Hands-on maintenance courses

[Bruce Tuncks]

Years ago, I helped run one of these for RAAus. Steve Bell was the main guy, so that tells you it was a while ago.

What I would like to see is an even more hands-on course. I can imagine organizing a couple of planes and the class doing a 100 hourly or an annual inspection under the control of the teachers, who would be able to sign out the planes at the end.

Is there something like this going? What I don't like is the sort of course where the taught material consists largely of the regulations.

[old man emu]

What I don't like is the sort of course where the taught material consists largely of the regulations.

 

I'm with you on that. The reason that people have designed courses that accentuate the Regs, is that the designers have not got an answer to the question "What do attendees want from the course?" That's the second question that needs to be answered after "Is there interest in a course of this nature?" The stupid thing is that the required content for an aircraft maintenance course is already set out in the Certificate ll in Aircraft Line Maintenance course. training.gov.au - MEA20518 - Certificate II in Aircraft Line Maintenance

 

Now to be issued with a Certificate, a person has to receive the training from an approved training organisation, but there is no rule against an experienced person or persons training others to meet the competencies outlined in the course details.

 

When my Dad was trying to teach me the skills associated with some task, he always said, "Learn the lurk, not the work." By this he meant that I should learn methods that made a task simpler to complete satisfactorily, but not to cut corners on quality. In running a hands-on course, there should be a leaning towards teaching people the little tricks that make a job easier. Here's an example that's not quite aircraft maintenance related, but could be useful. Before cutting plywood shapes from a sheet of plywood, lay down a strip of masking tape and draw the cutting line on the tape. Then when the cut is made, the edges of the cut will not fray.

 

So, an good hand-on course would teach you how to, perhaps, carry out a leak-down test on the engine, but while doing so, show you how to prevent the propeller spinning while you are doing the test. These untold tips'n'tricks are picked up either by your own experience, or passed on to you from another person's experience.

[kgwilson]

The so called practical course being run by RA-Aus looks more like a glorified version of the on-line L1 course rather than a really practical "get your hands dirty" maintenance course I would like being on. Has anyone been to one? I believe there was a course run at Caboolture on 7/8 December 2019.

 

This is how it is advertised:-

 

RAAus is proud to announce the roll-out of practical two day L1 training courses at a number of locations around Australia.

 

The aims of the course are to ensure:

• Understanding of how to make log book entries
  
• Understanding the limitations of the L1 authority
  
• Understanding of how to research maintenance required
  
• Determine that your aircraft is in a condition for safe operation
  

You will learn about the rules and responsibilities regarding RAAus owner maintenance and get hands on with various line maintenance tasks.

 

The course is limited to 10 participants and it is first come first served. If you are interested please click the location you would like to attend below and purchase your ticket.

 

 

Practical L1 Maintenance Course

Price: $199.00 (+$0.50 booking fee)

 

Morning Tea & Lunch will be provided.

[Thruster88]

There are plenty ofYouTube vids on most topics, the trick is to know if it is a trustworthy source. Learn from the comfort of your own home while in lock down.

 

Dont forget RAAus has their new log book review service, for the bargin introductory price $199 you get a listing of all AD's, service bulletins, service letters etc for your individual aircraft so no reason not to be compliant. It won't however make anyone a better pilot?.

Edited May 5, 2020 by Thruster88

[Kenlsa]

I have done the L1 practical course at Gawler a couple of years ago. It was a Beta version so RAAus could get the feel of it. 3 RA staff were there with the local LAME/ L4. Did those 4 dot points above. Some of the prac included:-

Prop tracking and tracking fault correction/ adjustment.

Safety wiring bolts and turnbuckles

Compression testing and leakage identification

Wheel bearing inspection and repack and tension.

Brake pad replacement

Tools, both purchased and made for that one particular job

Torque settings and method

Control cables

Etc.....

Basically it took care of the techniques that weren't covered in the Jab factory course that I did 12 months before as it was just about Jabs

Was a good course, so I have:-

Built my own plane

Completed the on line L1 course

Completed the prac L1 course

Completed the Jab factory course

And in the last 3 years have used this info to help our LAME out with maintenance on our 4 club aircraft with 25/50/100 hourly ( about 20 of each) cylinder honing and valve lapping.

So it has all been worth it

Ken

[Jim McDowall]

The reason that people have designed courses that accentuate the Regs,

My understanding is that the SAAA MPC is pretty much about the regs. I am happy to be corrected but the syllabus that CASA has ordained to comply with the experimental owner builder regs is really only about the regulatory side of the game.

