When buying an aircraft, a good pre-purchase evaluation is the best possible use of time and money. Over the years, I have participated in hundreds of these evaluations and have always, without exception, discovered details needing attention and questions needing answers.

In a recent survey of domestic and international repair stations certificated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), more than half of those responding (57 percent) indicated they struggle to obtain instructions for continued airworthiness (ICA) from one or more manufacturers.

Part two of a three-Part Series

Maintenance facilities continue to struggle with the issue of compliance with a “current” manufacturer’s maintenance program as required by FAR 43.13(a). Although the FAA has provided some guidance on this issue, situations continue to arise that present unanswered compliance questions.

In problem solving part one, we delved into identifying the problem and the difference between a problem and symptom. Part two worked on analysis of the problem and now we are going to start to collect data, analyze that data and identify the root cause.

You have probably heard someone in your company make the statement “we’re all salesmen.” This usually happens in the third or fourth quarter of the fiscal year when executives are making a companywide push to make their year-end sales numbers.

I write this column as I am catching up from NBAA2012. The D.O.M. magazine staff attended the NBAA show last week in full force and had a productive show.