Rick Henderson Aircraft Airframe/ Powerplant Mechanics Florida Community College, Class of 2007

Renaissance Man

Rick Henderson
Aircraft Airframe/Powerplant Mechanics
Florida Community College, Class of 2007

From Georgia to Florida to California, from photographer to barber to real estate mini-mogul, Rick Henderson’s life might lead some to call him restless. He’d call it “career-evolving.” Either way, it’s definitely not boring.

Born in Waycross, Georgia, Rick moved to Jacksonville when he was three months old — “with my parents in tow,” he jokes. He grew up in the Southside area, graduating from Englewood High School in 1965. Rick briefly attended a local technical school but found it wasn’t for him. It was thanks to an uncle that Rick did find what would become two life-long passions — airplanes and photography.

Soon after, he answered an ad in the newspaper for a photographer trainee. Thus Rick started his first career in photography at a portrait studio in the NAS Jax Naval Exchange. It wasn’t long after that he was asked to relocate to the west coast, to manage Navy base studios in California. “No problem,” laughs Rick. “Big surf, everybody driving hot rods and lots of girls in bikinis.”

While he enjoyed living in California, after 13 years he decided it was time to come home and settle down. He returned to Mandarin, where he still resides. Throughout jobs in varied fields, Rick continued to do photography on the side, mainly weddings and portraits. During the “glamour” photography rage, Rick didn’t think twice before signing up for cosmetology school. With his own license, he wouldn’t have the extra hassle and cost of hiring a stylist for photo shoots. And so he added “barber” to his list of experiences.

But it was yet another pursuit, successfully investing in real estate, that has given Rick enough free time to return to school and pursue training in his hobbies. In 1987 his interest in photography led him to Florida Community College to study television production. “After that, I worked in several local stations and for a few years freelanced for ESPN, Sunshine Network and NBC,” he says. He also took courses in welding (for his work restoring motorcycles, of course). He still recommends the program to friends. “FCCJ has the best instructors, bar none,” he says.

And it is his lifelong love of aircraft that has led Rick to where you would find him today — at Cecil Center South’s Aviation Center of Excellence (ACE). With his wife Alison’s blessing, Rick started the Aviation Maintenance Technician program — and his next “new” career — in 2005. He will complete certificates in both Aircraft Airframe and Powerplant Mechanics this semester. “After a short break, I may take ground school and flight lessons, and finish up the degree program online,” he says. He’s also thinking about starting his own aircraft business.

While his career may not have unfolded according to what anyone else would call a plan, Rick says, “the things I love in life are related in a strange way, and I’m just adapting.” In the grand scheme, he says, “My goal is simply to be healthy, happy and to continue learning and growing.”