Avionics News January 2013 - 60

USING INSPIRATION TO MOTIVATE
Continued from page 59

taxi call. The students and I could hear the tower ask Robinson to confirm if he could take off on his own. He taxied the strangely quiet airplane onto the runway, firewalled the throttle and took off. Actually, with this airplane, the term firewall loses meaning, since there is no combustion involved. There was some prop noise, but no engine roar. On the first downwind leg, the motor retracted automatically, as Robison pulled off the power for the base and final approach for a low pass. The engine did not deploy again until the aircraft was established in climb, and Robinson pushed the throttle forward. The students were mesmerized.

The aircraft has given us much to talk about. We can use it for wattage to horsepower conversion and wiresize requirements for the 160 amps. We can talk about how 24 batteries are placed in series to maximize voltage, and 48 more batteries are placed in parallel to maximize current. Best of all, we can talk about the future of light-aircraft propulsion. The electric trainer, or LSA, is not too far down the road, or the runway. At times, after a stimulating activity, a teacher can find getting the students refocused to be a bit challenging. Still, the net result will be positive. The students will learn during the activity and be more receptive to learning. When teaching those tedious basics, a professor must be on the lookout for inspiring activities. q

THE VIEW FROM WASHINGTON
Continued from page 15

then the repair station needed a systematic, methodical and forward-looking hazard identification and control program to assure regulatory compliance. We know maintenance is a very prescriptive activity, and errors are generally made when we deviate from the regulations. Every AEA member has, at least in theory, complied with the design and organization requirements of the repair station regulations. But how are those decisions made? We know it is universally agreed that 80 percent of maintenance errors involve human factors, including such things as fatigue, complacency, stress and distractions. If they are not detected, they can cause events, worker injuries, wasted time and even accidents. (FAA AMT Handbook) So the gaps in our programs were in how decisions were made and a “systematic, methodical and forward-looking” hazard identification program. Now, we return to the AEA SMS program. To assist in addressing hazard identification and control in strategic regulatory decisions, we have incorporated an organizational risk assessment tool in the AEA’s SMS program to help repair station managers. This tool is used to evaluate and mitigate possible hazards associated with major changes in the repair station’s facility, equipment or operations. To assist in identifying workplace hazards, or potential hazards, we incorporated an employee hazard report. If you see something, we want you to say something. If there is a hazard in your workplace, the hazard needs to be reported at the local level in order to be corrected, but also categorized at the international level so we, as an industry, can address potential hazards, including human factors concerns like equipment, fatigue, complacency, stress and distractions. As an industry, this is our program, and we thank you for your help. q

avionics news

•

january

2013

http://www.beckerusa.com

Avionics News January 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News January 2013