Welcome to my website
So, I hope you’ve enjoyed everything so far. If you’re interested in hearing my story, I suggest you make yourself comfortable pop open a cold one and read on.
How did I become Wingnut Watson?
Wingnut Watson History
The first indications I might grow up to be a Wingnut
Me and my brother playing with our newly built airplane.
At an early age I was fascinate with aircraft. Maybe it was living near the Yuma proving grounds and watching the aircraft fly over all the time.
When I joined the Air Force to see the world this wasn’t quite what I had in mind.
Down in Incirlik Turkey
My 10 years in the Air Force was quite the adventure for this kid from Arizona. I got to see most of Europe some of the Middle East and a tiny bit of Africa.
Actually the military is where I got the title of wingnut. At Holloman AF base New Mexico the locals always used to call the GI’s Wingnuts as a derogatory nickname. At first I felt insulted, but over the years I embraced the title of Wingnut with pride!
Stationed in England
Volunteer at Duxford Imperial War Museum
Being station at Lakenheath AFB England was not the most entertaining thing for most young single men. To be honest, it kind of sucked. After getting to the point of being tired of drinking (yes, it’s possible), I found my way over to Duxford Imperial War museum and worked there on the weekends as a volunteer, again anything to get off base for a while.
Out of the Air Force and working in England
Testing a burner a Autoflame Engineering
So I got out of the Air force and moved to London where I ended up in an engineering firm that specialized in burner control systems. Most of these were for large boilers like ones found in hotels.
See, having a working understanding of an afterburner jet engine did have a civilian application after all!
Working in Portugal
Golf course Mechanic in Portugal?
After a few years and some more twists and turns in life I ended up as the chief mechanic at Quinta Da Ria golf course in Portugal. It was a very surreal time and although it was fun, I realized I needed to grow up and really do something with my life.
Able Engineering and Component Services Phoenix AZ
Electroplater at Able
So I moved back to Arizona. My first job was with Able engineering where I did electroplating repairs on aircraft parts. This is me testing out my invention, the Stroke-O-Matic. Essentially I would add metal back to worn out bearing liners on helicopter transmissions, saving tens of thousands of dollars not having to buy new housings.
I went on to doing a lot of other things at Able that eventually allowed me to get my Airframe licence.
Hawker Beechcraft
Getting my foot in the door to becoming an A&P
A job opening came up with Hawker Beechcraft and I jumped on it! Working on whole aircraft and and not just parts, and being paid for it! I was hired on with just a fresh Airframe licence and avionics experience from the Air Force. Fortunately for me all the seasoned mechanics only wanted to work on the jets leaving me to work on the King Air’s. I laugh now, they would say “Props are for Boats” and my boss would say “And for unemployed Jet mechanics”. This experience allowed me to get the Powerplant portion of my A&P license.
The Commemorative Air Force
Stearman Crew Chief
Flying higher and faster is great, but I still have a special place in my heart for old cloth covered biplanes and radial engines. As my career in aviation settled into a comfortable routine I started looking into getting back to my love. Before I knew it I was the Crew Chief for the Arizona CAF. It was a great time until the demands of work pulled me away.
I still have a small business that I provide work on the side, just enough to keep me active but not near as demanding as being a crew chief on one of the CAF’s most flown planes.
MD Helicopters
Main Rotor Hub Overhaul
After a while I found myself doing component overhaul at MD helicopters.
Inspector at MD Helicopters
Doing testing at Thermal California
After a few years I was offered a position as an inspector. This and having a bunch of time on my hands in 2020 when I was furloughed gave me the opportunity to get my Inspection Authorization (IA).
Employee Training Department of One
Employee trainer at MD Helicopters
2022 has found me taking over the company training department after the last training manager retired. The challenging part is he retired 4 month before I got the position. Recently I’m often reminded of what Socrates said “Be as you wish to seem.” — The original “fake it ’til ya make it.”
Inspector at Harter Aerospace
Inspector
Often it is said those who can’t do, teach. I’m proof that those who don’t do well at teaching need to go back to doing. 2023 has found me back to doing final airworthiness inspections for a great little repair station called Harter Aerospace.
Chief Inspector at Harter Aerospace
Chief Inspector
I must be doing something right. In mid 2023 I was offered the position of Chief Inspector which is a nice way of saying really busy Inspector Guy that puts in a lot of hours at work. I’m fortunate to be working with a great group and rely on them heavily.