Spencer Avionics – Spencer, Iowa
Quint DeGroot has been fascinated with flying his entire life. He had an uncle who would take him and his brothers flying every Thanksgiving if his mom allowed it. DeGroot started taking flying lessons during his high school years but was busy with sports and dating his future wife, Jane. He didn’t get his pilot’s license until 1987 when he was 24 years old. DeGroot now has over 5,000 hours of pilot-in-command flying, his multiengine instrument and tailwheel endorsements, and is checked out in 25 different aircraft. He has owned two planes: a Cherokee 235 and a 1963 PA30 Twin Comanche.

DeGroot joined the Army out of high school and became a CH-47 Chinook helicopter mechanic. In the second year of a three-year stint, he was sent to Korea for 14 months. After serving his time in the Army, DeGroot attended Spartan College of Aeronautics. Immediately after graduation in 1987, he began working for Eagle Aviation in Faribault, Minnesota. Three years later in 1990, William (Bill) Hemme offered DeGroot a job at Spencer Avionics. DeGroot purchased Spencer Avionics from Hemme in 1999, and in 2008, DeGroot built a 14,000-square-foot hanger.

Owning Spencer Avionics has never been boring, and 1 ½ years after purchasing Spencer Avionics, 9/11 occurred. On Oct. 11, 2001, DeGroot was asked to testify before Congress on behalf of the AEA’s small aviation businesses. As a result, aviation businesses received SBA low-interest loans and airspace reopened, which was a huge relief after limited aircraft activity for an extended period of time. DeGroot also actively worked with other Iowa-based aviation businesses, flying to Des Moines on several occasions, to successfully lobby to make Iowa sales tax exempt for aviation parts and labor.

DeGroot worked with Hemme for more than 10 years. Hemme was an engineer and taught DeGroot many things he needed to know but could never be taught in a classroom setting. Spencer Avionics is unique in that it works on a variety of small aircraft to business jets. The shop does not specialize in any one make, model or year. The business will do the smallest repair for “casual farmer pilots” who only want to fly around on a nice day to a large install in a corporate plane. Sometimes, he goes flying with the customer to teach them how to use the equipment already installed. Being located in northwest Iowa, Spencer Avionics serves customers from surrounding states and as far away as Texas, Florida and Washington. DeGroot is well known for his troubleshooting abilities, and his knowledge of autopilots is coveted by young avionics technicians.

DeGroot is active in his church and local Christian school where he is president of the school board. He has been married to Jane for over 40 years, and they have four children and 10 grandchildren. One son and one son-in-law are professional pilots. His three sons and son-in-law also have all served in the Air Guard; three of whom are still active.

“Life goes quickly; live each day knowing it’s a gift from God. Appreciate the small joys and endure the difficult moments, as tomorrow is a new day,” he said.

Gardner Lowe Aviation Services – Peachtree City, Georgia
Karl Gardner has served the aviation industry for more than 40 years and worked for an AEA member company since 1985. Gardner is recognized as a leader of one of the premier avionics and maintenance shops in the Southeast. With a never-ending passion for aviation and a dedicated staff of pilots and experienced professionals, Gardner and his team adeptly know what keeps operators and their aircraft flying.

Gardner enlisted in the United States Air Force in August 1982, where he was an avionics navigational/radar systems specialist for the C-130, C-5 and C-141 . He served in the active Air Force for three years and the reserves for three years.

After his military service, Gardner began working for Joe Black at Blacks Custom Avionics as an avionics technician in 1985. He later became director of maintenance and avionics manager for Hill Aircraft in Atlanta, Georgia. Gardner ultimately became the owner, chief executive officer and president of Gardner Aviation Specialist Inc., eventually selling the business to Precision Aviation Group.

He later acquired Lowe Aviation Services, doing business as Gardner Lowe Aviation Services, where he serves as the CEO and president. The FAA-certified avionics shop can repair and install the latest and most popular products from leading avionics manufacturers. The company is a dealer for Aspen Avionics, Avidyne, BendixKing, Garmin, Genesys Aerosystems (S-Tec), Honeywell, Insight, L3Harris, PS Engineering, Sigma-Tek, uAvionix, and others.

The Georgia-based business covers a wide range of aviation electronics, including GPS devices, communications equipment, storm avoidance systems, autopilot systems, engine monitors, and flight instruments. It is located at Atlanta Regional Airport Falcon Field.

