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In this publication we pay tribute to the personnel who are key to the operation and safety of the airline industry., we refer to the mechanics of airplanes.
Post written by: William Casalins
Aeronautic engineer
FIA Foundation
The aviation industry is the safest of all, Air transport is a leader in safety and a good part of that depends on the manufacturing and maintenance sector, However, everything around you is important to maintain that record.
aircraft mechanics
Certainly the flight of an aircraft is a wonderful thing., magical; It is something that human beings have always longed for.. We cannot achieve it on our own, so we depend on a machine to do it, an ingenuity that has been developed for more than a century but that has been so dizzying that there are already machines on Mars and leaving the solar system, and even more incredible, human footprints on the surface of the moon.
The first time I was in the cabin of an airplane, in the old land (Valledupar) I only had 11 years and I had sneaked out to go airplane watching at the local airport, Next to it there was a fumigation track with a pair of Piper Pawnee made of pipe and fabric., I got on the wing and saw all the instruments, They were a few minutes of happiness, before they took me out of the place, but the damage was already done, fell in love with the machine, much more than when I saw them passing very low by my house.
I thought that those who built them were supernatural beings and those who fixed them were also supernatural beings., A few years later I became one of them, after studying at a school in the Colombian state El SENA, the national aviation mechanics center, in the city of Barranquilla.
A group of young people from different regions of the country, competing to see which was the best. All with different accents but without a doubt with something in common, love for airplanes.
We learned, among other things, basic aerodynamics, riveted, filed, court, materials, aircraft systems, aeronautical phraseology, aeronautical hardware, weld, electricity, some English and a lot of professional ethics.
In those days there were very few women, but that cchanged in a very short time, becoming almost half and half, Then we found out that in the United States, Almost all aircraft builders in World War II were women, the men were on the front lines, there I learned Rosie's story, the riveter, fighters and bombers, warships and tanks were made with delicate hands. At that time, young mechanics also competed to earn their promotion to flight engineers., but not all bosses were willing to release their best mechanics who were their right hands in a era when the aircraft systems were not so sophisticated and a good eye and a lot of study could recognize the failure and the solution, many times on planes loaded with passengers ready to be dispatched, burst cylinders in multi-row radial engines and those “crazy people” who changed them in less than an hour and a half, They didn't even let it cool. You knew you were improving when you were assigned to flight protection, you weren't walking anymore, they levitated.
Nowadays things are stricter, the planes are huge and more sophisticated, A mechanic is not allowed to do a job if he does not have the manual open, an inspector receives his work and the engineering people had already defined it before someone got their hands on it. Safety (safety) at work it is a priority and it is not accepted that it be overlooked just because of the rush to put a plane into service. It goes without saying that you have equipment worth millions in your hands and that serious damage would result in incalculable losses even just in lost profits..
The specialties are a crossroads, what to choose? engines?, structures, avionics?
Being part of this wonderful team is not free., if you don't study and update yourself, you fall further behind every day until the moment that your knowledge is worthless, sophistication does not stop, What was current two years ago is already obsolete today, That's why airplanes are no longer made to last so many decades., electronics, and the study of new materials go almost at the same cruising speed as modern airplanes, The plane “tells” you long before landing where the fault is and what equipment you should change., to the pilot, literally accuses him, if you perform a procedure that is outside the operating standards.
Some time ago (enough already) a cargo plane was ready to be towed, a Caravel SE210, It was about midnight, The plane had electric ignition and when the first engine started there was no rotation, They tried with the other one and he didn't do it either., ni modo, the batteries had failed or something in their system (I had a lot of batteries, several relays and even great electrical resistance, several attempts and nothing, The most experienced mechanics arrived and changed the batteries and resistance, anything, the fault persisted. A young intern said: it's not the electrical system, I went down to see and went up again, “starter motors turn”, you're crazy, said one of the maintenance CACAOS and low' let's see, Indeed the electric starter motors turned but the turbine did not., the boy was right, the fuse shafts had been sheared, I silently watched the entire scene and felt great admiration for the intern., I knew I had a great future and after two years I was already taking a flight engineer course at the B 727.
When one visits a hangar for an engine change, everything is a choreography, Each one has their specific duties and only one person directs everything., several voices cannot be heard at the same time. Impeccable uniforms and branded tools, of which they are proud.
I always get to fly, I start my plane check long before I get on it, one of the boys accompanies me to do the walk around and I explain things to him, I know the tires are at the correct pressure, that there are no fluid leaks, that everything in sight is perfect (Many eyes before mine have already thoroughly checked it) I get on the plane and I have no doubt that what is NOT seen is also perfectly fine because those who repaired it are all PROFESSIONALS.. One of my favorite maintenance managers is El PERRI, He has many tattoos and sings in a Punk band, He is all smiles and his subordinates adore him., never stops studying, If you tell me that the plane is good (even if I see him beaten) I get on without hesitation.
I also have a degree in maintenance and several technical licenses, and although now the boys like to be called technicians, I preferred the term AVIATION MECHANIC, as it appears on my SENA diploma.
Salomon Rodriguez, an old and reliable airplane mechanic who after being in the yard for many years went on to become an engineering engineer. Boeing 727, They checked us the same day in the simulator (day I turned my first 30 years) and we couldn't be happier, He had already flown before as a flight mechanic for all Caravelle SE models. 210, a beautiful French two-turbine plane. He recently left this world, his thousands of hours of flight and his countless model airplanes that he liked to build and fly, an example of honesty and dedication, plus a great love for machines that fly.
GO IN PEACE MY DEAR FRIEND.
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