Ask an aircraft mechanic!

Got lucky really, well not so lucky. haha. During A and P school this company came in for interviews I did not interview with them because I really wanted to work in business aviation. But a few of my friends interviewed and got jobs. I took a job with Cessna Citation out of Orlando. After awhile I decided to move to Wichita to the main service center and after being with cessna 2.5 years I was laid off after the whole "CitiGrup/Chicago motors business jet fiasco" soon after everyone was selling their aircraft and dropping orders left and right from cessna. soon after that I got my notice.

Well luckily my good friend and my sisters boyfriend was working with the predators. And he handed my resume in for me and here I am 3 years later still working for them! Contracts from what ive seen are the only thing hiring right now. But i definitely wouldnt mind getting back into Business Aviation.

 

You have any experiences with the DC-10 fire bomber out there? The parent company Omni is based here in Tulsa, have the 10s in quite a bit but I'm sure that thing is a sight to see. I'm a pilot btw, respect the shit outta you guys.

 

Gulfstream Savannah is hiring like mad. I hear they are even offering sign on bounus. BTW.....I used to work for for one of the corporate aviation depts you reference in your post.

 

actually one of my buddies hired on about 5.5 years ago there! Id consider it after a few more years of this. Cant beat the pay at the moment.

 

This is a photo from the wing of my American Airlines flight from LAX to Miami.

I noticed on the ground that rivets were missing. 37k feet in the air these panels were pulled up and against the remaining rivets. Is this safe???

 

First and foremost, If you ever see anything that is questionable like that notify a flight attendant and do so so no one else hears you to not create panic, It may be something minor, it may not be. The flight attendant will more than likely notify the pilot and he will make the call.

What do you men the panel was pulled up? could you describe it more. I find it hard to believe the panel was coming off. If it was there would be fuel leaking around it.

What aircraft was this on? a MD-80?

not only is that panel held on by rivets but more than likely sealed on the bottom and be very tough to come off. If for some reason fuel isn't directly under that panel the plane would be absolutely fine, even if it were leaking fuel and the pilot knew about it he would have plenty of time to land safely without incident. The wings are incredibly strong and could easily handle a missing piece like that. My main concern if it was an MD-80 (engines at the rear of the plane not under the wings) it could easily be sucked into the engine and it would be in alot more trouble.

 

Click the pic so you can zoom in.



This was a 777, which I usually feel very safe in. Noticed the rivets missing when I was on the ground, and when I woke up in the air and peeked out I noticed this section had pulled away from the wing unlike anything I've ever seen while flying.

By missing rivets, I mean there were no tops to the holes. Just holes. By pulled up, I mean the right panel had a bend-point at the first rivet, and where the panels came together there was a definite rise (my uneducated guess is an inch).

I didn't tell the stewardess b/c we were already up there and if it hadn't come apart yet.... My biggest fear was it ripping off and hitting the tail wing.

Whaddya think?

 

T7s are great airplanes with only two haul losses (that I'm aware of off the top of my head) in 17+ years of operation. Those haul losses did not result in any death and only one occured in flight....okay it actually occuredon the ground but, started on (very short for a 777) final. I believe 1 death has resulted where a 777 is involved and it was a ground ops employee as a result of some aircraft fueling trouble.

That being said, I would have quietly notified a crew member (before push back would be preferred but at any time even if during flight). Even though I can't tell details by looking at the picture, there are situations where a certain amount of attach hardware is allowed not to be installed. However, distortion of attached panels should not occur.

 

I'm guessing all the fasteners were there, just not visible. I'm also betting they are screws, not rivets. Hence the missing paint on the heads from removal and install.

 

Yeah, I've only heard of one problem w/ a 777, and that was font landing gear or something (forget now, but it wasn't major).

Not sure what the fasteners would be, but there were holes where even a screw should be. Seriously, holes. No heads. Not sure what was holding them together, but something could've been holding them together UNDER the seam. Still, though, they raised making a gap where the arrow is, and it went back down when on the ground.

Yeah, I probably should've told someone. I wrote AA w/ the picture, and of course they said everything was fine. Liars.

 

Right, whatever (if anything) was going on, I wouldn't expect any company to document a problem in writing to a customer when legal/regulatory matters may arise. I would be interested in hearing how fast they responded to your letter.

That being said, modern aircraft are tough and well designed. So much so, that most likely even if the panel had been separated from the aircraft, you would have been in no danger.

 

One was a BA flight that landed short (at LHR) after the engines failed to respond to increased power request from the flight crew. This was believed due to ice accumulation in the filter/strainer after a long and more cold then normal flight.

The second was an aircraft that burned (fire started on the flight deck) on the ground somewhere in the middle east. It was a middle east airline but, I don't remember which one. The aircraft was loaded but all were able to evacuate.

Neither of these resulted in death. The only death was from an airport ground ops employee the got burned during some sort of fueling problem at DEN.

The 777 has been in service since around 1995 so it's not the most modern aircraft but, it's still very safe.

 

Anyone wanna guess what the type in the picture below is?

 

hell gents. look at some of the wwii aircraft that were shoot up and they made it back. dope and fab feathers at that.

 

True. This makes me remember seeing a pic of one aircraft that was missing part of a wing & vertical stabilizer. Don't remember the type or when...couldn't fine the pic but, it's amazin it landed.

 

Ok, ive got a question... what kind of pay can you make with an a&p license? Im a retirement counsilor, 34 years old and still looking for what i want to do when i grow up! ive got an aptitude for mechanics (built my first motor at 17 by myself from reading a book) and ive thought about doing this. here in fort worth there is a school, tarrant county college. they have an a&p program thats supposed to be a good one. 3 years of night school will get me thru and i can still work at my job full time. is it a smart move? would i make peanuts at first? are there jobs to be had? AA and their layoffs at dfw... I want to do something i like doing, but dont want to be broke. any advice for an old man?

 

777?

 

IMO being a A&P mechanic is not about $, it about passion for the job..

 

X2 the only way you will make good $ is a deployable civilian contracting job or getting very high up in the maintenance management

 

Exactly