87 TOM: In 1987, I left Air Canada and took a job as Maintenance Manager with Canada 3000. It was there at age forty-eight where I realized I wasn’t management material. I was a “hangar- floor-guy” who was only happy when trouble-shooting aircraft. Fortunately Air Canada took me back. In 1996, as a Licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineer with the years and age to qualify for full Air Canada pension, Tom “retired” from the airline to begin doing contract work around Pearson airport. An out-of-the-blue telephone call from Atlantis Aerospace introduced him to Phil D’Eon who had heard of Tom’s computer-based diagnostics efforts and invited him for a demo. Tom was blown away. He declares the old expression “mother-I-have-come-home to roost” applied in spades. Phil offered him a job on the spot and Tom jumped at it. TOM: I spent the next 27 years there doing fault diagnostic scenarios on the Bombardier and DeHavilland fleets. These scenarios were used as a troubleshooting aid for operators around the world. Interestingly, I had started on the DeHavilland Goblin engine and finished on the DeHavilland Dash-8s … full circle in a 68-year aviation career. After leaving the air force and moving to Montreal, Tom took an interest in wine, a subject he further pursued after Air Canada transferred him to Toronto where he acquired his Certificate Examination from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust. TOM: I don’t really know how I got started in wine. In the service we drank mostly spirits. After moving to Toronto, I did a wine course and then continued to educate myself while building a little wine cellar. Tom’s education continued with research missions in Ontario, British Columbia, California, and Spain—from each of which he acquired tasty specimens. A consummate organizer, He began making notes on all the wines he consumed, and, having used computers for years doing fault diagnostics, applied this background to build a data base of 9,400 entries with a relational database of more than 5,000 labels. As might be expected, his penchant for purchasing is currently foiling all attempts at drinkingdown his 150-bottle wine cellar. Cheers, Tom! P.S. Seldom far from airplanes, Tom introduces his grandson Philip to Aeronautics 101.
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