Casey McGhee, 21, a maintenance technician with Dirigo Aerospace Solutions, replaces an inspection cover July 2 on a 1946 Taylorcraft airplane at the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport in Auburn. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

AUBURN — Some children grow up on the farm, driving tractors and handling livestock. Others grow up in neighborhoods, riding bicycles and hanging out with friends. Casey McGhee grew up around airplanes and the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport from the time she was 4 or 5 years old.

McGhee, 21, is the daughter of Mark and Kate McGhee, who own and operate Dirigo Aerospace Solutions, based at the airport. Previously, the McGhees managed and operated Twitchell Airport in Turner, until the owners decided to sell and close the airport in November 2022.

Casey McGhee began working with her parents at Twitchell Airport when she was 16 years old, mostly helping her stepmother, Kate, in the office.

“One day, dad said: ‘You want to come in the shop with me? You want to start in the shop?'” McGhee said. “And because I was working two jobs, that way I could focus on one area. So I was like, ‘Yeah, I’d love to do that.'”

Women have been involved in aviation since the early days, including E. Lilian Todd, who designed and built aircraft beginning in 1906, and Helen Richey, who in 1934 became the first woman pilot for a commercial airline, Central Airlines. The number of women in the aviation field has steadily increased over the past 20 years, according to Women in Aviation International, but compared to men, the numbers remain low.

Globally, the International Civil Aviation Organization’s 2023 survey shows 4.9% of pilots, air traffic controllers and maintenance technicians are women.

McGhee began by helping with fuel sales, grabbing parts and taking off airplane’s covers and tail panels — anything to help speed up the maintenance and repair processes for her father. Mark McGhee is a U.S. Army veteran, trained as a Black Hawk helicopter mechanic. He has been a certified airframe, power plant and inspection authorized mechanic and commercial pilot for more than 35 years.

Casey McGhee said she does not mind telling friends she is an aircraft maintenance technician at Dirigo Aerospace Solutions. It, after all, is an impressive job title.

Casey McGhee of Dirigo Aerospace Solutions fills a Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet with fuel Sept. 8, 2023, at the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport in Auburn. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal file

For the past year, she and her brother, Benjamin, have been working the front line at the airport, moving and refueling planes and taking care of customers’ needs. Casey McGhee said it is a customer service job and an amazing experience.

“It was a great opportunity. It was great exposure,” she said. “I mean, tugging, fueling, everything. Jets — we didn’t get any jet traffic at Twitchell’s, you know, because it was so small. It was just a great experience to learn from.”

Moving from a small, general aviation airport to a municipal airport is a step up, requiring greater focus because there is more traffic and there are more hangars, jets and larger aircraft.

After graduating from Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in South Paris, McGhee decided she would wait on college or technical school until she had figured out what she wanted to do with her life — before “racking up the bills,” as she put it.

She has been working side by side with her father, learning the fundamentals of engine maintenance and repair, including checking and cleaning spark plugs, conducting compression checks and checking for leaks — all part of what the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association describes as the ancient measuring stick of aircraft maintenance.

McGhee said her learning comes through observation, asking questions and formal, hands-on training from her father.

“You need to know what you’re doing for this stuff,” she said. “It’s not like you can just pull over (when flying in an airplane) like you can on the side of the road.”

Casey McGhee, 21, a maintenance technician with Dirigo Aerospace Solutions, replaces an inspection cover July 2 on a 1946 Taylorcraft airplane at the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport in Auburn. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

A college degree is not required to become a certified mechanic, but a Federal Aviation Administration-certified maintenance technician course, followed by a test, is. The schooling takes 19 months, plus on-the-job training, and Casey McGhee is well on her way.

The role also requires obtaining a private pilot license. McGhee said she has 25 hours of flight time, with a minimum of 40 hours required by the FAA for certification.

“I’m going to pick up with Chickadee here, hopefully soon,” she said.

Chickadee Aviation is the flight school that moved to the airport in early January.

McGhee offered a two-part answer to what she likes most about her job: “It’s very rewarding hands-on work. You come in, your head’s down, and focus. As much as I did love the customer service aspect of that (working the front line), it is kind of nice to just focus on one thing and then, by the end of the day, you feel accomplished. You know, dirt on your hands and it’s just a good deal.”

Casey McGhee said some might find it challenging to work for their parents, but this does not appear the case with the McGhee family.

“Casey is a joy to work with,” Kate McGhee said. “I may be a bit biased as her bonus mom, but she is reliable, trustworthy, conscientious and easygoing. She’s been working for us since 2019, and it’s been fun watching her learn and develop her skills under her father’s tutelage. Working for family has its unique set of challenges, but she handles everything with grace and good humor.”

Then there is Mark McGhee, who some say can be a bit intimidating.

“He’s a teddy bear,” Casey McGhee said. “Just being around my dad, just working with my dad — to be under his wing and learn everything that he’s been doing in the past.”

It is a rare opportunity, and Casey McGhee knows it.

“Sometimes I wake up (and) I’m like, that’s, you know, something that I’m always going to be grateful for — being able to be with him every day,” she said.

McGhee said her father can be a great teacher and, for the most part, is patient. She also understands he has a business to run.

And while her spare time is spent on ground-level activities, such as playing the acoustic guitar, a gift from her mother, and hanging out with her cat and friends, Casey McGhee’s clear focus is on becoming a pilot and an aviation mechanic, a career that is just taking off.