About NXNE
About North by North East Light Sport Aircraft
Decades of real-world aircraft maintenance experience, brought home to the light sport and experimental community.
North by North East Light Sport Aircraft is led by Ron Edson, an FAA-certified Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) mechanic with a current Inspection Authorization (IA). Ron is also an FAA Private Pilot and a Technical Advisor for the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), and he currently teaches in a high school Aviation Maintenance program — standing up an A&P training program for the next generation of mechanics.
Over a career spanning decades, Ron has worked nearly every corner of aircraft maintenance: as a Director of Maintenance, Chief Inspector, and Maintenance Training Manager across FAA Part 121, 135, and 145 operations. He has maintained and inspected everything from single-engine Cessnas and turboprops to a wide range of helicopters, and he has advised U.S. Army aircraft maintenance and quality-assurance programs. That breadth means there aren't many problems he hasn't seen before.
Today, Ron focuses on what he enjoys most: inspecting, maintaining, and repairing privately owned aircraft — both certified and experimental — and helping owners keep their aircraft airworthy and affordable. As a hands-on builder himself (he's currently rebuilding an experimental Sonex kit airplane) and a longtime EAA technical advisor, he understands the experimental community from the inside. When you bring your aircraft to NXNE, you're working with someone who treats it with the same care he gives his own.
Credentials at a glance
Grounded in real-world experience, not just a manual.
- FAA Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) Mechanic
- FAA Inspection Authorization (IA) — current
- FAA Private Pilot
- EAA Technical Advisor
- Aviation Maintenance instructor (high school A&P program)
- Decades across Part 121, 135 & 145 — fixed-wing and rotorcraft
A builder, too
He understands the experimental community from the inside.
Ron isn't just signing off on other people's work — he's out in the shop building his own experimental Sonex. That hands-on perspective shapes how NXNE approaches every inspection, repair, and class: practical, honest, and focused on keeping you flying affordably.