Aircraft Maintenance Essentials
Regular aircraft maintenance and inspections are very important to keep an aircraft is good flying condition. Since aircrafts are complicated vehicles, there is a need for professionals to service them in different ways so that you can be sure that every part of the aircraft is fully operational.
Here are the types of maintenance that need to be performed for any aircraft.
The airframe is the basic mechanical structure of the aircraft including the fuselage, its wings, and undercarriage. When we speak of airframe maintenance the main focus are these areas are not the engine or propulsions system. Maintenance work involves inspection and replacement of winglets, prevention and control of corrosion, painting, and replacement of landing gears. This kind of maintenance involves ‘letter checks’ which are inspections made in detail after a specific number of miles in the air. A and B are cosmetic checks, C is an intensive check of all the components and the D check is where the aircraft is taken apart and reassembled; these are the components of the letter check. The more frequent of these checks are the A and B checks but C and D checks demand a lot of time and is only done every few years.
The other types of maintenance that are also extremely important for aircrafts are the engine and APU (Auxiliary power unit) maintenance. Since this is a highly specialized maintenance work, it takes a mechanic that specializes in the specific engine type of the aircraft, to do the task. Comprehensive engine testing, removal and reinstallation, and troubleshooting are the different works involved in engine maintenance. In a similar fashion the plane’s APU need to be checked and maintained regularly. APU is the one that provides the aircraft’s power for functions not related to propulsion. A specialized mechanic is needed to do this maintenance work; someone who is well versed in fixing the specific make and model of the APU.
There are other aircraft parts that need to be check and repaired, if necessary. These are the activities involved in a complete aircraft components’ check: removing and cleaning components, applying anti-corrosion compounds,lubricating parts, and replacing parts that are damaged. The mechanic runs a test on all pneumatic and hydraulic systems to check if they are running smoothly.
Electronics are crucial to an aircraft’s performance and this is called avionics. GPS, radar, radio communications, and computer systems are part of the navigation and communication equipment of the aircraft which are the focus of avionics testing and maintenance. Rewiring and replacing of components will be done by a technician if necessary. Someone who has a strong technical knowledge of electric engineering is the right mechanic to do this job. We can describe aircraft maintenance as an extensive and multifaceted process. The aircraft’s condition and performance capability can be known through the various stages of maintenance which aircraft owners should understand.
Source: http://www.globaltechnologyblog.com/more-tech/engineering-careers-you-hadnt-considered/