EAA Airventure Oshkosh 2017 is just around the corner. Will you be at the world's largest fly in and airshow?
Oshkosh is two weeks away. This will be my 16th year attending this great event. The D.O.M. magazine staff will be in attendance covering the events and searching for new products and services relevant to our readers.
I’ve written numerous times on the importance of passion. I guess you could say it’s a topic I’m passionate about. I believe that in order to have success and be happy, we need to be passionate about our career. If you chase the dollar, you’ll never be happy. If you follow your passion and do something you enjoy, the money takes care of itself.
Or so I thought.
Then I saw a video from Mike Rowe (of Dirty Jobs fame) talking about passion. This made me reconsider my opinion.
By now you may have heard about a mechanic in Teterboro, NJ who was allegedly fired for not signing off a fuel leak on a Falcon 20. This story has been making the rounds on social media this week.
Every now and then, the the D.O.M. magazine staff attends attends trade shows and conferences that happen to be scheduled close to each other. As chance would have it, for the next two weeks, we will be attending two shows that are not only on consecutive weeks, but also happen to be in Florida.
The ADS-B mandate is fast approaching. Some of you may think, “It’s over two and a half years away – we have plenty of time!”
I have interviewed more than 50 DOMs and maintenance managers for our profile stories in D.O.M. magazine over the years. The interviewees span many different segments of the industry and all have different backgrounds and experiences. I have learned a lot from each interview and article I have written.
I’m a fan of Jeopardy, the TV trivia show hosted by Alex Trebek. Contestants in the show compete for monetary prizes based on how they respond to the categories in increasing dollar amounts and how they wager when a Double Jeopardy clue is found. A big part of winning is also how they wager and respond to the Final Jeopardy question. It’s a fun way to learn about subjects I would have never considered exploring.
“Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.”
Heraclitus
I was reading an article today on SmartBrief.com. In the article, “Don’t assume that somebody else has it all figured out,” Elliot Begoun interviews Mark Jansen, CEO of Blue Diamond Growers. I would encourage you to read the article by clicking HERE.
We just got done wrapping up our October/November issue of D.O.M. magazine. It is our largest issue ever (100 pages) and is full of management-focused articles for aviation maintenance managers. Look for it in your mailbox next month or in electronic version next week.
I interviewed Sam Haycraft for our cover story in the October/November issue. Haycraft is the executive vice president and co-founder of West Star Aviation, I’ve known Sam for years, but learned a lot when I sat down and interviewed him for the article.
One way that non-certificated persons (non-A&Ps) can perform maintenance on U.S.-certificated aircraft is under the supervision of a person with a mechanic or repairman certificate. A recent discussion at an NBAA maintenance committee meeting got me thinking on what “under supervision” exactly means.
EAA Airventure Oshkosh 2016 is just around the corner. Will you be at the world's largest fly in and airshow?
Oshkosh is one week away. This will be my 15th year attending this great event. The D.O.M. magazine staff will be in attendance covering the events and searching for new products and services relevant to our readers.
Have you heard the news? Some big changes are being proposed to our highway system, and they could send shockwaves throughout the country. This proposed legislation would affect each and every one of us who depends on our roads and highways for transportation.
While on a drive to a recent conference, I was listening to podcasts on iTunes. One in particular caught my attention. It was discussing the Dunning-Kruger effect. As I was listening to the podcast, I kept on picturing different examples over my career where I saw this in action.
Pictured at right, Presenting sponsor Snap-on's Tom Murray (left) and John Goglia (right) with Alaska Airlines Team Seattle, winners of the 2016 William F. "Bill" O'Brien Award for Excellence in Aircraft Maintenance. Photo courtesy of Steve Staedler/Snap-on.
I attended a presentation by Dr. Tony Kern a few years ago at the NBAA Maintenance Management Conference (NBAA MMC). Dr. Kern discussed professionalism. He gave us some things to think about concerning what it means to be a true professional. Some would say they are professionals because they follow all the regulations strictly. He disagreed, saying that was akin to saying, “I do what I need to get by — I follow the MINIMUM standards.” The purpose of Dr.
Unless you work in a very small maintenance shop, chances are high your company has regular staff meetings. You might have weekly staff meetings with your shift supervisors and leads. You may need to attend regular staff meetings with upper management at your company. Staff meetings have become a way of life in many companies.
Staff meetings can be productive if done right. They can also be boring time-wasters if not done properly.
Mike Figliuolo at Thought Leaders, LLC offers three tips on making your staff meetings more productive:
Everyone probably knows a few lawyer jokes such as, “What’s the difference between a good lawyer and a bad lawyer? A bad lawyer makes your case drag on for years. A good lawyer makes it last even longer.” “How do you tell if it is really cold outside? A lawyer has his hands in his own pockets.”
We can joke about lawyers, but the sad truth is that our industry is burdened with an extreme amount of litigation. It is a scene that plays out all too often. An aviation accident happens. People are injured or killed. Lawsuits are filed seeking compensation for these injuries or deaths.
Another year has come and gone. We are in production for our Jan/Feb issue of D.O.M. magazine. It’s hard to believe we launched D.O.M. magazine almost eight years ago. Time sure flies when you are having fun!
I have interviewed many aviation maintenance managers over the years. Just about every one of them would tell you that they developed their leadership skills by observing and learning from others as they climbed their career ladders. They adapted the positive skills from great leaders and learned what not to do from bad leaders.
D.O.M. magazine is the premier magazine for aviation maintenance management professionals. Its management-focused editorial provides information maintenance managers need and want including business best practices, professional development, regulatory, quality management, legal issues and more. The digital version of D.O.M. magazine is available for free on all devices (iOS, Android, and Amazon Kindle).
Joe Escobar (jescobar@dommagazine.com)
Editorial Director
920-747-0195
Greg Napert (gnapert@dommagazine.com)
Publisher, Sales & Marketing
608-436-3376
Bob Graf (bgraf@dommagazine.com)
Director of Business, Sales & Marketing
608-774-4901