Gardner earned an associate degree in applied science avionics from Community College of the Air Force and has his private pilot license. He is also an aviation mechanic with airframe and powerplant ratings and inspection authorization.

Gardner is married to his wife of 33 years, Michelle, who helps manage the finances of the business on a daily basis. Together, they have two children and two grandchildren. His daughter, Kayla, works for the shop. His son, Karl Heinz Gardner II, is an airline pilot and works part time with the business by test-flying aircraft.

Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics – Wichita, Kansas
Bruce Grammon joined Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics in 1990. Throughout his 34 years with the company, he has served customers in many roles, including avionics lab technician, lab manager, and, in his most recent role, senior field service engineer.

Grammon attended his first AEA International Convention & Trade Show in Dallas, Texas, in 1993. Since that time, he has attended hundreds of AEA events around the globe. His commitment to the AEA is reflected in his deep desire to support and serve his fellow members and aviators.

He began his aviation career after graduating from Wichita Technical Institute, where he received an associate degree in electronics maintenance and repair technology. His technical expertise spans hundreds of product types, from weather radars to airspeed indicators. A familiar face among Mid-Continent customers, Grammon is often found in educational videos, helping the aviation community troubleshoot commonly asked questions.

“I love learning, helping others, and I really love the people I work with,” he said. “Our customers and my co-workers have become like my family. When I joined Mid-Continent, I had the opportunity to work for John Winter and Bill Barnes. They were my mentors and, at such an early stage in my career, I was able to tap into a wealth of knowledge. They are a big part of the reason I have stayed in the industry for so long.”

Among other accomplishments, Grammon has held repairman and National Center for Aerospace and Transportation Technologies certificates and completed a variety of product training courses. He served on the electronics board for WTI for 25 years.

Rocky Mountain Aircraft – Calgary, Alberta
Tim Shaw’s interest and involvement in aviation began while serving in the British Army. A chance conversation with another soldier in the back of a helicopter was the first time he’d ever heard the word avionics. Two years later, Shaw had retrained as an avionics technician and started what has been 40 years in aviation.

After leaving the Army, Shaw emigrated to Canada and began a career in civil avionics. His first exposure to the AEA was through Avionics News, which quickly became essential monthly reading as an aid to transition from military to civilian avionics. Shaw started attending AEA Regionals and training courses to keep up to date with the latest products and changes to the regulatory environment. His first AEA Convention was in 1993, and he was convinced that he couldn’t afford to miss it moving forward.

According to Shaw, the AEA has been an asset both personally and professionally, in the friends he has made, and the business development opportunities afforded. In 2011, Shaw had the opportunity to contribute back to the AEA when he joined the board of directors as the representative for Canada.

“Being nominated for AEA Member of the Year is a tremendous honor, especially looking back at some of the giants of our industry who have received this award, which reveals the significance of the nomination,” Shaw said. “As retirement looms on the horizon, I remain committed to the AEA and the service it provides to our industry.”

Wysong Enterprises – Blountville, Tennessee
Since the early 1970s, Steve Wysong has worked in various niches of the aviation industry, including helicopters, airliners, corporate jets, and small airplanes. Today, Wysong Enterprises is one of the few independent customizing facilities still family owned and is located at the Tri-Cities Airport in Blountville, Tennessee.

Born in Dayton, Ohio, Wysong always had an interest in electronics while growing up. In 1970, he moved to Miami, Florida. He got his first job at Collins Radio working on black boxes used by airlines flying out of Miami International Airport. From there, he went to work at Sunstream Jet Center at Fort Lauderdale Airport, and after six months, became the avionics manager.

Wysong founded his first business in 1979, Wysong Avionics Inc., at a helicopter avionics shop located at North Perry Airport in the Miami/Hollywood area. While in Florida, he started to install specialized Electronic New Gathering equipment for several Miami news stations. In 1987, Wysong decided to sell his shop to Edwards & Associates, which eventually became Bell Helicopter, in Piney Flats, Tennessee, and then managed the company’s avionics shop for several years. Wysong then decided to go try it on his own again. In 1989, he started his current company, Wysong Enterprises, mostly early on completing numerus ENG helicopters from Miami to Los Angeles to New York. Back in the 1990s, most of the major news events seen from the air were made possible by Wysong’s equipment and installations.

