AVIONICS
the troubleshooting has to be done on the ground with built-in test (BIT). If you do not know where to start look- ing, pack a lunch — you will be there a while.
Beginning to troubleshoot To begin troubleshooting any avionics system, there are a few general rules that should always be followed. 1: The pilot has written up a squawk that a system is not working correctly or has failed. Firstly, identify the system. Remember our friends cause and effect.
2. Secondly, verify the squawk. Is the system actually operating out of its normal parameters? Are all of the switches and circuit breakers in their correct operating positions? Before we can say that a system is not oper- ating correctly, we need to understand what correctly is. What flags and/or failure indications were displayed on flight deck displays?
3. Is the squawk specific in nature or very general in its terminology? If need be, is the pilot available to shed additionally light on the problem? I have seen write ups that were borderline ridiculous. You might have seen some yourself. Squawk: Left engine missing. Signoff: Found left engine on left wing. Squawk: Noise in cabin sounds like mouse. Signoff: Put cat in cabin, check next flight. Squawk: Dead bugs on aircraft windshield
Signoff: Cleaned off dead bugs and put live bugs on order.
The better the information the pilot can provide, the
more helpful it is in helping you determine where the problem is. Some helpful information in the write-up would be: when does the problem exhibit itself? All the time or only during a particular part of the flight? Above or below a particular altitude or airspeed? When the pilot talks on the radio? What flags or messages, if any, are in view on the flight deck displays?
4. Are the pilot and maintenance manuals on the aircraft and system the latest and greatest? Are the latest revisions to the manuals available? If your manuals are out of date, so is your ability to troubleshoot.
5. Is there a maintenance specialist who has been prop- erly trained on the system in question? I don’t mean in a two-week aircraft familiarization class where only three hours were spent in total on all the avionics sys- tems. I mean a technician who has attended a factory school on the system to become qualified to trouble- shoot and maintain the system to the LRU level. This person has also gone for refresher training every 24 or 36 months. If the answer to any of these five rules is no, then you have
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put yourself at a serious disadvantage to get it right the first time. Recognize your strengths and weaknesses. If you do not have the strengths to troubleshoot this system, then don’t. Find a maintenance technician or even another organization that is qualified to do so. Troubleshooting is a little bit science, a little bit art and a little bit tribal knowledge, depending on what type of system you are working on. The science part is pretty straight forward and is called out in the ICA. The art part comes from experience over time. The tribal knowledge part is for somethings you will never find written down in an ICA. That part will be learned the hard way, through long hours of work. I sug- gest you have a book in the shop where you can build this tribal knowledge base. Consider this for input: • Aircraft serial number • Date of squawk • What was done procedurally? • What was the corrective action? Over time, this becomes a wealth
of information to be built upon and becomes a valuable tool for all concerned. In our next issue, we will continue with troubleshooting tips for a variety of today’s avionics systems. Part two will focus on helpful tips to follow when troubleshooting various avionic systems.
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