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August 1, 2009
Howie’s House I was most impressed to read Howie Fuller’s “House” article. As usual, it was right on the money and fits in with the Aircraft Engineers International [newsletter] on developments in Europe. I was at the EASA/FAA Harmonization conference in Athens, Greece last month and the problem of failure to record defects was high on the list of safety problems and was raised by...July 1, 2009
Is Retesting Enough? I found that the idea of retesting mechanics that attained their license without the full certification process of the licensing requirements goes deeper than the top side of the FAA merely putting up a somewhat minuscule retesting program (see June AM, page 9, "PAMA Backs Retesting Mechanics"). That does not fix the problem. We never seem to get the full picture of the...June 1, 2009
Focusing on Mechanics Thank you for mentioning www.faasafety.gov (see Go FAASTeam Go, Aviation Maintenance, Feb. 2009, page 6). Recently, I’ve been taking recurrent training to maintain my Inspection Authorization (IA). One of the places I would highly recommend for all aviation maintenance professionals is faasafety.gov. FAA offers a lot of courses, ranging in topics from aeronautical...May 1, 2009
More on NAICS Codes Mr. Bail has hit on a key issue that should be considered when utilizing the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) webpage (see "Improper Assignment of NAICS on Aircraft Maintenance and Repair Solicitations May be Hurting Small Businesses," Aviation Maintenance, April 2009, page 12). However, the problems run much deeper than utilizing NAICS codes when searching for...April 1, 2009
Regarding the article "New Technology Could Protect Against Parts Counterfeiting, (see Jan. 2009 Aviation Maintenance, page 8), this is a good idea, but would not be viable for all aviation parts. The industry would find that it is not cost effective for all parts and components. The best application would be on larger end units such as avionic boxes, computers, instrumentation and...March 1, 2009
A Navigation Lesson In the spring of 1945 I was a cadet in the Advanced Flying Training program at Steward Field in Newburg, N.Y. Part of the course, near the end, was a long-range, daytime navigational flight. The route that my instructor selected was from Stewart Field to Roanoke, Va., with a landing to refuel, and then return. The weather was forecast to be excellent, but, as frequently happens, it was...February 1, 2009
Indespensible Your article, The Indespensible (see Aviation Maintenance, January 2009, page 4), was on the money. Unfortunately, there are those who can only find fault. Why do we elect them? In my experience from 1966 through 1978 as a manufacturing manager for Amoco Chemical Corp., I was responsible for building and managing five manufacturing plants in the U.S. (Ohio-Georgia-Arkansas-Texas and...December 1, 2008
Nondestructive Frustration Regarding the article in the November issue of Aviation Maintenance called "Who Can Perform NDT Inspections" (see November 2009 AM, page 26), I feel your frustration and it has been an on going topic of heated discussion between general aviation and the FAA for a long time. The only thing that the FAA has ever done to recognize NDI was the publication of AC No. 65-31A...November 1, 2008
Roadblocks and Restrictions After reading the Reader Feedback in the October issue (see AM October 2008, page 6) "Banning the Independents" I would like to expand on this subject. As an FAA-certificated A&P with an Inspection Authorization (IA) who happened to have small independent business several years ago, I know the hardships of dealing with airport managers. I too have battled the...October 1, 2008
The letter about being frustrated and unhappy by Bjorn Rafnar ( AM, August/September 2008) is all too close to home. What is happening is that the independent FAA-licensed mechanic and inspector is being put out of the business of providing superior maintenance on aircraft in the low end of the spectrum, such as antiques, classics, and the otherwise relatively low-cost end of the aviation spectrum. As a...September 1, 2008
Mr. Rafnar is unhappy about being told by a local airport authority that he cannot perform maintenance on the airport without insurance. For the first part of his comments, see the August edition of Aviation Maintenance. — Editor ... There is simply no easy answer at this time. We need more numbers. I have been working with PAMA for almost two years in trying to solve this problem. Certainly the...August 1, 2008
Please consider, when reading the Advisory Circular regarding Airport Minimum Standards that they are "optional." I intend to start a new non-profit association for aircraft mechanics; although, this is very time consuming process. I spoke to [a representative of a leading insurance brokerage] on May 28, 2008 in great length. He said, "As a 30-plus year veteran of the aviation insurance...July 1, 2008
I’d like to comment on David Schober’s article, "The Economics of Aviation MX for GA" ( Aviation Maintenance, May 2008). There are many customers willing to pay first-rate labor charges for first-rate maintenance; there are far more not willing to pay even close to what a shop like ours would bill for the same type of work. Of this huge margin of customers, let’s...June 1, 2008
Trust and Collaboration are Not Dirty Words I just read your editorial "Somthing’s Amiss" (see Editor’s Notebook, AM May 2008) and felt obligated to write you with my opinion on compliance, communications, certification and accountability of the FAA and air carriers. America’s commercial airlines have grounded aircraft causing thousands of cancellations over a difference in...May 1, 2008
Mentoring: Good Business Your article on mentoring (see AM’s March 2008 Editor’s Note) was incredible. As an almost 30-year aviation employee who has worked many jobs throughout my career, luckily for me for the same company, I would have never lasted if it wasn’t for the mentoring I received from the very first day. Aviation to me is a huge team effort and for everyone to be successful...April 1, 2008
You Can’t Fight Progress It is not often that I comment these days, one way or the other, on words or positions that come from the mouth of politicians as I have come, in my old age, to hold most politicians in very low esteem. But I feel the remarks made by James P. Hoffa, the managerial and political leader of the powerful Teamsters group of labor unions while attending the Aircraft Maintenance...March 6, 2008
More GA Info Please I have picked up Aviation Maintenance off and on now since it was first published. Every once in a while there is information about the smaller general aviation aircraft. I have been working on these type of aircraft for 28 years. I have learned a lot over the years by just figuring out problems during routine maintenance or performing annual inspections, which as an IA, I average 45...February 1, 2008
Safe Management I commend Bart Crotty on a great article "Defining Safety Culture and Safety Climate," (see AM, December 2007, page 48) but the difference between culture and climate was identified by W. Edwards Deming in the 1950s and could be traced back even further. The University of Illinois research paper devised a complicated definition that has previously been simply and eloquently...January 1, 2008
Think Before You Begin I think that if the young people who are considering become aircraft mechanics and technicians had a read of the very interesting article about liability and mechanics found here — http://www.www.avweb.com/news/savvyaviator/savvy_aviator_51_mechanics_liability_196570-1.html?type=pf — there wouldn’t be any more people coming into the profession at all. Who in their...December 1, 2007
Only So Lucky I enjoyed reading your article "Two Kinds of People" (see AM, September 2007, page 4). The issue of duty time for mechanics is something I have thought about a lot in the last few years. I have been a mechanic/inspector working in the aviation industry for about 20 years now. I was always employed by government contractors or worked for the majors in one form or another. "Duty...
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