As demand eventually diminished for news helicopters in the early 2000s, Wysong began getting contracts to customize emergency medical, law enforcement and corporate helicopters, which has kept his business thriving through various economic downturns. Today, Wysong Enterprises has three adjoining hangars, which includes a paint shop.

From the beginning, Wysong included his family in his business operations, but none were more involved than his son, Rodney Wysong. While growing up, Rodney moved from one department to another before getting into the sales side of his father’s business and earning the title of vice president. “He was good in sales. He knew how to take care of customers really well,” Wysong said about his son.

In 2013, Rodney was diagnosed with brain cancer. After three years of traveling the country seeking a cure, Rodney Wysong died in April 2016. Steve and Rodney’s faith in what Jesus did for them on the cross gives Steve the peace that he will be reunited with Rodney again one day in heaven.

Wysong has been a member of AEA since 1997 and is honored to have served on the board of directors for eight years. He currently serves on and has chaired the government and industry affairs committee. For quite a few years, Wysong was actively involved in FAA regulatory sessions with the Rotorcraft Directorate.

Wysong sums his life work this way: “The helicopter programs that we are involved in give me a lot of satisfaction knowing that Wysong Enterprises is a factor in saving lives and keeping safe environments for our families. I am very happy to be involved in an industry of creating and building something, and then maintaining what we assemble. Currently the company has around 40 employees.”

Wysong and his wife, Kim, have been married 46 years. They have two grown daughters, Holly and Kelly. Holly’s husband, Jonathon Davis, is currently working at the company to eventually run Wysong Enterprises. Wysong is already spending more time on the golf course and is helping with various nonprofit organizations.

Aspen Avionics, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was founded by aviation enthusiasts in 2004. Aspen Avionics specializes in bringing the most advanced technology and capability into general aviation cockpits – and budgets. Its products increase situational awareness and reduce pilot workload, making it even easier and safer to fly in both VFR and IFR conditions. The way the company sees it, getting the latest avionics technology shouldn’t always mean spending a lot of money – on equipment or installation. Aspen Avionics designs products to be affordable, easy to install, and easy to own.

Aspen’s flagship product line is the Evolution Flight Display system, one of the most innovative – and affordable – glass cockpit systems ever created for certified general aviation aircraft. The Evolution system enables aircraft owners to upgrade their primary flight instrument six-pack to glass cockpit technology all at once or in stages. Easy and inexpensive software upgrades add new features and capabilities, while future-proofing the system and protecting owners’ investments with its unique “Trade in Trade Up to Aspen MAX” program allows owners the option to get the latest hardware and software at a fraction of the price.

Led by industry veteran John Uczekaj, Aspen Avionics’ team of top talent – with deep roots in aviation product development and certification – will continue to grow the company’s business through pioneering solutions for the general aviation market.

A trusted name in aviation technology, Genesys Aerosystems, a Moog Inc. company, was founded in 2014, but has been in business for over 40 years. Its heritage includes Chelton Flight Systems and S-TEC Corporation, which are highly recognized names that have been in the industry for decades.

Moog Inc. purchased Genesys Aerosystems on Dec. 18, 2020, and is a part of Moog’s Mission Systems group.

Genesys Aerosystems offers the S-TEC autopilot product line for fixed-wing aircraft and the Genesys Helicopter Autopilot product line for rotary-wing aircraft. From low-cost analog wing levelers to sophisticated, digital, multi-axis systems with Flight Director and envelope protection, Genesys has FAA certification for nearly 1,000 aircraft types and has delivered over 40,000 autopilot systems.

Gogo is the world’s largest provider of broadband connectivity services for the business aviation market. It offers a customizable suite of smart cabin systems for highly integrated connectivity, in-flight entertainment and voice solutions. Gogo’s products and services are installed on thousands of business aircraft of all sizes and mission types from turboprops to the largest global jets, and are utilized by the largest fractional ownership operators, charter operators, corporate flight departments and individuals.

Today, Gogo has more than 7,200 business aircraft flying with its broadband ATG systems on board, 3,784 of which are flying with a Gogo AVANCE L5 or L3 system; and 4,395 aircraft with narrowband satellite connectivity.

Gogo has been a proud member of the AEA since 1992. The company began as an idea scribbled on the back of a napkin in 1991, and ever since that time has worked hard to bring the latest technologies and best communications solutions to the aviation market.

