Articles for tag Maintenance Minute
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Dec
19
2022
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Posted by Admin
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Have you ever heard your mother or grandmother quote John Wesley saying, “cleanliness is next to godliness”? Turns out that quote is effective in aircraft maintenance as well. I like to think that cleanliness is the twin brother to order, and all aircraft maintenance requires cleanliness and order to attain the highest level of professionalism.
When I was a young helicopter mechanic at Carraway Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, the first job my mentor assigned me was to wash the helicopters each morning. The primary reason was to display a professional image for the hospital. Next, he explained to me that washing and cleaning the helicopter was another way to inspect the machine and look for obvious defects. I quickly learned this was sound advice and I practiced it consistently. While washing helicopters, I have discovered many defects, including busted chin bubbles and windshields, broken antennas, missing or hanging strobe lights, corrosion, various cracks, bird nests, and the occasional dead bird just to name a few.
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Tags:
Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
Categories:
Career Development
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Aug
16
2022
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Posted by Admin
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As helicopter owners, pilots, and mechanics we must consistently be advocates for safety and always meet or exceed the standards. Personal safety and prevention of equipment damage are of utmost importance. The number one concern in the aviation business today is the rising cost of insurance. The rapid rise in insurance is directly due to injuries and equipment damaged.
So, how do we mitigate the risk thereby decreasing premiums? Here are some simple and basic measures that will aid your flight and maintenance operations in keeping safety as the top priority.
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Tags:
Aviation Maintenance
Helicopter Maintenance
Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
Categories:
Career Development
Opinion-Editorial
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May
23
2022
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Posted by Admin
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Growing up in the Deep South often meant when you turned 16 years old you went to work in the cotton mill, which was true for me. My mom, dad and sister all worked for the local cotton mill in one capacity or another. That wasn’t a bad thing. The mill provided dependable jobs for our community and had other benefits as well…company paid retirement and a company provided vacation destination with housing if desired.
The one thing I remember as a great employee incentive was the Zero-Defect award. The ZD award was given to deserving employees who achieved an established criteria and maintained excellence.
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Tags:
Helicopter Maintenance
Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
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Mar
30
2022
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Posted by Admin
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Balance is critical. It doesn’t matter if it’s the helicopters we fly and maintain, a person on a tightrope or just managing our everyday life. Maintaining balance is required if we are to continue to progress and minimize our limiting factors. We can take anything to the excess and quickly get out of balance. That’s why it is a good idea to have an accountability partner to help you see things that you may miss seeing yourself. The saying “you can’t see the forest for the trees” is accurate and sometimes briefly stepping away will clear one’s focus.
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Tags:
Helicopter Maintenance
Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
Categories:
Opinion-Editorial
Training
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Dec
20
2021
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Posted by Admin
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If you have read my articles in recent months, you know I have talked a lot about character, integrity, and other such tools to have in your toolbox to help you have a successful career as an aircraft maintenance technician. Those are all essential. An often overlooked, but critical tool to have at your disposal is an experienced mentor.
Merriam and Webster’s dictionary defines a mentor as a trusted counselor or guide, a tutor or coach. Do you have a mentor in your life? Is there someone that you consider a coach, accountability partner or trusted advisor? If the answer is no, then you should look for one. A mentor could be someone that works with you, someone that has more experience doing what you do or even someone that can speak transparently into your life.
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Tags:
Aircraft Maintenance Technician
Aircraft Mechanic Mentor Program
Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
Mentorship
Categories:
Opinion-Editorial
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Oct
04
2021
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Posted by Admin
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It was an ordinary day and I was having an ordinary lunch with my friend. Something we do each week to break up the day, share some laughs and conduct some business. Today, it was double patty melt day at our favorite hole in the wall restaurant. It is the hard-to-find, off the beaten path restaurant where everyone knows your name and you know them too. When the server returned with my friend’s patty melt, he quickly surveyed his sandwich and quipped, “Hey, you forgot to add mayo.” In one motion she whirled around and without hesitating she replied, “It’s not my responsibility to manage your sandwich.” He was left speechless, but I could not hold back my laughter.
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Tags:
Aviation Maintenance
Helicopter Maintenance
Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
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Aug
23
2021
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Posted by Admin
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Adversity—we can try to run from it, but it is in adversity that we find growth and ultimately, we find excellence. Leadership Coach Les Brown says that there is greatness inside us all. I believe that is true, but I also believe that greatness is revealed through the pain and suffering of adversity.
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Tags:
Maintenance Minute
Categories:
Career Development
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Jun
07
2021
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Posted by Admin
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It all began with a motivational poster bought from the trunk of a car. That poster hung on my bedroom wall for years, positioned so it would be the last thing I saw before going to sleep and the first thing I saw upon waking up. (No, I was not married at the time.) These seven words I saw and contemplated multiple times every day:
Change Your Thoughts and Change Your World.
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Tags:
Aircraft Maintenance
Helicopter Maintenance
Helicopter Mechanics
Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
Categories:
Career Development
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Feb
08
2021
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Posted by Admin
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My first exposure to aviation began in the U.S. Air Force. When training in my chosen field was postponed, I was asked to crosstrain to a secondary career field. “We really need aircraft mechanics,” I was told. I readily agreed, and so the adventure began. Later, as a crew chief for the F16 Fighting Falcon, I quickly learned the importance of marshaling aircraft and the use of hand signals…flight controls-check, speed brake-check, stop, go, chock, and the aircraft salute. Little did I know at the time that these simple hand signals would become part of an especially important essential tool that we must use every day. We have already discussed the tool of integrity: doing the right thing, and the tool of commitment: the fuel for action. Let us now look at the essential tool of communication.
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Tags:
aircraft mechanics
Aviation Maintenance
Helicopter Maintenance
Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
Categories:
Career Development
Safety
Opinion-Editorial
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Nov
16
2020
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Posted by Admin
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I clearly remember that life-changing day in April 1990. It was my first day working as a helicopter mechanic at Carraway Methodist Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama. The radio call dispatched the helicopter, the pilot brought the machine to life and the medical crew strapped in as the Bell LongRanger took to the air. It seemed like only minutes later the aircraft returned, and the patient was rolled past me to the Level I trauma center. From that moment on, life was different as the purpose for my work became clearer in that instant.
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Tags:
Helicopter Maintenance Tools
Maintenance Minute
Mark Tyler
Categories:
Opinion-Editorial