TECHNICAL SUPPORT Terry L. Peed | Contributing Author
TIPS FOR THE CARE AND FEEDING OF YOUR HELICOPTER OEM TECH REPS (CSRS)
Every mechanic, at some time in his or her career, has needed the advice of another mechanic during the
troubleshooting process, even if it were only to bounce an idea off of them. Sometimes you just need to verbalize your ideas for exterminating the gremlins that are driving you and your pilots crazy. During my 45 years in helicopter maintenance, I have acquired a very respectable network of experienced mechanics/ friends who I can call on to bounce my ideas off and I know they will tell me if I am on the right track or if I am locked in tunnel vision and headed for the headlights of the train. Until you have been around a while in the helicopter maintenance industry and you have built your own network that you can trust, you can start by putting your trust in the manufacturer of the model aircraft that you are maintaining. The OEM provides technical assistance to customers operating their equipment through the services of the OEM customer technical support department. Their services are free of charge, for the most part, but more detailed support or OEM repair services may require contracting. There are technical representatives (tech reps) located at the OEM facility and who can readily fi nd answers to your questions. They have access to a vast amount of experience and information. They can go right to the engineers for answers or draw from their data banks of aircraft history. Chances are that your problem is not new or unique and someone
else has probably already experienced the same issues. They will have that history. Where do you think they get all of this information from? From people just like you who called them for help. Tech reps are located around the world. They are assigned to diff erent geographical areas to support their customers on a more personal basis. If or when they know that you are operating one of their aircraft in their area of responsibility, you can bet they will pay you a visit. Whoever you deal with, OEM or area reps, you will fi nd that they are all friendly and ready to help you get your aircraft repaired and back in service. They understand the situation you are in and want to help. They know that if you are not fl ying your aircraft, it is probably not making any money for anyone. A missed EMS fl ight can cost the hospital $10,000. Also, if you are not fl ying your aircraft, you are not buying parts. There are a number of things that you need to know and things that you can do to get the most out of their help. The more prepared you are, the smoother the experience will be. As I said earlier, they are experienced mechanics and they have become specialists of your model of helicopter, but they are also human. I have known many tech reps in my days and many of them are still friends of mine. I have compiled the following list of recommendations that I got from them that would make their lives a lot easier. When their lives are easy, they can make yours easy too.
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HelicopterMaintenanceMagazine.com April | May 2015
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