Aircraft maintenance is a touchy topic around the airport. There is no shortage of opinions on maintaining aircraft. Just ask them, and they will be eager to share.  Working on airplanes is like the Wild West sometimes. You have the good, the bad, and the ugly. Here are the top five attributes that should indicate your mechanic or shop is operating in the green: Certifications In the 1989 movie Parenthood, Keanu Reeves’ character states you need a license to buy a dog, drive a car, and even catch a fish. Guess what else you need a license for? If you said work on an airplane, you would b ..read more

It is springtime, and that means a return to the skies.  Recently, we cheered on Stephen Mercer as Gardner Lowe Aviation Services in Peachtree City, Georgia, put the finishing touches on his family’s 1982 Piper PA-32R-301T Saratoga. Now, it is time for the pull-offs from that job to find a new life in Corey Sampson’s Cessna 172. We have been tracking this story from the beginning with Sampson’s decision to incorporate used-serviceable material (USM) in his retrofit.  Part 1: Cessna 172 Skyhawk Avionics It is one thing to pull out the Garmin catalog and order up everything new and ..read more

The days are getting warmer, the sun is out later, and the birds are beginning to sing. Airplanes are starting to emerge from their long winter nap. Some owners use this time to catch up on maintenance, punch out those overdue squawk lists, or upgrade equipment.  Last October, we met Stephen Mercer, who had recently acquired a 1982 Piper PA-32R-301T Saratoga, which he was upgrading with safety features. I am proud to report that our Saratoga came through with flying colors. You see, the fine folks at Gardner Lowe Aviation Services in Peachtree City, Georgia, took extra special care of th ..read more

The day begins like any other. At sunrise, commute to the office, choose a parking spot, and pull in. Tap the security pad with an ID badge, flick on the lights, dock in the laptop, and start the coffee. The screen blinks to life, emails flood the inbox, and Outlook dings and pops up with the day’s first meeting. This is how the day in the life of a certified repair station begins. While the above may seem routine and mundane—no different from any other profession—it is not. Long before the day starts, scores of others are already hard at work. Teams operate in every corner of the globe, work ..read more

Twenty-four years ago, our civilization moved into a new millennium. Since then, it feels as if life sped up dramatically, and some struggle to catch their breath in the mind-numbing madness of the new age. Buzzwords abound, and with them comes a new understanding of what it takes to succeed in the 21st century. Or does it? One such word making the rounds is IoT, or the Internet of Things. Pretty fancy term, eh? OK, great, but what does it mean? Oracle explains it this way: “The Internet of Things (IoT) describes the network of physical objects—‘things’—that are embedded with sensors, softwar ..read more

Upgrades are supposed to be fun. You and your significant other are lugging carry-ons, purses, and laptop cases, slugging them back to steerage, praying for a sliver of overhead space to avoid flying with your knees up in your chest. A flight attendant spots you and comes racing in for the rescue. You and your companion have been selected for an upgrade to first class. Mimosas, here we come! Yeah, those are not the aviation upgrades we are talking about today. No, these upgrades don’t come with steamy towelettes and tons of legroom. The upgrade on the docket is a little more involved as we go ..read more

Imagine waking early on your annual family vacation day and packing the car for a trip to the airport. You arrive two hours ahead, park the car, and check the luggage. Finally, you clear security and arrive at the gate. It is packed, wall-to-wall people. You see the airplane at the gate; it cannot be long now. Suddenly, the ramp crew starts pulling bags off the airplane, and the gate agent makes an announcement via the intercom: “Ladies and gentlemen, it is my sad duty to report that our aircraft suffered a mechanical issue and cannot make today’s flight.” Now, this is typically not an issue ..read more

There comes a time when social norms fall out of and then back into favor. Take, for example, recycling. In the early days of frontier America, folks had to make do with what they had. Neighbors helped each other and reciprocated when the circumstances warranted. What was once one person’s old barn became another’s two-wheeled cart, and so forth. In the manufacturing boom of the Industrial Revolution, inexpensive goods flooded the market, and advertisers beckoned us to drop the old and replace it with the new. This seemed to work well until the 1970s when certain people despaired over the lan ..read more

When the holiday lights fade and faraway relatives return to their lands, it is finally time to pick up the pieces of your life, wipe off the New Year’s Eve glitter, and brace for the inevitable. It is time to go back to work. Ah, yes, there are reports that need writing, oil that needs changing, and wrenches that require spinning. As idle hands are the devil’s workshop, let’s take a page from our British cousins’ playbook and “best get on with it.” The year gone by, 2023, leaves us with more questions than answers, and in aircraft maintenance, that is not a good thing. We know that interest ..read more

Some have called it the most wonderful time of the year. It is a time to gather with friends and family to celebrate another year and spend a day of leisure with those closest to us. For others, Christmas Day is just another work day. I worked on Christmas Day during my stint handling line maintenance for the airlines in the early 1990s. Because I worked the second shift, I did get some time with the family in the morning before heading to the airport. These days, I make my living with the laptop and not a wrench, which means I am not walking the line or stuck at the hangar swinging gear on h ..read more