CAREER DEVELOPMENT
me, no matter how embarrassing it might be. The crews rely on their mechanic 24/7 and you have to be married to your aircraft and program. Now this was 15 years ago and a lot of things have changed since then. I didn’t have a hangar. My aircraft was parked outside all of the time so that is where I did all of my maintenance. I wasn’t allowed to do normal maintenance on clear days when the aircraft was in service so that left weather days when the program was grounded anyway. That meant that I would do all of my maintenance and inspections out in the same weather that grounded the aircraft. Nice, huh? My program only had one mechanic: me. I had an in-town mechanic who I could get to come in and help me part time if I got approval fi rst, but not for normal maintenance. Another issue to being a lone mechanic is that any troubleshooting decisions are yours alone. You need to make the call to ground the aircraft and order parts that would keep the aircraft out of service for a day or two. What happened if you made the wrong call and it still wasn’t fi xed? This is where it is great to have other mechanics around to discuss other options that you might not have thought about. It’s always great to get other experienced mechanics’ feedback while troubleshooting. Over the years, I was able to build a network of mechanics who I could call at anytime to help me. Some of them would call me late at night to get my opinion. We had to take care of each other. “I’m thirsty, how about a beer?” “No, thank you, I’m on
call.” Yes, you are and you can’t drink. I don’t have a drinking problem. I don’t drink all of the time and I don’t ever need a beer — it’s just amazing how thirsty you can get when you know you can’t have one. I understand that it’s not too bad now that almost all programs are requiring at least two mechanics or a roving mechanic that gives the full-time mechanics some time off . That is greatly needed because everyone needs some time off once in awhile. Here is another issue. I have known mechanics that went
from the hangar out to a fi eld base and within a year or so were getting divorced. When asked what happened, they would say, “I’m home too much and we can’t get along anymore.” I don’t know what to say about this but I guess it’s something to think about. Personally, I’ve never had too much time off . Let’s get back to the job now. The aircraft has broken down,
there are components that require replacement or there is a major inspection due. Unless you can get some support from your operations or some back-up help, you are it. You are the lone inspector, parts department, records department and maintenance department. You have to keep everything going towards the completion of the event and get it back in service as soon as you can. These inspections sometimes occur once a year and you have to perform tasks that you aren’t used to doing. Under normal circumstances, when your aircraft is in service, you don’t have to perform these tasks. You tend to get rusty at wrench turning. Tracking and balance takes practice to be good. There are numerous other tasks on a helicopter
that you need to perform often to be profi cient. You don’t get this practice at a fi eld base. My motor skills, using common hand tools, were diminished when I didn’t use them every day. Many major inspections and maintenance require equipment and tools that you don’t have available at your base. In a hangar, you have all kinds of work stands, ladders, cowling racks and hoists. I had nothing but a ladder. I told you that I didn’t have a hangar and I have been required to replace engines and transmissions on my helipad. I have hired local tow truck drivers to come out with their lift hooks to assist me. You need to get creative when you are working under these conditions. Here’s another curveball that your company can do to you.
Your aircraft is down for major maintenance and it is going to take a while to complete. They decide to send you a back-up aircraft so your program can continue their services. Now you have two aircraft to maintain. An aircraft rarely shows up at your base that doesn’t need anything. It’s the nature of our business. The back-up aircraft was just at another base that had a mechanic trying to get his or her aircraft done and back in service and he or she didn’t have time to work on the backup. There might be inspections due or maintenance required when it shows up at your base and it is never confi gured exactly like your aircraft. The fl ight crews need to get used to this new aircraft and it is never smooth. They usually pick it apart and you need to comply with their wishes until they feel “warm and fuzzy” about the temporary situation. During the time you are working on the backup aircraft, nothing is getting done with yours. A normal inspection that takes a week in the hangar will take you two weeks in the fi eld, and it’s sometimes hard for supervisors to accept that. I understand that many bases are requiring their mechanics to put in an eight-hour day at the hangar and still be on call. This gets diffi cult for a mechanic, as he or she is still required to be sharp after hours to address any issues that may arise with the aircraft. Most fi eld mechanics are on salary and every operator has diff erent policies on overtime pay. You might want to check that out before you take the job. The last “con” that I experienced when I was working
as a fi eld base mechanic for hospitals was the inevitable “contract time.” The hospital usually maintained a three- to fi ve-year contract with an operator, such as my company at the time, and sometimes when the contract time came around the hospital would choose a diff erent operator. Usually, the mechanics and pilots are off ered to stay and go to work for the new operator but it usually meant starting over with regards to seniority and pay. Sometimes it works out for the better, but you never know. I wanted to stay with my company. Staying with the company meant leaving the job and moving to another contract that was available. As I said, I didn’t have a family with me so it was a new adventure, but as with any adventure, there are no guarantees. It can be traumatic if you need to move a wife and family to another city. It’s more stable if you work directly for the hospital and they have their own Part 135 certifi cate.
10
HelicopterMaintenanceMagazine.com October | November 2015
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44