Cole was hired and he worked at Diamond Avionics for 13 years. While there, he felt that avionics was a good career choice, and he was trying to think of what he could do to make himself more marketable. “I had always held a repairman’s certificate,” Cole tells D.O.M. magazine. “I felt that getting my mechanic’s certificate would be the next logical step to help open up more doors of opportunity. One of the IAs at Diamond wrote a recommendation letter to the FAA, based on my experience working in the hangar there and in Terre Haute. I got approval from the FAA to test, and got my mechanics certificate with an Airframe rating.”

We asked Cole if getting an FCC license was something he had obtained to also make himself more marketable. “I took the test one time,” he shares. “It was years after my Marine Corps schooling. The test just blew me away. I got to question No. 10 and only had answered one. I knew I was in trouble. I never ended up getting my FCC license. Had I taken the test right after school, it would not have been an issue. But once I got out in the field working, I forgot the theory I had learned because you just don’t use it on a day-to-day basis. I was using manuals and wiring diagrams.

“Once I started talking to other avionics technicians about not passing the FCC test, they told me it wasn’t the end of the world,” continues Cole. “They told me that if I wanted to be a bench tech for one of the major airlines, I would need an FCC license. But if I was going to work in GA, I didn’t really need it. So I never pursued it further. But while at the Aircraft Electronics Association conference a few years ago, I did take the NCATT aircraft electronics technician (AET) test
and passed.”

Cincinnati Avionics

After a while working at Diamond Avionics, Cole was ready for a change. His wife’s family was from Cincinnati and she had a good-paying job as a computer programmer, so he couldn’t justify taking a job outside the area. His job possibilities were somewhat limited. “I was ready for a change,” he shares. “I had to do something. I ended up driving over here to Cincinnati Avionics and dropping off a resume. Several weeks later, I got called in for an interview and got a job as an avionics technician. Within a year or so, I was promoted to my current position.”

Cole shares that he could have worked at Cincinnati Avionics a bit earlier. “I had gotten a phone call two years earlier from the then-president of Sporty’s,” shares Cole. “He told me, ‘We want to start a radio shop and have heard you are the person we should hire to run it.’ I thought to myself, ‘These guys are starting a radio shop? There are five shops within 20 miles of here. That is never going to fly!’ So I never returned the call. There I was, two years later, dropping off a resume and hoping for a job.”

Working With Family

Cole tells us that working at Cincinnati Avionics is like working with family. “As soon as I came to Cincinnati Avionics, I was treated as an asset, not a liability! I was part of the Sporty’s family!”

Cole has been part of the Sporty’s family for more than15 years.

New Employees

We asked Cole what he looks for in someone who wants to join the Cincinnati Avionics team. “We are a small shop, and haven’t had much turnover,” Cole tells D.O.M. magazine. “That being said, we want someone who is part of our team to be energetic and passionate. We can train someone in electrical systems. Being passionate and energetic aren’t trainable; they are personal traits that are essential to success.”

Doing it Right

Cole believes that a big reason for Cincinnati Avionics’ success is that it is part of the Sporty’s family. “Sporty’s philosophy is, ‘Do it right, or don’t do it,’” shares Cole. “We proudly adhere to that philosophy. I don’t want to be the most expensive shop on the block, but I don’t want to be the cheapest. We will not take shortcuts on our work to come in at the lowest price.”

Tips for Future Avionics Technicians

We asked Cole what his advice would be for someone considering a career in avionics. “The companies that are looking for avionics technicians these days are looking for A&Ps that understand electronics,” he shares. “I often visit with A&P students. I tell them, ‘Everything that your instructors are teaching you about electronics and avionics — soak that in! Employers want new hires to have a thorough understanding of electronics. Aircraft are more and more complex, and a strong understanding of electronics is no longer a luxury — it is a necessity.’”

Be a Sponge

When it comes to success in an aviation career, Cole says that the best thing to do is to soak up all the information you can. “Be a sponge,” he stresses. “Soak up knowledge like a sponge. If I go home at the end of the day and didn’t learn anything new, it was not a good day. Take every opportunity you can to learn as much as you can.”

As we wrapped up our interview, Cole said, “I am blessed. Sporty’s is a great company to work for. I work with some great people here. Looking back, it has been a fun career. I wouldn’t change anything — even my mistakes. They have made me a better person. Everything happens for a reason. Who knew that stepping into that Marine Corps recruiter’s office years ago would lead to the exciting career in aviation I have enjoyed?”