There are a wide variety of new tools and products out in the marketplace that have been designed to help mechanics and MROs do their work more efficiently, and to keep employees safe and organized. All these products are designed with two things in mind, safety and the bottom line. If, for example, an inflatable…

For anyone working in the aviation field, it should be no shock that the role FAA plays in our industry has changed over the last several years. The trend started decades ago with the pilot community when FAA no longer provided check rides and written tests, in favor of transferring those activities to persons “Designated”…

Every time I teach a Human Factors (HF) course, I always like to talk about the little things. What I mean by the little things is screws, bolts, fasteners and other types of hardware. The things that can probably fit in the palm of your hand and only cost a few dollars. Yet, these little…

Thailand’s government is offering enticing tax and visa incentives for companies to bring aerospace and MRO businesses to their country. They believe their location, labor costs, technical base and work ethics make it the ideal location for those looking to benefit from the coming Asian aviation boom. When you think of Thailand, what comes to…

Borescopes are at least as important to engine health as endoscopes are to human health – probably much more so. The aviation gear is used daily to visually check engine innards for cracks and other damage. The scopes shine a light on turbine blades and other components to assess their condition without having to take…

“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…