Aircraft Maintenance Technology

APR 2013

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

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might be survivable in regular flying might not be, at speed over the Nevada desert. Loose control cables; using the wrong material when the right one wasn't available; designing a "push on a rope" method of trim actuation; using worn-out fasteners; ignoring an unidentified vibration in the interest of getting a chance to "test" — all these have badly scared or even killed racers in the past few years. Always, the insidious demon of fatigue is working to overcome the angel of adrenaline. Fatigue always wins, in the end. Checking, by pros and apprentices alike, is encouraged. Any question is answered; any doubt addressed. No one, no matter how confident he is in anyone's abilities, neglects this oversight. Still, making things more interesting and sometimes easier is the idea that pervades the races: "If it's safe and it works, do it!" Material substitutions, prop swaps, all sorts of loaned parts and scrounged parts are mixed with the original, as the week progresses or as things don't meet expectations. Modifications — a complete new air intake, new cylinders, trim, gear door springs — anything that makes the airplane safer and faster, goes in. 14 Photo by Tim Kern. RECIP TECHNOLOGY Swiss F1 Pilot Vito Wypraechtiger (yellow shirt) elected to change engines in the daytime, rather than overnight. This cost him a starting position, but ensured everything would be right. It was — he started from the back and finished second in Gold. What does it take to wrench at Reno? There are very few paid positions on teams at the races. Many of the top teams rely on a devoted set of volunteers, some of whom work all year on the airplane; others come just for the race, or the Pylon Racing School (known as "Rookie School") in June. AviationPros.com/company/10226001 April 2013 Aircraft Maintenance Technology • www.AviationPros.com • www.AMTSociety.org

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