March-April_2022 - 27

visual progress or some visual satisfaction
for something that they've done. And wiping
down the airplane and keeping the tires
up to pressure is not really that satisfying.
" So I think that would be our biggest
obstacle of the technician as far as preventive
maintenance, is really putting the
value on it that needs to be there. You could
save so much by just doing the simple things
now, possibly save people's lives, " he said.
Clean Planes
Wiping down and cleaning planes is one
of the simplest and most effective forms of
preventative maintenance, but, as Logsdon
points out, it is often overlooked.
" Cleanliness I can't stress enough, as
much as we're seeing corrosion more and
more these days. Keeping the aircraft clean
and making sure that the paint and the sealant
don't have any voids or missing sections
of them where water can ingress and cause
corrosion. That's huge, " he continues.
Cleaning an aircraft, unlike other preventive
maintenance is often not a scheduled
task. It slips people's minds unless they're
visually seeing the buildup of debris.
" It's something that you should see. You
should take pride in your aircraft and make
sure that you're keeping it up to the best of
your abilities as the manufacturer designed
it, " he said.
This can be doubly important depending
on where and in what conditions the plane
is being flown.
" If you're by the coastline, obviously, you
need to clean the aircraft more, be more
vigilant. Or if it's flown through inclement
weather, is a good time to really pay attention, "
Logsdon said.
Technologic Overhaul
The largest cause for change to preventive
maintenance is the constant re-evaluation
of maintenance programs and the regulations
that govern them, notes Goede, but
adds that advancing technology is also
driving changes.
" Aviation is a constantly changing
industry, which has necessitated preventive
maintenance to evolve as technology
advances and better methods are developed, "
he said.
WEST STAR AVIATION
those things and issue and offer reports to
customers so they know when they should
be scheduling their work and when they
should be getting in with an MRO like us
and getting the work scheduled. "
Logsdon adds that they perform similar
data collection with customers.
" We do downloads that show engine
trend monitoring over the last several
months. They'll track the performance
of the aircraft, engines, the ITT, the fuel
Preventive maintenance will continue to
evolve with technology and the changing
work force, " adds Goede.
" Newer generations are entering the field,
bringing with them a greater understanding
of the newer technology. The constant
improvement of the inspection processes
will result in aviation growing and continuing
to be a safe and efficient mode of travel, "
he said.
Saathoff agrees and added that while on
the mechanical side much of the technology
is still that of the '80s and '90s, engines and
avionics systems are allowing for greater
tracking technology to be implemented. He
notes that CAMP systems and other tracking
technology utilized by aircraft owners
is now able to be shared with them so they
too can remind pilots of maintenance.
" A lot of customers will share their maintenance
tracking system with us, give us
access to their CAMP systems. We'll stay
ahead of it and give them a call and say,
'Hey, it looks like two months from now
you have this coming due. Based on your
current usage of the airplane, you should
probably be starting to schedule that
work,' " he said. " They've gotten really good
at what they do and being able to track
flow, all the parameters that give them an
idea of the degradation of the engine. That
would be the biggest software that I use, "
he continued.
And the more advanced aircraft in recent
years are coming equipped with greater
and greater data collection and monitoring
services.
" They can do them in real time on the
screen in the cockpit, or be transmitted
back to the manufacturer either during
inflight or when the aircraft is in the hangar.
When it hooks up to the customer's Wi-Fi,
that information can be transmitted for
real-time analysis. But a lot of operators
find it a little cost inhibitive, because it's
running off a satellite phone and that bill
can get quite large when you're transmitting
all that data, " said Logsdon.
www.AviationPros.com 27
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