Day 17

Test Tomorrow. I'm not all that concerned about it.  Basic aerodynamics and some simple physics. Should be pretty simple.

I learned something neat yesterday.

I had always wondered what the purpose of winglets are.

Winglets are the small vertical protrusions on the wingtips of some aircraft.

Those are winglets.

I had always imagined that they had some sort of function for aerodynamics or control, but I never knew what they really did.

Well, now I know.

As an airfoil (in this case a wing) goes through the air the pressure differential created is what produces lift. Since air wants to reach equilibrium and functions like a fluid, the low pressure air at the tips of the wings are prone to basically slip off of the ends of the wing to the high pressure side. When they do this, any potential lift is destroyed.

Winglets come very close to eliminating this phenomenon by creating a buffer between the low and high pressure sides which is more difficult for the air to overcome by moving along the lateral axis of the plane (the way it does without winglets).

While winglets are an obvious source of drag, the lift they help produce (or maintain, as it were) compensates for any added weight or induced drag.

Winglets also (also) eliminate the vortices which are a common source of drag, and add to the problem of lateral lift loss.

Pretty neat, huh?

Today we talked about aircraft and basic electrical drawings. Nothing earth-shattering, but interesting nonetheless.  There's an electrical diagram symbol for "Space Station." It's a boxy thing with a circle in it. Definitely not Buck Rogers approved.

I've been looking over the study guide for the test, and I'm really not too worried about anything at all.
One thing that surprises me of the things that we've apparently learned that I've since forgotten is that wet air (air with a absolute humidity) weighs less than dry air. That doesn't really make a lot of sense to me at first, but when I start to think about it, the water is vaporized and floats about in the air, instead of condensing and falling out. That means that the water is ligher than or as light as the air.

So, there ya go-- winglets and wet air.

Day 4

We learned about Foreign Object Debris (and/or Damage), and Foreign Object Elimination today. FOD can apparently really ruin your day.

In addition to FOD and FOE, we discussed some basic ground operations, and types of fires and fire extinguishers,  jacking and hoisting aircraft and tiedown procedures for both fixed and rotary wing aircraft.

We spoke very briefly about taxiing procedures, and hand signals, which I'll be memorizing this weekend in preparation for a taxiing exercise we will be doing later in the month.

I believe this means "Time for Tacos"

I can't believe I'm going to get to start and taxi an aircraft. I get giddy thinking about it. It's like telling a dog it's time for a walk.



On a significantly more sobering note, today I saw pictures of a corpse.

This body used to be a man, but hist head got into the rotor plane of a helicopter.

The photographs were extremely graphic. So graphic I wondered if they could possibly be real. I was assured that they were.

That really drove home some of the dangers associated with this profession.

We also learned about birdstrikes, which, though dangerous, I find amusing.
When a dog gets run over, that sucks. I feel sorry for the dog.  The dog could only really go one of 4 directions.

But the bird has the advantage of being able to go up or down. I don't feel sorry for the bird. You've got all of everything to be flying around in, and you can't avoid the aircraft coming your way? Please.

Seriously.

Apparently this happens quite often, and is one of the main reasons AMTs and A&P students will be repairing airframes.

Day 3

Today, we got out of the classroom and toured the hangar and some of the other facilities.

We started up an Allison 250 jet engine, just for the fun of it.

We talked about tool control and shadowing our toolboxes (which we haven't been able to bring to school yet)

Foreign Object Elimiation (FOE) is a big deal in the aviation industry. A lose object of any kind, hand tools especially (high density = heavy and usually pointy) can cause major damage in an airframe, let alone the powerplant of an aircraft.  You don't want to leave a socket in the wing or empennage of any craft. Death could be the result.

In order for one to keep all of one's tools accounted for, tool box shadowing is employed.

There are two ways to do this, the cheap way, and the expensive way. The expensive way entails buying products specifically intended for this.
The cheap way (DIY style, of course) involves re-purposing other materials, specifically any type of closed-cell foam or home insulation.

A quick google search yeilds all kinds of interesting forum discussions, but cheap backpacking pads from Wal-Mart, and sheets of home insulation from big-box hardware stores seem to be the two most popular DIY box shadowing materials.

