Your Input is Needed

The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded a contract to Safety Research Corporation of America, LLC (SRCA), of Daleville, AL, for the rewrite of Advisory Circulars 65-12 and 65-15 (Airframe and Powerplant Mechanics Powerplant and Airframe handbooks, respectively).

These handbooks, first published in the mid-1970s, have been used as training and testing source documents for some years without the benefit of an update. With the changes in technology and methodology, the FAA felt that it was appropriate to bring these reference texts into the 21st century.

SRCA is currently working with industry leaders and suppliers to determine critical content for the handbooks, and will be hosting an industry conference in Destin, FL, in March 2008. Input from individuals is also wanted. AMTs are encouraged to review the two circulars and forward comments and suggestions to [email protected].

Bob Rendzio, president of SRCA, says, "Any input to our developmental process is of value, but we'd really like to know what the end users want to have. These two documents provide a basis for FAA knowledge tests, as well as helping establish critical tasks for the practical exams. It's important for us to find out what the "wrench-benders" need, and try to support that."

The SRCA project is expected to take two years, and the handbooks will be reprinted as FAA-H-8083-31 (Aviation Maintenance Technician – Airframe) and FAA-H-8083-32 (Aviation Maintenance Technician – Powerplant) when complete. AMTs can expect to see documents with up-to-date technology such as composites and cockpit electronics being addressed, as well as full-color graphics throughout the books.