I met Mike around in 1986 at the start of my job for DCMA. Mike from the beginning was a very helpful coworker who knew his stuff and was a wealth of knowledge on practically all levels of his job and then some.  His sincere confidence allowed him to share a great deal of technical information that was always on the cutting edge, especially regarding safety. When I first started working at Sikorsky I remember a line he used to say to me that burned into my mind, “Our inspection of this aircraft is vital because people’s lives depend on us getting it right.”

As his write up states Mike was a fine sports enthusiast and was pretty good at most of the stuff he played like softball and golf.  Mike also had a funny side to him usually of the dry humor variety.  One prank he played on me that comes to mind involved a tack and a yard stick.  As I often did not know when to stop asking questions at meetings keeping us past our normal hour, he thought best to remedy this flaw. I remember him saying Spinello I have this convincer here that I am not afraid to use if you ask too many questions.  At the first question I asked I received a light tap to my leg that gave me a little jump. The next question was a little harder but survivable. The last tap was more of a deep grinding, enduring strike that would normally cause the average person to shriek.  After everyone burst into laughter I finally conceded to mend my ways in the excess questions department.

Mike will surely be missed as a great coworker and friend, my deepest sympathies for his wife, family and immediate friends.

Larry Spinello