D.O.M. Blogs

May 24 is AMT Day. It is the birth date of Charles E. Taylor, the machinist who worked at the Wright Brothers' bicycle shop in Dayton OH and built the engine that propelled the Wrights into history. Taylor is known as the "father of aircraft maintenance."

This year marks 16 years of celebrating AMT Day. Richard "Dilly" Dilbeck was instrumental in getting the first State AMT Day resolution passed in California in 2002. 

As I write this blog, it is the end of the first day of the MRO Americas trade show. The Aerospace Maintenance Competition is being held in conjunction with the show, and our both is right across the competition arena. It has been a fun day seeing the teams compete!

The Aerospace Maintenance Competition presented by Snap-on (AMC) will take place April 9-12 at the Orange County Convention Center in conjunction with MRO Americas. The AMC provides an opportunity for current and future aviation maintenance professionals to showcase their abilities as they compete against their peers from around the world in five-member teams. The teams compete in timed events that test their skills and knowledge.

As I mentioned before, I’m not a fan of New Year’s Resolutions. It seems too many people make unrealistic resolutions and set themselves up for failure year after year. However, we can all improve personally and professionally by setting realistic goals and striving to achieve them!

Here’s an idea for a 2018 goal – consider fielding a team in the annual Aerospace Maintenance Competition presented by Snap-on (AMC)!

This year, the AMC will be held April 9-12 in Orlando, FL in conjunction with MRO Americas.

I recently came across a quote on leadership that has been on mind for a few days:

A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit. 

Arnold H. Glasow

Being a leader isn't about how great we can become. It's about how great we can make those around us!

I've interviewed a lot of maintenance managers since launching D.O.M. magazine in 2008. There were some good leaders and some great ones. Those I would consider great had some traits in common:

I received a press release this morning from Star Jets International. As part of the release, Star Jets announces that is will now accept Bitcoin as a payment mechanim for its private jet services. While bitcoin has been used for quite a few years, this is the first time I have heard of it being used in aviation.

The National Business Aviation Association Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) is just around the corner. From October 10-12, the D.O.M. magazine team will be at NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas, NV along with around 27,000 business aviation professionals from around the world at the sixth largest trade show in the United States. 

On June 16, I wrote a blog titled Don't Follow Your Passion. I discussed how Mike Rowe had suggested that passion isn't enough to ensure success and happiness. I wanted to get your thoughts on the subject. In case you missed it, you can read that blog HERE. 

A reader sent me the following response, and I feel compelled to share it with 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.