they’re not equipped with any of the advanced maintenance diagnostics or troubleshooting capabilities found on today’s large turbine aircraft.“
Say one of our fleet mechanics is going to work on a new Sikorsky or Eurocopter, he’s as likely to use a laptop as he is a wrench,” Smith said. “On the piston side of the house, we’re still dependent on doing things the same way we’ve done them all along. There’s a lot of ‘local
knowledge’ required to troubleshoot and maintain these helicopters.”
“While the S-92 may have diagnostics to assist in spotting a problem, we have a pilot/instructor or student coming back from a flight saying it’s ‘running rough and shaking’ – the possibilities are plentiful,” he said, “and there’s no system installed on these piston helicopters to help pinpoint what’s causing the problem.” Smith explained that because
troubleshooting is a learned skill, Bristow Academy invests a lot of time and money training their technicians how to do it logically and sequentially. “To be an effective troubleshooter on a helicopter you have to understand what’s happening inside the aircraft: what impacts what,” he said. “Technicians need to develop the critical thinking skills required to think in a logical progression. According to Smith the piston helicopters aren’t the only things lacking the benefits of new-generation technology and capability. From his perspective, the training new A&P technicians are receiving is also behind the proverbial power curve. “It all ties in. We get a fresh mechanic right out of school and they pretty much know nothing about helicopters. FAR147 is just not written to favor helicopters as a focus during A&P training,” he said. “We average nine months to a year before a new-hire A&P becomes a stand-alone mechanic that we can send out on the flight line or get involved in an inspection without supervision.” “Unfortunately, you can’t pick the
required skills up in a school or type rating course,” Smith said. “We can’t pay anyone to instill this type of knowledge. We have to do it all in-house.” While training up fresh A&P’s is one option, in an effort to make Bristow’s training efforts more cost-effective and efficient, Smith explained that Bristow Academy started its own “ab intio-type” apprentice program for new helicopter mechanics a few years ago. “Instead of trying to retrain people, we look for prospects who are mechanically inclined and who have the right attitude for working on helicopters,” he said. “We assign them to a team and then train them to the FAR requirements.” “It takes about three-years to get them qualified for their A&P and it’s been successful so far,” Smith said. “We are limited on the number of people we can bring in so it doesn’t quite keep up with our attrition rate, but we have produced some fantastic helicopter A&P’s through the program.”
Smith said that unfortunately talent attracts attention and that Bristow Academy’s maintenance facility has become a hotbed for helicopter technician head hunting. “The skills, professionalism and experience that our technicians have makes them ideal for moving to turbine maintenance,” Smith said. “The larger
20 Aviation Maintenance |
avm-mag.com | February / March 2013
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