Who am I?

Hello, my name is Shane O’Day. I’m an engineer driven by the need to learn, experience, and advance technology.

I grew up in the beautiful area of southern New Hampshire in the rural town of Rindge and graduated from Conant High School in the spring of 2010. During this time I tinkered with radio controlled airplanes, dirt bikes, trucks, and built a motorcycle before I could legally drive it.

I have always enjoyed creating; my father has a machine shop and he was an invaluable teacher. In fact, both of my parents always encouraged me to create new things, even when that thing was was sure to fail. 5hp engines with carved 2X4 propellers do not work well, but when your 14 it sounds great. I truly believe that the encouragement they gave me helped develop confidence to take on larger problems and continually advance myself. Even today I am glad to have supportive parents, friends, and my wife Kelsey to help me move forward.

In 2014 I graduated from Daniel Webster College in Nashua, NH with a Bachelors degree in Aeronautical Engineering and another in Mechanical Engineering, two licenses to learn. From college I went on to work at Continental Motors Inc. (now Continental Aerospace Technologies) in Mobile, Alabama. There I got to work with what most interests me most, internal combustion engines. Though out my time at Continental I gained numerous technical and project management skills as I worked with an awesome team on type design and PMA products.

At Continental I worked on numerous new development projects and provided sole engineering support to engine test (propeller cells) and the Continental Fuel Injection System. I became the resident expert in a number of products including engine bearings and piston rings and worked on various product improvements to the legacy Avgas product line. I also reviewed warranty issues from the field and implemented product improvements to improve safety and reduce warranty cost.

Similarly, I provided on site and remote support to OEMs and end users to solve complex engine performance issues. During these projects I worked heavily on fatigue and material related issues, learned strain gaging, and working with Finite Element Analysis (FEA) methods. I also had the opportunity to manage major technical, and business, projects, some in excess of $1M. I learned a lot about teamwork, scheduling, and project metrics, as well as communicating progress, risks, issues, and escalations to stakeholders.

I left Continental in 2019 and I now work at Air Plains Services Corp. in Wellington, KS. Air Plains is well known for Cessna 172, 180, and 182 high horsepower STCs so I’m right at home. I enjoy working with the team at Air Plains certifying new STCs as well as may new PMA components. It is certainly rewarding to be able to complete the variety of work I can which varies from FAA certification plans to manufacturing and even flight testing. There are not many places which have this variety of work and opportunity to learn, it is why I came.

In September of 2019 I founded O’Day Design LLC to provide independent technical consultation for aircraft piston-engine design, performance, and troubleshooting. My services are available to both manufacturers and individuals. I am always eager to take on your most difficult technical issues.

I enjoy a number of hobbies and spend the majority of my free time working on personal projects which directly relate to my field. I am a licensed pilot and donate my engineering and mechanical skill sets periodically to the One Moment Air Racing team as we continue to run the fastest Lancair Legacy at Reno, (Continental Powered). To date our team has taken the number one spot in sport class (gold) for two years in a row, 2018 and 2019. This has been an exciting journey and I look forward to many more years working with this awesome group of people.

I am experienced working with manual and CNC machining equipment. My major personal projects include restoring and customizing motorcycles, restoring a 1988 Ford Bronco, and developing electronic gadgets and data acquisition units. I am currently undertaking my largest project yet, repairing and improving a fast cross country experimental aircraft powered by a Continental TSIO-360. I attempt to document some of this project on this site as my time allows.