As a Technician it is important to pay attention to facts, details and events to build a knowledge base. The larger your database the easier and faster you can size up a project or problem and start working on solving or finishing it. At the same time, if you are paying attention, you will notice some things either work better than others, or are prone to fail in certain areas under specific circumstances.
I believe the master technicians are the ones that have a wide database of the facts/laws of their disciplines, enough experience with the practical applications of those facts and laws to be able to anticipate various outcomes. And be able to apply what they have learned in different areas.
One of the first things one of our instructors taught us was mechanical principals are the same whether they are on a plane, car or space shuttle. You may have to add something to compensate for changes in density of air, you may have to use a different material to withstand one temperature vs. the other, but the physics, the laws don’t change.
Another thing MTs are aware of are trends. My coworkers and myself have worked around our model of airplane long enough to know exactly where to look for defects on the wings, fuselage etc. Every one is built to the same specifications, so if one cracks at the front of the spine cowl, you can almost guarantee you are going to find the same cracks on different tail numbers.
I listen to the guys on Car Talk, a call in car maintenance show broadcast on public radio, be able to make educated guesses to problems with cars just by hearing the description of the problem over the telephone. This is because throughout the process of building our knowledge bases, we’ve noticed trends.
These trends can be attributed to the nature of that system or machine. And it has been my experience that nature can’t be changed, it can be controlled through effort, repairs, modifications or discipline but its nature is still to crack at the spine cowl if the modification was removed, or hurt first if his or her discipline was diminished.
A few days ago my mother pointed out some things that are in my nature that I accepted as true. While not harmful at all to others the trend shows a string of failures and disadvantages at my end because of them. Society seems to have evolved and left me and people like me behind. Now, it’s time to access the situation and see what, if anything, I can do about it.
Trace
No comments:
Post a Comment