Aviation technology is developing at a rapid pace — especially in small unmanned air vehicles (sUAV). Some recent sUAV flights pushed the envelope by proving a concept that is, well, screwy.
I’m sure all of you have seen Leonardo da Vinci’s drawing of his aerial screw design. Back in the late 1480s, he envisioned this concept of how a person might be able to take flight.
There are many things you can do to advance your career. Getting a degree is one thing that can give you a leg up in career advancement.
If you have already have a bachelor’s degree, you may want to consider obtaining a master’s degree. One option that makes it easier for aviation maintenance professionals to get their master’s degree is Purdue University’s online master’s program from its School of Aviation and Transportation Technology.
Every year, millions of people make New Year's Resolutions. Every year, more than 80 percent of those resolutions fail. That's why I believe it's not a good idea to make New Year's Resolutions in the first place!
Many New Year's Resolutions fail because the resolutions are unrealistic, unattainable or not well-defined.
Do you want to make a New Year's Resolution? How about resolving to start setting SMART goals!
We all need to set goals. Without goals, we wander through our career and personal life aimlessly — letting things happen as they will.
"Be here now." I first heard of that saying when watching the Netflix documentary of the same name (it's no longer available on Netflix). Be Here Now shares the story of Andy Whitfield, the actor who played Spartacus on the Netflix series Spartacus. It is a story of how he approached his journey battling cancer. He chose not to worry about what happened the day before or what might happen the next day. He chose to be here now — to be present and not fear what he didn't know. To enjoy each and every moment he could.
How are your troubleshooting skills? A past discussion with a manufacturer’s tech rep seems to suggest mechanics who have good troubleshooting skills are not as common as they once were. “Good troubleshooters are few and far between,” he says. “A good troubleshooter is worth his or her weight in gold! Many mechanics these days don’t have any troubleshooting skills. If they get in a bind, they just call us to solve their problem.”
“To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory.” — President Woodrow Wilson, 1919, in proclaiming Armistice Day (which would later become Veterans Day) on the anniversary of the end of World War I.
On November 11, we celebrate Veterans Day here in the U.S. We'd like to thank all of our veterans who have served our country!
I received a press release from PIA two weeks ago sharing that one of its Hagerstown A&P students, Elise Krause, was the recipient of the Mike Rowe Work Ethic Scholarship.
As part of the release, it mentioned that Krause took the “S.W.E.A.T. Pledge.” My curious mind led me to find out what the S.W.E.A.T. pledge is all about. I was pleasantly surprised to learn what the pledge entails. Here are the 12 parts of the pledge:
I just learned a new word — phubbing. It's a combination of the words "phone" and "snubbing." I learned of the word while reading an article from the University of Georgia that came in my daily news brief. You can read the article HERE.
A&P mechanics are trained in a variety of disciplines. I can't think of any other training that provides the diverse knowledge A&Ps have — sheet metal repair, welding, hydraulics, piston and turbine engine, non-destructive testing and others. The list goes on and on,
That vast training and knowledge is why some A&P students never end up working on aircraft. They are recruited by other industries such as the railroad and amusement park industries.
Aviation is a welcoming commuity of professionals. In the 33 years I've been in the industry, I've met many great people. One of the great ones was Dana Kerrick. He helped me out with numerous articles for Helicopter Maintenance magazine over the years. He was always willing to help out whenever I had any questions about helicopter rotor inspection and repair. Ufortunately, Dana is no longer with us. He passed away on May 21. Here is an announcement from International Aviation Composites, Ltd.
Aviation management and leadership is an essential part of modern society. As we take to the skies, the safety of passengers and team members alike rely not just on those in the cockpit but also the people on the ground. Having the technical skills is an obvious requirement, but there are also a host of soft skills that make up a great aviation leader.
As many readers know, I have been a critic of social media for some time. I personally believe it should be called "Unsocial Media." After all, there’s nothing social about staring at your phone or computer and “interacting” with other people. At first, platforms like Facebook seemed like a good opportunity to connect with friends and family. Now, many people use social media platforms to spew their biased opinions and post negative comments that they would never do in traditional social situations. We have a generation of kids who have no social interaction skills.
For this blog, I wanted to take a moment to share the news of the passing of Mike O'Leary. O'Leary was an A&P, pilot and avionics technician. He enjoyed aviation, and gave back to our industry — a mark of a true professional. The following is a press release from AEA, where O'Leary served as the association's longest-serving chairman.
The Aircraft Electronics Association is saddened to learn of the passing of Michael (Mike) J. O’Leary, who died Feb. 14 at the age of 69 following complications from COVID-19.
The helicopter Ingenuity reported in on February 19. The downlink, sent to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, indicated that the helicopter and its base station were operating as expected.
By the way, in case you haven't heard, Ingenuity is a helicopter that landed on Mars February 18 with the Mars Perseverance Rover. If all upcoming tests go according to plan, we could soon have the first helicopter fiight on another planet!
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).
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