Aviation Maintenance Frame of Mind

The responsibility is daunting
So we choose not to think about it

Millions of parts
From the smallest rivet pin or length of safety wire
To the heavy castings that would take several people to lift
All assembled in precision
All to spec
All just right

Then it flies away
All one million seven hundred thousand forty two parts
Syncing in their assigned tasks
And by doing so
Wearing out little by little
Flaking away
Attracting corrosion

Flawed by design

Until the assemblage returns one day
Looking dirtier and more tired than when it left
To be disassembled and cleaned
Inspected repaired reassembled
Mostly by the book
Somewhat not

It's like a game of telephone put to solid form
Where parts leave the factory in a just so kind of way
But every time they are used taken apart reassembled
The outline blurs just the tiniest bit
Mostly through human error
Sometimes by intent and design

That's when everything goes right
But sometimes things get missed
Cracks or corrosion looked past
An intermittent wiring short that happened to be working right when it was tested
A flashlight shining at just the right angle to mask a flaw to the eye

And the aircraft flies away again
This massive collection of parts
With the knowledge that it isn't perfect
And it never will be
It's just as perfect as humans can make it
Which is mostly but not very

Balancing lives upon it's wings
Supported by expertise and a single Airworthiness Release signature
Work to be done
Acceptable level of risk
As always

The responsibility is daunting
So we choose not to think about it

Broken Part Security Blanket

This little battered scrap of metal
A pseudo-triangle of aluminum
A bit tattered at one end
Is my job in a microcosm

Flashlight in one hand
A rag in the other
I'd found this little beauty on an engine pylon
Not the most important piece of metal
But it's part of the airplane
And it was damaged
So I'd written it down

It's an easy fix
Only an official Boeing drawing away
To find the material spec
And the dimensions

That combined with the mostly intact sample part
Makes for a fine fabrication
All written up proper and signed off after installation
It looks like new up there
The brand new little pseudo-triangle
Riveted in place with brand new rivets

Which leaves me here at the desk
Idly playing with this now useless old damaged piece
With a shiny smooth spot that my fingers like to touch
It feels satin-y

I wish everything in life was as easy to fix as this piece of metal
To just excise the bad part
Consult the proper drawing
And fabricate the new part
Installing with standard practices

Looked at in that light
My job is easy
It adheres to a fixed set of rules and criteria
With techniques that are known and must be followed

All of which leaves you with a shiny airworthy aircraft
Safe to use for flight

Life isn't as easy
The points of data always seem to move about
Everyone has a different idea of how to do things
And you never know if it's safe to proceed

The little broken part feels good in my hand
I think I'll take it home
A small reassurance that not everything is hard to figure out
That maybe there is hope for life after all