ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
on them and my wives didn’t feel that going out in public with a company uniform shirt was acceptable. I was proud to be in uniform and represent my company by displaying my name on my chest with the company logo. I guess our appearance and personal hygiene are the first things to suffer and we accept it with our addiction. We just aren’t welcome in public. There are some very unscrupulous people who prey on us mechanics. In the 1960s, a band wrote a song about them called “The Pusher.” You know who I am talking about — the dealers who drive around in their big, shiny tool trucks, pushing their wares on us addicts. They are all nice guys, but it all starts the same. They usually want to front you some credit so you can get started. “Just try my tools. Look how it makes you feel to have these new tools. Get that new toolbox and you will be indestructible.” Then, after a couple of years, you are sharing your paycheck with these dealers and your family. You are one of those guys who wanders around the hangar, asking; “Has anyone has seen the tool guy lately? Where is he, I need him now.” You’ve got a “Monkeywrench on your back!”
The other kind of person that is the biggest enabler of our addiction is the pilot. Evil, pure evil they are!!!! I know you all have a story or two about pilots. He or she know’s that you can’t resist a problem with the aircraft. Most won’t just come out and tell you they have a broken aircraft, they play these little games with you that are sure to leave you wanting more. Example: “I was flying along this morning and all of a sudden, there was this little bump or something. I looked at my gauges and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. I couldn’t get it to do it again. I told Joe Blowhard (the pilot that flew it yesterday) and he said it happened to him too. What do you think it was? I’m not going to ground it but what do you think?” They know you are going to obsess on this until you find the problem resulting in loss of sleep, concentration and appetite. If they don’t have anything to fix on the aircraft, they want you to work on a home project that they have. Pilots don’t want you to quit your addiction. They think they will lose you if they don’t find something for you to do. After my second marriage failed, I was single for many
years, so I dedicated myself to my job. It got a little lonely though. I finally met a woman and fell in love. I got married ten years ago. She’s a mechanic too. We have so much in common. It was great for a while but I realized that she had more tools than I did and she doesn’t like to share. She doesn’t like the way I leave them laying around when I am done with them. She started putting them away and locking them up. That’s ok, I know where to buy more! The problem with having an addiction like wrenching
is that you can’t always indulge in that addiction. I know, we try to fix things around the house but it’s not the same. We can’t always wrench so we replace that addiction with other addictions. We go to mechanic refresher/IA renewal
seminars. We get away from home, our work and our tools. How many of you go the night before? Now, how many of you just go to the bar? Now, what do ALL of you talk about while you are out with the other mechanics? I’m guessing WORK! Broken aircraft, discrepancies that are driving you crazy and pilots that are, well, “PILOTS!” I know – I’ve been there. We can’t help it, can we? It drives my wife crazy. I get with a few friends after work and all we talk about, is work. I thought I was able to kick my addiction a while back. I took a job as chief inspector at my previous employer. You know, put your tools away and supervise other mechanics. With my years of experience, I thought maybe I could do some good. My blood pressure had dropped and my hands were healing (hardly any scars). No more tools, but then I had books. I dealt with a higher class of “enablers” — the FAA and the regulations. I dealt with laws and insurance and liabilities. Oh no, I had become become a lawyer. I’d hit rock bottom. Where could I go from there? I had moved past the wrenching and the high I would
get. It was days of going over work orders and going over them again. I would write up two or three drafts of the logbook entry and send it to our customers so their stable of lawyers could approve it. I’d get it back and do the required revisions. I’d send it back for final approval then type up the final draft of the approved logbook entry. I then usually meet with my supervisors so we could draw straws to see who signs it off. Usually, I just volunteered because my kids were already grown, and I was closer to death anyway. I had a lot less to lose because of the liability. I’m sad to say I have regressed in my addiction. I’m back to actively wrenching. My peers and I perform maintenance, troubleshooting and sneaking into the maintenance office to put down a “couple of lines” on a logbook entry sign off! Oh yeah, I’m back! What a high! I hope you aren’t getting the wrong idea about my life.
I wouldn’t have changed a thing. (Well, almost nothing.) I just wanted to share my story with you at this AMA meeting so that maybe you could recognize your own symptoms and get the help I never did. I hope you enjoyed my observations, and I would just
like to leave you with one truth before I go. I’m in denial. I am not really an aircraft mechanic, I can quit anytime I want to — if I wanted to!
Terry L. Peed has been working in the aviation industry for more than 46 years. He is a Vietnam- era Navy veteran and is a graduate of Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University with an associate of science degree in aviation maintenance. Peed holds an A&P certificate with IA. He is employed
by Air Methods Corporation as a field base mechanic at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI. You can contact him at
terrypeed@yahoo.com.
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HelicopterMaintenanceMagazine.com June | July 2016
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