My first A&P class was in a hangar built in 1942, things felt simpler back then.

Last week I walked into a new training center with all digital mockups and LED lighting. It got me thinking about where I started 30 years ago. My first A&P class was in an old hangar at a small field outside Tucson, built during the war. We had a single DC-3 fuselage and a manual torque wrench that felt older than my grandpa. Three years ago we finally retired the last analog gauge in our shop. Now everything is tablets and composite materials. Anyone else feel like the trade lost some of its hands-on soul along the way?

3 comments

3 Comments

xena_fox3921d ago

What kind of maintenance are you seeing get skipped with all those fancy digital tools?

abbyg1421d ago

Read a study saying digital tools catch 40% more cracks than visual checks alone.

mark_thomas18d ago

Nah, I gotta push back a little on this one. Those digital tools catch MORE cracks, not fewer, and I've seen guys miss plenty with just a magnifying glass and a flashlight back in the day. The soul of the trade is still there - you're just swapping a greasy rag for a tablet that actually tells you what you're looking at.