Thread links:
http://www.myaandplicense.com/shadow-your-tool-box-for-cheap/
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25958
http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/toolbox-shadow-foam-132460.html
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=86535

Tool porn:

Day 2

Today we discussed the four forces, the three axes, the two types, and the first principle.

They weren't delivered in that way, or even in that order, but if I were teaching the class, that's how I would lay it down for the students.

It's all pretty elementary stuff for anyone who has had an interest in aviation and how things work. But it's great to go over everything again. A&P students come from a wide range of backgrounds and experience levels, so the instructor must always assume they know nothing.

The four forces:

The three axes (it took me a while to figure out how to pluralize "axis." Axi? Axies?):

The two types:

And the first principle:

That's not really the "first" principle of anything except what you need to understand when regarding powered flight.  The instructor did a pretty good job of explaining it, but I think some of the shy, slower kids didn't get it. It's their fault for not speaking up,. and I won't mind explaining it to them if they ever ask.

I really do think a foundational thing to tell A&P students, and any future aviation mechanic, is that air acts like a fluid. When I learned that (in the 8th grade), it really helped me understand Bernoulli's principle. 

Understanding that air is a fluid makes it easier to understand why the air is drawn (as it is pushed) over the top of the airfoil than under.  Once we understand that, we have to understand and how air, acting as a fluid, is constantly seeking equilibrium. With an airfoil between the high-pressure bottom and low-pressure top, the only way to reach equilibrium is by equalizing the pressure --> moving the airfoil up along the vertical axis.


Other interesting things I learned about:

Me Gusta.

Gyrocopter, or autorotor.



I want one.


Badly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autogyro

I also learned that A&P Mechanics have a good change of working in a diversified set of industries. In my part of the world, there has been a recent (the last 10 years or so) interest in wind farms as an alternative source of electricity.

The A&P student is going to learn all about airfoils, composites, generators and electronics.  The only thing we won't be taught how to do is climb the ladder to the turbine.

New Horizons

I had an epiphany while waiting waiting for the rest of the passengers to board. We were on our way from Bogota to Santa Marta.

As with most of my good ideas, I had some help from my lovely assistant and wife.  We were briefly discussing how aircraft work, and how interesting it must be to work on them.

There was a beat; a pause in the conversation. We both looked at each other and I think the idea hit us at the same time: why don't I work on aircraft?

I remembered a recruiter from what was then known as Spartan School of Aeronautics coming to talk to us in high school. Their marketing was effective: they gave us a sticker with a black cat branded with the number #13

Their motto is "Knowledge and Skill Overcome Superstition and Luck."

I dig that sentiment.

I gathered some information about Spartan, and Wifey and I had made mental preparations for me to relocate to another state to attend this school.

We discovered only a short time later that a local community college offers A&P courses.

With only two weeks between our arrival back to the US, and classes starting, we jumped in feet-first to a new career for me, and a new way of life for her. It should be interesting to say the least.

In the two weeks between then and now, I scoured the internet for advice, suggestions, and an outlook for people like me who were going to attend an A&P school after having already been in the workforce. I found none.

While waiting for class to start today, I occupied my time by jotting some emotions and thoughts in my notebook. I realized that I could do some good by recording the process from my perspective, and sharing it with the world in blog form.

I present to you, dear reader, my account of A&P school, as I'm living it.
I intend to be a licensed Aviation Maintenance Technician in under 2 years.


Why A&P?

Long-Term Goal

I love aircraft and always have. While other boys were talking about cars, I was talking about aircraft.

People want to talk about freedom and having the wind in their hair... forget your motorcycle, go fly a plane!

And I'm a good mechanic. It only seems natural now that I think about it. Isn't that how things always work, though? They seem obvious and apparent once you've already figured them out.

Long-term goal is to fly, but I can only do/afford to do one thing at a time. This will get me a job that pays more, which is something a PPL wouldn't do. This gets me in and around aircraft, in the aviation community, and if we want to talk about Maslow's hierarchy, it gives me a good shot at self-actualization.

Mine is a dead-end job with little reward, challenge, or financial renumeration. I would take any two of those three, but I think that the A&P Licensure, and the AMT status that comes with it, I'll be able to get all three.

At least I hope.