Photo By Staff Sgt. Gabriela Keiser | Staff Sgt. Jacob Keiser, 704th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, flightline engine...... read more read more
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SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --
Staff Sgt. Jacob Keiser is a Daytona native, born and raised in central Florida. Keiser, 704th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron flightline engine specialist, proudly stated that growing up in Florida, not only are you surrounded by amazing beaches but many different kinds of vehicles with loud engines.
“Daytona Bike Week and the Daytona 500 are both huge and widely known where I am from,” noted Keiser. “These definitely made me fall in love with anything that had a loud engine so it was fitting that when I joined the military I would end up working on one of the loudest engines in the Air Force.”
Keiser said he has always loved working with his hands and having projects where he can learn a new skill. As a child, his grandfather had bought him and his siblings a used miniature electric motorcycle that they would ride around their neighborhood in Daytona.
“The bike was old and rusted,” said Keiser, “but if we weren’t riding it, we were working on it and either way it was a lot of fun.”
When Keiser first joined the military in 2012, he was stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. There he bought a project car, a Nissan Datsun 280z. He admitted that though he learned a lot working on the car, what he really wanted was his own motorcycle.
Keiser grinned, adding, “I ended up getting orders to RAF Lakenheath and decided that a project car in a country where you drive on the opposite side of the road wasn’t the best idea, so I sold it.”
Upon his arrival to the United Kingdom, he discovered he was surrounded by many motorcycle enthusiasts to include his supervisor.
“My supervisor and one of the British contractors in my shop often went out riding their bikes together on the weekends, they eventually convinced me to get one of my own,” said Keiser.
In 2015 Keiser finally accomplished his goal and bought his first motorcycle while stationed at RAF Lakenheath.
Keiser proudly stated, “I finally got a bike of my own,” he continued “I bought myself a 2015 Triumph Bonneville Scrambler which is basically the British equivalent to America’s Harley Davidson.”
He said the thrill of riding a motorcycle is unlike any other experience he could possibly describe.
“I love it and if I had to compare it, it’s like going into burner at the trim pad,” expressed Keiser.
As a flightline engine specialist, part of his job is to perform maintenance on the jet’s engines and test them. One of the final inspections performed on an aircraft’s engine is turning on the aircraft while it is locked in place in a contained area on the flightline. The engine is turned on and eventually put into full after burner which is commonly seen during aircraft take offs. Hues of red, orange, purple and white can be seen thrusting out of the engine while the maintenance specialists performing the inspection are only a short distance away.
Keiser said that his passion has introduced him to a community of other motorcycle enthusiasts within the military community itself.
“I’ve had a lot of good interactions with people because of my bike. I have made friends all over the world because of this one interest,” said Keiser.
Keiser, who is now married with two children and a third on the way, hopes to share this interest with his own kids eventually.
“I would love to share this with my kids one day, especially since this all really started for me because of my own family.”
| Date Taken: | 02.17.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 10.21.2021 13:45 |
| Story ID: | 407715 |
| Location: | SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 52 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Afterburner and the thrill of the ride, when two worlds collide, by SSgt Gabriela Keiser, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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