“All you have to say is this…‘I don’t care what it costs.’ And then, of course, you’ve got to really mean it, which, of course, no one ever does.”— Quote from 1999 movie “Blast from the Past” When it comes to PA-22 rebuilds, there are good Tri-Pacers and there are great Tri-Pacers, but there is…

Wrecent post I made on the Facebook “FAA Inspection Authorization and Inspectors” page stirred up a lot of unexpected controversy. The original post referred to a component fabricated in the course of maintenance, and how an FAA Aircraft Certification Office inspector threatened the person performing the maintenance with a violation unless he got a Field…

In June of 1958, I graduated from Manhattan High School of Aviation Trades with honors. In July of 1958, at 17 years old, I got hired by Pan American World Airways as a temporary aircraft cleaner. Pan Am was not hiring any aircraft mechanics then. I was given a commitment to work through Labor Day…

Driven by e-commerce and express services, especially in the Asia Pacific region, the passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversion market looks good, especially in the narrow-body niche. Although air cargo transport is cyclical and subject to trade politics, volumes are still growing and OEM forecasts are optimistic. Although the basic processes are well understood, conversions involve major design…

Airbus has launched first operations of a new Skywise service – Skywise Health Monitoring (SHM) on Allegiant Air’s A320s. Together with Skywise Reliability Services (SRS) and Skywise Predictive Maintenance (SPM), SHM is hosted on Skywise, gathering live diagnostic feeds from the aircraft through its ACARS link to the airline’s information system. Airbus says using the…

Delta Air Lines estimates hiring 500 mechanics this year. The company says it’s on track to double its TechOps business in the next five years, from $1 billion to $2 billion in revenue. Embraer will double the 100 commercial jet aircraft maintenance services jobs they expected to bring to Macon, Georgia, the company said only…

Not a day goes by without news of massive cyber attacks. Attackers have hoovered up valuable personal information on hundreds of millions, even billions of people. On-line communities, banks, credit bureaus, hotels, governments — and, yes, even airlines — have been hacked. Given years of escalating threats, what’s surprising is the unevenness of the aviation…

From airframe-specific Health Usage and Management Systems (HUMS) to portable rotor track and balancing units, there are a lot of advanced technology tools available to help keep helicopters flying smoother, safer and more efficiently. Unlike the pampered “keep the passenger happy” lives enjoyed by the typical corporate or commercial aircraft, the average helicopter has to…

Corrosion is a fact of life. From the factory to the flight line to the MRO hangar aircraft manufacturers, operators, and maintainers aim to manage it so that airplanes can fly as safely and as long as possible. According to the latest report from LMI, the U.S. military’s corrosion cost tracking contractor, the U.S. armed…

After my engagement dissolved, and she and I sold our house near Dallas where we’d lived several years together (cue the music: All of My Exes Live in Texas), I rented an apartment while I dreamed of what my next significant place should look like—and as a pilot, those dreams had an aerial view. A…