Blog Archives
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Airworthiness Directives
- Thursday April 21, 2011Reading one of the many aviation news outlets this week an issue caught my attention. The Federal Register, dated April 14, 2011/Proposed Rules contains a notice by the FAA they are considering issuing a legal interpretation on various provisions in 14 CFR Part 39 relating to Airworthiness Directives (AD). The FAA’s Organization and Procedures Working Group of the AD Implementation Aviation Rulemaking Committee has requested this legal interpretation in order to help resolve a number of issues being debated within the working group. This notice in the Federal Register is two and a half pages in length containing some detailed language describing several of the individual AD rules, the debate, and what the clarification or legal... -
Heli-Expo 2011
- Thursday March 10, 2011Staff from AMT magazine attended the Helicopter Association International’s Heli-Expo 2011 this week. Early estimates from HAI indicate numbers close to 20,000 with 625 exhibitors. Many of the helicopter manufacturers displayed new models and there have also been reports that the helicopter manufacturers in attendance came away with orders for new helicopters. Exhibitors overwhelmingly had positive comments and a feeling that this segment of aviation is experiencing some upward movement. During Monday’s Annual General Membership Meeting, Phil Randall, the FAASTeam assistant national manager, presented the Charles Taylor “Master Mechanic†Award to HAI’s Harold Lee Summers. We’ll have more on Mr. Summers... -
A High-Tech Toolbox ...
- Thursday February 24, 2011FOD control by Snap-on Last month I attended an event in Dallas, Texas, hosted by Snap-on Tools. Some 500 Snap-on Industrial staff were there attending a variety of activities such as sales sessions, technical seminars, and more. A large display area showcased some of the latest products from Snap-on. The Level 5 ATC tool control system was highlighted as the latest product from Snap-on designed to control the issue of tools and eliminate potential foreign object damage (FOD) in a maintenance or production environment that may be caused by lost or unaccounted for tools. This high-tech toolbox records transactions including who removed a tool, when it was removed, when it was replaced, identifies that correct tools are placed back in... -
Safety Management Systems
- Thursday February 10, 2011Last week AMT posted a news item regarding the FAA had validated the implementation of US Airways’ Safety Management System (SMS). www.amtonline.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=1&id=12653. The report stated that it was one of the first U.S. airlines to receive the FAA's validation of the company-wide implementation of the program, which at this time is still a voluntary program. Also in the news this week was a report the FAA extended the NPRM comment period for the SMS rule until March 8, 2011. The extension came as a result of several of the aviation alphabet groups primarily relating to general aviation, repair stations, and aircraft parts and manufacturing, jointly having made the request to extend the comment period. This... -
Light Sport Aircraft
- Thursday January 20, 2011Today marks the opening of the U.S Sport Aviation Expo held at Sebring Regional Airport in Florida. You can visit www.sport-aviation-expo.com for more information. I’ve never attended this annual event; although several people I know regularly attend. Having always been engaged in recreational aviation I like many in the industry have watched the introduction of the Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) and the Sport Pilot (SP) certificate. The LSA continues to evolve and slowly trend upwards as a new market. Granted there are those LSA that have transitioned from the ultralight world, but on the other side there are new LSA of traditional design and constructed methods and new designs including the use of advanced composites and modern... -
History Is Everything
- Thursday January 6, 2011I returned from my last trip to headquarters with a large and heavy box containing what I was told are all the past issues of AMT Magazine. I must admit this heavy box remained in the trunk of the car for awhile. It eventually made its way into the house and because it was near the holidays and I was in no hurry to open it for fear I would add to the clutter by having more magazines around. Ultimately I moved the box to my office and after finally opening it I soon realized what I really had was a great holiday gift. As I page through past issues it’s interesting to see the many names and faces of the previous AMT staff, article contributors, and names and faces of people in the news. Some of these same people I’ve met yet... -
Happy Holidays
- Tuesday December 21, 2010As the end of the year approaches I thought I’d look back at some of my past blogs. I can’t recap all of them so here are a few highlights. I reported on attending several aviation trade shows. Both attendees and exhibitors expressed mixed comments on the state of the industry. Some segments of the industry reporting business was doing well and others not so well. Some segments have been affected much greater than others with very mixed conclusions. All reports are a slow recovery from the difficult economic times is ahead. In June I spoke about AMT Day and attending a local FBO picnic to celebrate. How many of you celebrated AMT Day? I also mention a few “Aviation Vets†I had the privilege to... -
French Court Ruling
- Thursday December 9, 2010This week a French court ruled that Continental Airlines and Continental Airlines technician John Taylor were guilty of involuntary manslaughter for their respective roles in the Air France Concorde accident. Some of you may have been following the trial which began earlier in the year relating to the crash of an Air France Concorde nearly 10 years ago. You can read all about it on a variety of aviation news sources including AMTOnline. Continental Airlines spokesman Nick Britton summed it up very well in a Houston Chronicle article by saying, "Portraying the metal strip as the cause of the accident and Continental and one of its employees as the sole guilty parties shows the determination of the French authorities to shift... -
FAA to Clarify "Actively Engaged"
- Thursday November 18, 2010Last week Friday the FAA released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to as they put it, “…clarify the term actively engaged for the purposes of application and renewal of an inspection authorization.†Docket ID No: FAA-2010-1060. There’s a very short comment period for this Proposal. Comments must be received on or before December 6, 2010 and the FAA intends for this clarification to be in effect for the next IA renewal cycle in March 2011. The FAA implies in the NPRM that they wouldn’t have had to follow the NPRM process; essentially advising industry. However, as they put it, because of widespread confusion and inconsistent interpretation of actively engaged, they are publishing the proposed amendment... -
Recognition
- Thursday November 4, 2010There are several ways of recognizing the efforts of individual aviation professionals these days. For technicians a couple well-known achievement awards are the FAA Charles E. Taylor Master Mechanic Award for achieving 50 years in aircraft maintenance, and the General Aviation Awards program which annually recognizes the efforts and achievements of an individual Aircraft Maintenance Technician and an Avionics Technician. My associate Tom Hendershot, executive director of the AMTSociety International, was recently inducted into the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame. What a dedicated individual Tom is. You can read about this achievement on AMTOnline so I won’t repeat all of his history. Tom is also a recipient of the Charles E...
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