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Meet Your Mechanic, Pilot, Flight Instructor
Jason Marquez
Mechanic, Flight
Instructor, Pilot
AGE: 35
BIRTHPLACE: Tucson, Arizona
RESIDENCE: Lynnwood, Wash.
YEARS WORKING FOR KENMORE: 10 1/2 yrs.
FLIGHT HOURS LOGGED: 1,500
FAVORITE AIRPLANE TO FLY: Cessna 180
FAVORITE DESTINATION: Ganges, British
Columbia, located on Salt Spring
Island
NAME:
Jason Marquez
OCCUPATION:
J
ty edwards photo
A Jack-Of-All-Trades.
ASON MARQUEZ IS
KNOWN AS a Can-Do-
Everything kind of guy
at Kenmore Air. Despite
that he’s been with the
company for just over
a decade he’s held a
variety of positions that
define what the company is
all about. He’s a multi-faceted,
multi-talented employee.
Since he started working at Kenmore Air
in February 2006 he’s been a mechanic, flight instructor and a pilot — and
he’s been an integral part of a seaplane
restoration project that has the National
Football League turning heads.
Marquez, 35, first started working
at Kenmore Air as a float mechanic in
February 2006 where his primary job
was to repair and rebuild floats from the
company’s fleet of seaplanes.
“I’ve always had a knack for sheet
metal and I walked into it thinking I was
pretty good at it, but compared to the
real rock stars here, it was a pretty humbling experience. But working on floats
gave me the experience to proceed onto
the Beaver Shop.”
The Beaver Shop is Kenmore Air’s
division that rebuilds, repairs and restores de Havilland Beavers. That was in
2008. Little did he know, but Marquez
would learn from company legend
Gordy Barnes, who recently retired
after 45 years with Kenmore Air. Under
Barns’ tutelage, Marquez embarked on
the daunting task of learning everything there is to know about the Beaver
airplane.
“Kenmore Air is known for rebuilding that aircraft specifically and to join
that shop was quite an honor,” he says.
“The variety of work we do in the Beaver
Shop is very appealing. Not only do we
work on the structures of the aircraft,
but also all the systems in flying the
airplane. Instead of just overhauling old
broken stuff, you’re installing new air
components and making the aircraft
safer. I really got along with Gordy and I
learned a lot. It was quite a treat to work
Q: Favorite Destination:
“I really like the Gulf Islands in British Columbia. I love Ganges, which is
located on Salt Spring Island. It’s got a laid back Canadian feel and it really
does feel like you’re in a different country.” ”
K
alongside him.”
Marquez still works in the Beaver
Shop, but his time is also spent working
in the Flight Department. He received his
commercial pilot’s license in 2004, and
in 2013 became a flight instructor. Two
years later he was asked to be a pilot for
Kenmore Air, which is why you’ll sometimes see him at the controls of one the
seaplanes. He flies the Beavers as well as
the Cessna 180 and is hoping to get to fly
the de Havilland Otter soon as well.
“It’s appealing to me to change jobs,
and not do the same thing everyday,” he
says. “I feel like I can help the company
more because of my ability to move
around wherever I’m needed. That’s
gratifying, but most of all it feels good
to switch it up and get good at different
things.”
One thing that Marquez is good at is
restoring de Havilland Beavers. So good
that he worked on the project for Jimmy
Graham, the tight end for the Seattle
Seahawks. Graham’s seaplane is a 1957
DHC-2 Mk1 de Havilland Beaver. To
date Kenmore Air has just over 2,600
hours into the project. The plane will be
fully restored sometime this summer.
“This is a gentleman who can buy
whatever he wants, and he chose for us
to do this for him,” says Marquez. “It’s
very exciting. He comes into the shop
and he’s very passionate about it which
makes it that much more enjoyable. He’s
keeping almost everything original, all
the way down to standard steam gauges.”
Well there is one detail about the
project that you won’t find on a 1957
Beaver. Graham is having the number
88 painted on the side of the plane.
Seems only fitting since he wears that
number while playing for the Seahawks.
kenmoreair.com
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