About Grease Pilot

Michael Sawyer

A&P3402802IA · FAA-certificated A&P Mechanic with Inspection Authorization · Founder, Grease Pilot

My love for aviation started long before I ever picked up a wrench. As a kid, I looked forward to the airplane rides more than the vacations themselves. From an early age I was drawn to working with my hands: building, fixing, and figuring out how things worked.

That hands-on drive gave me an early start in aviation. During my junior and senior years of high school, I enrolled in an aviation maintenance program through DMACC (Des Moines Area Community College), where I got my first real exposure to aircraft maintenance. In the same years I shadowed crew chiefs with the Iowa Air National Guard's 132nd Wing and got an up-close look at the F-16 Fighting Falcon. That experience confirmed what I already knew. Aviation was my path.

Building the Foundation

After high school I went on to Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa, where I earned my FAA Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) license and an Associate's degree in 2009. I valued that formal education, but my career would later show me another path to certification, and that path is what inspired Grease Pilot.

I graduated into a tough job market at the tail end of the Iraq War, with few A&P openings in my hometown of Des Moines. So I took an opportunity at Fort Rucker, Alabama, working as a contractor on military helicopters, including the UH-60 Black Hawk. The precision and documentation standards of military aviation shaped my approach to maintenance for years to come.

Missing the Midwest, I came back to Iowa in 2011 as the lead A&P mechanic at Connell Aviation II in Independence, Iowa, a fixed base operator providing flight instruction, aircraft maintenance, airport management and fueling. That's where my entrepreneurial instincts first took root, and where I earned my Private Pilot License.

From Mechanic to Business Owner

By 2013 my interest in aviation entrepreneurship brought me back to the Des Moines area. I went to work at Winterset Aviation in Winterset, Iowa with a clear goal: to buy the maintenance shop. In 2015 I did exactly that, and I earned my Inspection Authorization (IA), the highest level of FAA maintenance certification, which authorizes a mechanic to approve aircraft for return to service after annual inspections and major repairs.

I went on to expand under the Phalanx Aviation brand, opening more maintenance shops in Clinton, Iowa and Longmont, Colorado. Today Phalanx Aviation operates as a nationwide network of A&P mechanics serving the general aviation community.

Through years of owning and running small aircraft maintenance shops, I saw a growing shortage of qualified maintenance people, and of independent shops serving general aviation aircraft owners.

Why I Created Grease Pilot

The traditional path to an A&P license, an aviation maintenance school, can cost $20,000 to $50,000 or more. After working alongside mechanics who earned their certificates through on-the-job training instead, I saw that the OJT path was underserved and poorly understood. Aspiring mechanics could earn their A&P through documented work experience, but there was no structured program to guide them through it.

I've supervised many A&P apprentices myself, so I learned firsthand what works and what doesn't when you earn your certificate through OJT. I watched talented people struggle, not because they lacked ability, but because they had no roadmap to follow. That drove me to build something better.

I founded Grease Pilot in 2019. Today it gives aspiring mechanics everything they need to earn an A&P through OJT: a step-by-step how-to course, an OJT record tracking system, an Apprenticeship Finder, and most importantly, support from certified A&P mechanics. And it gives A&Ps who want their own shop the system I used to build mine.

I believe your passion should be connected to the way you make a living. For me, that passion is aviation and business. I built Grease Pilot because I know firsthand that you don't need to spend tens of thousands of dollars at an aviation school to build a career in aircraft maintenance. If you are willing to put in the work, I am here to show you the way.

Reach me at msawyer@greasepilot.com, or find me on YouTube and LinkedIn.

Grease Pilot Business

biz.greasepilot.com · for A&P mechanics who want their own shop

Grease Pilot Business grew out of the maintenance shops Grease Pilot's founders built themselves. The first shop they bought, in the Midwest, was full of poor business practices. They rebuilt it around customer experience, automation and customer acquisition, and that growth strategy averaged 50% revenue growth year over year.

Looking back, the only thing worth keeping from that first purchase was the customer list. So they opened the next shop from scratch, applied the same strategy, and had another self-sustaining maintenance business within three months. After opening two more, they saw how few quality maintenance facilities there are for small aircraft across the country, and set out to fix that shortage.

Good mechanics turned out to be just as scarce, so they invested in their technicians and offered ownership to the best of them. And the surest way to end the shop shortage is to show more A&Ps how to set up and run a profitable shop, so they broke their system down into a course.

What you get

• The How to Start an Aircraft Maintenance Business course: five modules, from business setup to customer interactions, with short lessons and a start-up checklist that follows each one.
• The forms and templates many aircraft maintenance shops have used, and the vendors the Grease Pilot shops used to get started.
• Customer leads, a job board, and a technical publications library.

Every one of those shops started on a shoestring budget. The course shows you how to do the same.

Visit biz.greasepilot.com

Grease Pilot School

school.greasepilot.com · for anyone working toward an A&P

Grease Pilot School is for anyone who wants to earn an FAA A&P certificate through supervised on-the-job training instead of an aviation maintenance school, which can cost $20,000 to $50,000 or more.

Under 14 CFR Part 65, the FAA lets you qualify for the A&P exams with 18 months of practical experience for one rating, or 30 months for both, under the supervision of a certificated mechanic. Grease Pilot School gives that path the structure it has always lacked.

What you get

• A step-by-step how-to course for the on-the-job training path.
• OJT record tracking, with digital sign-offs from your supervising A&P.
• The Apprenticeship Finder, to find an A&P or a shop to train under.
• Support from certified A&P mechanics.

For A&P mechanics and shops, supervising apprentices through Grease Pilot is free.

Visit school.greasepilot.com