Things started small, and at the time, nobody could have dreamed where the company would be 33 years later. Its first product offered analog phone service to the private aviation market, and it has never stopped innovating.

Very little of what it wanted to accomplish existed when the company first started, so the technology being created was absolutely cutting edge. Many of the basic building blocks for getting connectivity to planes resulted in Gogo being issued important patents, several core patents for in-flight communications, and today it has more than 350 to its name.

The company operated its domestic analog phone service for many years before other technologies caught up with it. In 2002, it started offering Iridium phone service as a new solution for business aviation, and it has installed Iridium hardware on thousands of aircraft.

In the early 2000s, it was clear that the internet was becoming an increasingly important part of our lives. At that time, internet access was primarily limited to the home or office. And while there were plenty of laptop computers (and even some early tablet PCs), it would be several years before we’d have the technology required to take the internet with us during flight.

In 2006, Aircell (the name of the company before it became Gogo) was announced as the winner of the largest spectrum “block” available at that time from the Federal Communications Commission, netting it 3.5 MHz, and that kickstarted its digital ATG service. With that valuable spectrum in hand, it built an air-to-ground cellular network from scratch. Its teams created the airborne hardware and built tower sites across the country in only two years.

At launch, Gogo was the only company in the world offering true broadband-capable Wi-Fi to airlines or business aviation. It immediately saw a huge amount of interest in its ATG product. Today, Gogo ATG is considered the fastest and most-widely adopted in-flight broadband service in the world.

On the business aviation side, special versions of its ATG product were developed for different sized aircraft, allowing it to offer in-flight broadband for everything from the small turboprop and light-jet market all the way to the largest private jets.

Since then, it has expanded the ATG network into Canada and Alaska, brought 4G service to the skies, and will soon be launching business aviation’s first true end-to-end 5G service. It also announced Gogo Galileo, the first global satellite service to leverage electronically steered antennas on a low-Earth orbit network for broadband connectivity for any size business aircraft.

Today, it has Gogo-equipped aircraft operating in 83 countries and is approaching 2.5 million flights with the AVANCE platform.

Founded in 1964, Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics began as a small repair station for Wichita’s growing aircraft industry and has become a top-rated overhaul and repair facility, and manufacturer of aircraft instruments, avionics, and advanced power solutions.

Helping customers solve problems is the key to the company’s success. Mid-Continent specializes in supporting avionics shops that provide service and value to their customers. The company has spent decades enhancing product designs, refining new technologies and establishing a respected reputation as a premier service provider and manufacturer.

When Mid-Continent was purchased by John Winter in 1980, the company embraced a commitment to engineering, quality and service that continues to this day. With the 1991 addition of a California facility, and the new direction provided by current President and CEO Todd Winter, the company expanded its service capabilities, innovative product lines and international reach.

Today, Mid-Continent employs more than 200 employees in two locations — Wichita, Kansas, and Chatsworth, California. The company has the skilled expertise to overhaul, repair and manufacture thousands of different products, and both locations are FAA/EASA authorized repair stations. The quality management system of the Wichita, Kansas, manufacturing facility is AS9100D and ISO9001:2015 certified.

Mid-Continent has been a proud, longstanding member of the AEA since 1981. The company’s leadership, including John Winter, Todd Winter, and Matthew Harrah, have served on the association’s board of directors, and its employees have received distinguished honors from the AEA over many years.

Trig Avionics was founded in 2004 and has established itself as a popular and trusted international avionics brand across general aviation. From the outset, Trig has identified where practical and innovative product design could best meet customer needs, and all Trig products are “Better by Design.” The company highlights the weight and form factor savings, installation benefits and unique product features for pilots. Offering both space saving, compact and stack products, Trig’s surveillance, communication, navigation and GPS solutions are backed by approved Trig Dealers in 42 countries, with a global support network of Trig service centers.

Trig supports the dealer community with technical expertise, a bespoke dealer portal with comprehensive STC/AML coverage, free product software updates and a highly regarded level of warranty provision.

Trig is a committed AEA member, having participated in association events and training sessions at the annual AEA Convention and Regionals over many years. Trig is a champion of the AEA, bringing positive influence and ideas to regulatory FAA and EASA forums, supporting the wider interests of the avionics industry. Trig operates from two sites in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, and Edinburgh, Scotland.