1981 - 2002

Honeywell, Clearwater Florida

1981 - 1982 -- I worked for Honeywell in Clearwater Florida in the SPN-GEANS Returned Goods (RG) facility repairing malfunctioning systems that had been returned by the customers. At one time, I worked ten Test Stations on second shift by myself. A lot of work, but I loved it!

1982 - 1984 -- Honeywell assigned me as a Field Engineer on the classified F-117 project. I was at the operational site for the F-117 Initial Operational Capability (IOC). When not on duty at the site, I was living in Las Vegas. Not a bad deal... In 1984, the Field Support contract was up, and I returned to the Clearwater facility.

Below, for you patch fans, are some rather rare patches that I earned in the desert:

1984 - 2002 -- I returned to the plant and continued to work on the F-117 project until it was de-classified. Besides occasional field work, I was repairing RGs from the F-117 project. When the F-117 project was de-classified, the USAF took over repair of the SPN-GEANS RGs, and that job dried up. I was then assigned to the Development and Engineering (D&E) group to start learning and working with the Honeywell Embedded GPS/INS (EGI) systems. This is an Ring Laser Gyro (RLG) system, and a "whole new ball-game" for me. For a while I was testing the development EGI systems for the aircraft side of the department. Work became pretty scarce there, and a feller named Brian Fly gave me a job working on land-based INS systems. While this was another "whole new ball-game", it turned out to be a interesting and rewarding job. My experience with the LandNav group (The name was later changed to "Surface Applications", but I never warmed up to that moniker) was positive. The US military is putting an EGI variant into a lot of land vehicles. The people that I worked with were top notch. It was a good group. Honeywell as a whole changed a lot since it was bought out twice. IMHO, the emphasis had shifted too much to "Profit, Profit, Profit". I am just not comfortable in that environment. In 2002, with lay-off warnings coming from corporate, I decided to raise my hand and become a self-select for a lay-off. They like to call it Reduction In Force (RIF) now. I guess they got that phrase from the military. It was a good ride with the company for 21 years, but I was anxious to hang it up. I would not miss that 50 mile round-trip on US-19 every day. So, when they offered me a "golden handshake", I jumped at it. There were a few reasons why I would miss old plant 4, and here are a few pics of them. There are certainly some folks missing here, but, I just don't have many photos from work.

First photo below is Mary Mac, one of the nicest people that I have ever known. I love her dearly. Besides being a sweetheart, she is one of the most capable engineers that I ever worked with. Next is Brian Fly. Brian has proved to be my oldest and most trusted Honeywell friend. Brian is a work-a-holic, and the type of guy that you would be glad to work with or work for. Next is a photo of Kelly (KJ to me) and Ann on a visit to my office. Needless to say, they could brighten up anybody's office, plus they were fantastic to work with.

Tom, Tom, Rich, Mike, Bill, Dave, etc., etc., you guys are lucky that I do not have a photo of you, or you would be here too.