Aircraft Maintenance Technology

AUG-SEP 2016

The aircraft maintenance professional's source for technological advancements, maintenance alerts, news, articles, events, and careers

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With the initiatives taken by the Administration this year, are we seeing a change in how we should educate and train some of the next generation technical workers? With college debt at an all-time high in our country perhaps reallocat- ing some of those government loans to apprentice programs may assist in lower- ing individual debt and give our country a much needed skilled workforce at the same time. No doubt apprenticeship pro- grams in the United States are underused compared to other countries. AN APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM IN THE U.S. One of the benefits of an apprenticeship program is that it helps the apprentice financially during their academic and hands-on training. One such appren- ticeship program that is alive and well is with the Fighter Factory located in Virginia Beach, VA. The Fighter Factory has a relationship with the local avia- tion maintenance technician school, Aviation Institute of Maintenance, and when needed it interviews current stu- dents for its apprenticeship program. In this program apprentices earn a wage, work alongside professional aircraft mechanics during the day, and then go to school for six hours at night. Tom "TK" Kurtz, the general manager for Fighter Factory, states, "It is very rewarding to see the dedication that the apprentices have; presently we have four apprentices from the school." The Fighter Factory maintains one of the largest private collections of World War I and World War II era military air- craft in the world. They are all beautifully restored and are flown at the Military Aviation Museum's air shows and flight demonstrations throughout the year. The Military Aviation Museum, includ- ing the Navy Hangar, Army Hangar, Fighter Factory, the WW I Hangar, and the Cottbus Hangar all on the same 110- acre property, is open to the public. Also there is a 5,000-foot private grass runway used by the Military Aviation Museum to maintain, display, and fly the restored aircraft. The Fighter Factory has realized that to keep these Warbirds in top condition it needs skilled aircraft mechanics and it is doing something about it now by hav- ing a relationship with its local aviation maintenance school. What if this same approach that the Fighter Factory is doing spread to other areas throughout the country in which local aviation companies had an appren- ticeship program with their nearby avia- tion school? I guess there would be a larger supply of skilled aircraft mechanics to fill the upcoming "Baby Boomer" void, wouldn't there? (FROM LEFT to right) Chris Maida, Lawrence Haywood, Juan Manrique, Rocco Minitch, Al Lintz, and Phillip Licciardi stand together in the Fighter Factory hangar at the Military Aviation Museum. JAMES CLARY, AIM AviationPros.com/company/10134757

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