Having RTO's run courses is a potential recipe for disaster- cite the recent failed relationship between a certain TAFE and an entrepreneurial flying school owner.

My own experience with a UNISA course to gain Solidworks accreditation was to my way of thinking a fraud on the students. The $1000+ course was nothing more than a few short uninformative videos, some notes and exercises downloaded from the net and an occasional late night online chat that masqueraded as a tutorial. Exercises were not marked in a timely fashion so feedback/ discussion was not possible. If it wasn't for YouTube (for free) resources I doubt anyone could have completed the course. In short money for old rope for the university.

RAA should put more resources into training via webinars as the EAA does (membership is the best money you can spend on aviation). Short course accreditation is only a money spinner for those running the course.

And of course the Canadian experience with owner-maintenance is exemplary as cited in an FAA report on aircraft maintenance. The accident rate of owner maintained aircraft is no worse than "professionally" maintained aircraft.

Since March this year pilot/owner maintenance is possible in the EASA environment for privately operated aircraft up to 2760 kg MTOW. The EASA regulators could not see any safety issues with this arrangement.

Why would we be any different in Australia? Except some of us have an overwhelming desire to be regulated or endorsed.

[jackc]

I did an L1 practical course at Wings Out West last year, run by Dan Compton and Darren Barnfield. Practical instruction on Tyre changing, leakdown testing, safety wiring, engine servicing including oil filter inspection And other subjects. All participants were physically tested and had to carry out the tasks as part of the testing. A handbook was provided with the course detailing many other subjects relating to maintenance. A certificate of completion at the end

[turboplanner]

The so called practical course being run by RA-Aus looks more like a glorified version of the on-line L1 course rather than a really practical "get your hands dirty" maintenance course I would like being on. Has anyone been to one? I believe there was a course run at Caboolture on 7/8 December 2019.

 

This is how it is advertised:-

 

RAAus is proud to announce the roll-out of practical two day L1 training courses at a number of locations around Australia.

 

The aims of the course are to ensure:

• Understanding of how to make log book entries
  
• Understanding the limitations of the L1 authority
  
• Understanding of how to research maintenance required
  
• Determine that your aircraft is in a condition for safe operation
  

You will learn about the rules and responsibilities regarding RAAus owner maintenance and get hands on with various line maintenance tasks.

 

The course is limited to 10 participants and it is first come first served. If you are interested please click the location you would like to attend below and purchase your ticket.

 

 

Practical L1 Maintenance Course

Price: $199.00 (+$0.50 booking fee)

 

Morning Tea & Lunch will be provided.

All of that should be provided free electronically as reference material.

Hands on is only necessary where a technique is to be demonstrated and or students replicate the teacher using their sample.

[Jim McDowall]

All of that should be provided free electronically as reference material.

Turbs, it seems I rarely agree with you but in this case you and I are on the same page. If educational material is produced by RAAus its development is paid for by members and should not be seen as a revenue stream by the organisation by treating members as milch cows.

[jackc]

All of that should be provided free electronically as reference material.

Hands on is only necessary where a technique is to be demonstrated and or students replicate the teacher using their sample.

Well, I was happy to get my hands dirty:-) Secondly, a physical test can tell wether someone is a passion fingers or not when it comes to doing a physical maintenance job correctly. Getting reference material along with doing physical tasks as part of testing is the best combination. Darren Barnfield designed the course I did and I felt it was very beneficial, even the seasoned aviators picked up a few clues:-)

[jackc]

Turbs, it seems I rarely agree with you but in this case you and I are on the same page. If educational material is produced by RAAus its development is paid for by members and should not be seen as a revenue stream by the organisation by treating members as milch cows.

 

I gleefully paid for my L1 course and had to drive many hundreds of kilometres, I have never begrudged paying to gain knowledge, in my day job I used to fly thousands of kilometres to travel half a world away to attend course seminars etc. Anything for a ride in a 747:-)

[old man emu]

All the theoretical knowledge in the World is useless in completing a task that involves problem solving and the wielding of tools. The only way to confirm competency of a student in manual task like aircraft maintenance is to test the student's ability to actually do the job correctly. You either develop a course that's "hands on" or you take your bl**dy hands off it.

[Jim McDowall]

manual task like aircraft maintenance is to test the student's ability to actually do the job correctly.

It is generally acknowledged that the most dangerous time to fly an aircraft is straight after it has been in the maintenance shop. Mistakes can be made by anyone and some make more than others.

Nothing beats hands on experience, but it is important to realise that most people will not attempt a task on an aircraft if they have any doubt about their capacity to achieve what they set out to do. How they gain the knowledge is immaterial to the outcome. For example, aircraft homebuilders attract other homebuilders like flies to s**t. The sum of the experience in this circumstance is something that no course can supplant.

