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Pratt & Whitney's Flying Test Bed
by Ronald Donner - Thursday May 10, 2012
Last week while attending the Pratt & Whitney Media Day event at the company headquarters in Hartford, CT, I along with others had the pleasure of going on-board one of the two Pratt & Whitney Boeing 747SP aircraft used for flight testing of turbine engines. The two 747SP aircraft are based at the Mirabel Airport near Montreal, Canada. A focus of the event was the recently developed Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbo Fan (GTF) engine. It was explained that prior to the GTF new turbine engines used for flight testing had been fitted into one of the normal engine positions of the 747SP. Not the case with this model GTF. A specially designed wing-like pylon was constructed which protruded horizontally from the right side of the SP’s upper... -
FAA 2012 Safety Stand Down
by Ronald Donner - Thursday April 26, 2012
This year’s FAA Safety Stand Down (2012 SSD), with a focus on Loss of Control is currently taking place around the country at a location near you. I participated in my local area’s SSD on a recent Saturday morning which was hosted by the local FAASTeam and held at Exclusive Aviation in St. Paul, MN. Close to 100 people were in attendance. The SSD was a news reporter and interview style format projected on a large screen in the Exclusive Aviation hangar. Dr. Katrina Avers, an FAA employee at the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) located in Oklahoma City, interview several people remotely along with having a panel of three safety experts with her. From the FAA… Loss of Control-Inflight was the dominant cause of fatal general... -
No Time for Think Time
by Ronald Donner - Thursday April 12, 2012
It goes without saying that life has become…well just very busy. Family, civic and social activities, work, and hobbies if you have time for them, our daily routine and personal lives seem to be full of activity. Unfortunately and all too often one of the last items on the to-do-list is carving out time for strategy and planning ahead, be it vacation planning, education planning, your next career move, retirement, or next week’s workload. Are we always able to accurately plan and research for the next aircraft maintenance induction, tomorrow’s meeting, the next equipment purchase, next year’s operating budget, future product and service offerings? Managing communications in today’s busy world has become nearly a full-time task... -
Readers In Action Photo Contest
by Ronald Donner - Wednesday March 28, 2012
Each year we sort through countless photos submitted by you our readers until we find that right one that says; AMT Readers In Action. It’s that time of the year again. Last year’s winning photo showed a team of US Airways technicians at work changing a tire on the main landing gear of an A330 as the aircraft was being prepared to be dispatched on an international flight. The image captured to the fullest extent AMT Readers In Action; several technicians; team work; tools and equipment; just a great photo. So get out those cameras and send us your best images showing your technicians, your crew, in the shop, hangar, ramp, flight line or assembly line, for a chance to proudly show your stuff on the cover of the June issue of AMT... -
Last Week's Cygnus Aviation Expo
by Ronald Donner - Thursday March 15, 2012
The 15 th Cygnus Aviation Expo held last week in Las Vegas, NV, was bigger and better. Just wait until next year! More than 200 exhibitors from aviation service companies for aircraft maintenance, airports, and ground support proudly displayed their latest products and services. During the Thursday evening Networking Reception Cygnus unveiled plans for next year’s new and improved show, AviationProsLIVE. The highlight event on the maintenance side was of course the AMTSociety Maintenance Skills Competition. This year 27 teams from around the world participated in this friendly competition to take home awards and thousands of dollars worth of tools. All of the winning teams and special award winners will soon be mentioned in AMT...
