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A Future Better than Yachting in the Caribbean – 2025 Scholarship Winner Daniel Lucerne

2025 ARSA Scholarship winner Daniel Lucerne sailing the Caribbean on the Motor Yacht “Vicky.” Photo courtesy Daniel Lucerne.

Meet ARSA’s 2025 Scholarship winner Daniel “Danny” Lucerne of the Atlanta campus of Aviation Institute of Maintenance. Lucerne’s interest in aviation was stoked while yachting (as crew) in the Caribbean. Now in school, he’s paying the bills with a non-certificated job at a repair station.

Lucerne’s award was made as part of Choose Aerospace’s Aviation Maintenance Scholarship and Award Program. ARSA and its partner organizations combine to provide tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of scholarships, textbooks, training systems, and testing fee credits for educators and future aviators. The association assisted in reviewing applications for all awards, an exercise sure to boost confidence in the industry’s future as the program receives submissions from excellent candidates.

Lucerne answered a few questions for ARSA’s communications team. His answers show how thoughtfully he connects his past experience to future opportunity and provide useful feedback for employers looking to show how big that opportunity is.

(1) Your scholarship application made it very clear you feel passionate for aviation but didn’t mention what brought you to the field in the first place. What got you started?

I was working in yachting and spent a lot of time in traveling the Caribbean. I was exposed to general aviation through the people I worked with, as well as my own trips to and from smaller islands. Aviation was always on my radar. I love the way it connects communities and the world, and how aerospace is constantly at the cutting edge of engineering feats. I personally enjoy mechanics and, combined with my exposure to aviation, I decided to make a shift from working at sea to working on airplanes. That’s when I applied and began my journey to become an A&P mechanic.

(2) How has the experience of working in a part 145 repair station impacted your learning experience? How is the “working world” different from the classroom or training facility?

My repair station maintains components. I overhaul valves and regulators and requalify high pressure cylinders. The school curriculum is very broad, covering airframe and powerplant systems across many types of aircraft, so much of what we learn goes beyond my specific work. It’s always satisfying when I can apply something I learned in the classroom on the job, which has happened several times.

One of the biggest differences is that,\ in the workplace you are responsible for your own learning. Part of our quality assurance is my duty to ensure I’m doing overhauls or repairs correctly according to the maintenance manual. You can’t just rely on how someone else trained you or how things have always been done. You need to be familiar with technical documents and service bulletins, ensuring you’re using the correct revisions.

My time in the classroom has helped me understand the bigger picture: why we do things a certain way, what the regulations are, and how systems work. This has definitely helped me become a better technician.

(3) What have you found to be most surprising/unexpected about AMT school?

One thing I found surprising was how varied the careers of our instructors were, especially those in aviation for decades. Some had experience with sheet metal, helicopters, turbines, reciprocating engines, or avionics. Some were very well-rounded, others specialized. It is encouraging to see the broad range of opportunities that exist for a mechanic.

(4) What are your professional goals after school? How have they been impacted by your working experience at the repair station?

Working at the repair station has helped me understand what I like and what I don’t. It’s helped me identify areas where I have strengths that I can bring to aviation. I enjoy troubleshooting and have discovered I’m good at reading and interpreting technical documents.

I’m passionate about all kinds of aviation, but general and corporate aviation particularly interest me because there are so many amazing aircraft I’d love to work on. Once I earn my A&P, I’d like to work on turboprop and jet-powered corporate and private aircraft, get my Inspection Authorization (IA) after several years, and possibly explore NDT disciplines, although that’s something I still need to learn more about.

(5) If you learned that someone was considering school/career choices and they asked you about aviation maintenance, what would you say?

I would strongly encourage it. There aren’t many careers where you can start working with just a year and a half of education and have access to as many opportunities or such good pay. Aviation is incredibly cool and if you love to nerd out about aircraft (like I do) and have that strong attention to detail, you will be a good fit.

(6) What do you think industry professionals should know in order to be most helpful in helping you and others to build aerospace careers?

Getting your foot in the door is always the hardest part for aspiring aviation mechanics. Opportunities like internships, apprenticeships or anything where you can get wrenching time are very helpful.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that clear career progression isn’t always laid out at repair stations (at least in my limited experience). It would help if newcomers could see a path from entry-level to senior mechanic, director of maintenance, quality assurance, or perhaps management. Having a clearer idea of what’s possible long-term would be very helpful for people entering the industry.

Get to know Danny even better by reviewing his application package for the ARSA Scholarship, which he agreed to share with the public. Click here to see his answers to the review committee’s questions.

To learn more about the Choose Aerospace Scholarships and Awards Program, click here.

For more information on ARSA’s broader efforts to support industry career development, visit avmro.arsa.org/careers.

Want to congratulate Daniel? Learn more about how to find great candidates like him? Contact ARSA for a referral.

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