In an age where education by institutions has largely become "tick and flick", the hands on experience is gained on the job, supervised or otherwise. This is the case in the professions as much as the trades, where people learn at the expense of their clients.

[Keith Page]

This hands on maintenance course.

I wonder why these manufacture's courses do not carry any weightage.

I have in mind the Jabiru workshop for the 4 days. This covers the engine and I found it was a wealth of knowledge.

So why is this not recognised?

KP

[tillmanr]

I agree KP, I found the Jabiru course well structured and a good example of what be considered a minimum for L1 accreditation.

[Yenn]

I did a course run by ELAAA several years ago. It was excellent, but that was to be expected as one of the pepole running it was Myles Brietkreutz. I did not get the certificate as I already had the MPC by SAAA. The MPC is as has been stated above is nearly all theory and intended to make us conversant with how to comply with CASA requirements and that is what the RAAus course also appears to be mostly about.

Really to be good at maintaining an aeroplane you need to be conversant with the use of hand tools and general maintenance of something like a vehicle.

Coming from a background of no knowledge of vehicle maintenance is gong to take much longer to be safe maintaining a plane than a four day course.

[skippydiesel]

I did a course run by ELAAA several years ago. It was excellent, but that was to be expected as one of the pepole running it was Myles Brietkreutz. I did not get the certificate as I already had the MPC by SAAA. The MPC is as has been stated above is nearly all theory and intended to make us conversant with how to comply with CASA requirements and that is what the RAAus course also appears to be mostly about.

Really to be good at maintaining an aeroplane you need to be conversant with the use of hand tools and general maintenance of something like a vehicle.

Coming from a background of no knowledge of vehicle maintenance is gong to take much longer to be safe maintaining a plane than a four day course.

 

I would go on step further - anyone with any mechanical aptitude can maintain a light aircraft BIG BUT - you must follow the aircraft/engine manual, as if it is your religious book. "She'll- be-right" has no place in aviation.

[tillmanr]

Some 60 years ago, while in junior high I started rebuilding motorcycle engines but I still gleaned some interesting snippets at the Jab course.

If you have not had the opportunity to play with things mechanical then you need to start somewhere. I don’t think a theoretical overview is enough.

If the paperwork is critical then run seminars for this but open up opportunities for inexperienced people to get some spanner time.

[Kev]

Years ago, I helped run one of these for RAAus. Steve Bell was the main guy, so that tells you it was a while ago.

What I would like to see is an even more hands-on course. I can imagine organizing a couple of planes and the class doing a 100 hourly or an annual inspection under the control of the teachers, who would be able to sign out the planes at the end.

Is there something like this going? What I don't like is the sort of course where the taught material consists largely of the regulations.

 

Carole and I have been running our Sport Aviation & Rotax Maintenance course (previously known as the WM/Rotax maintenance course) at various venues in Australia since 2012. This is a two day course with classroom and practical elements which include: wirelocking, filter inspection, conrod bearing testing, carb sync for both 2-stroke and 4-stroke and differential pressure testing. It is the HGFA Airframe and Engine course mentioned in the RAAus Technical Manual.

 

To date, we have completed 44 courses in NSW, VIC, WA, SA and Qld, but are currently ‘on hold’ due to Covid-19 restrictions.

 

Kev

[Bruce Tuncks]

Good onyer Kev. Do you know of anything similar for Jabirus?

[Kev]

Unfortunately none that I am aware of (apart from the one mentioned above).

 

Kev

[jackc]

Carole and I have been running our Sport Aviation & Rotax Maintenance course (previously known as the WM/Rotax maintenance course) at various venues in Australia since 2012. This is a two day course with classroom and practical elements which include: wirelocking, filter inspection, conrod bearing testing, carb sync for both 2-stroke and 4-stroke and differential pressure testing. It is the HGFA Airframe and Engine course mentioned in the RAAus Technical Manual.

 

To date, we have completed 44 courses in NSW, VIC, WA, SA and Qld, but are currently ‘on hold’ due to Covid-19 restrictions.

 

Kev

 

This is not the L1 practical course is it? More info on your course please?

[Kev]

This is not the L1 practical course is it? More info on your course please?

 

Since October 2018 attendees have also had to complete the online course whereas previously RAAus attendees obtained their L1 by forwarding the certificate. If you are in Rockhampton, Steve Bartlett is looking to host a course there and has all the details. Otherwise email me [email protected] and Carole will send details or add you to our waiting list