Warbird Information Exchange

Following job posting is on the FHC website, in case anyone is interested:

Aircraft Maintenance Technician #1612

Department: Flying Heritage Collection
The Aircraft Maintenance Technician is responsible for safe, on-time completion of maintenance procedures as necessary for all museum aircraft. This position is further responsible for overall daily aircraft groomer duties and activities within the Flying Heritage Collection.

Essential duties and responsibilities (Other duties may be assigned)
• Assist with scheduled and unscheduled aircraft maintenance requirements of the collection.
• Assist and monitor the continuity of maintenance through use of different vendors or work assignment changes in accordance with the procedures listed in an Operations Specifications manual and/or the companies General Operations Manual.
• Maintain thorough familiarity with assigned vintage aircraft, ensuring appropriate certification that meet companies Maintenance Standards
• Keep aircraft records as required by Flying Heritage Collections Standard Practices and F.A.R. guidelines.
• Ensure the proper completion of maintenance logs, forms and records for work-in-progress, work completed, or work carried over.
• Coordinate maintenance activities with Maintenance Manager
• Approve work completed by outside maintenance agencies under the authority of the Flying Heritage Executive Director.
• Ensure that adequate tools, parts, materials, support equipment and facilities are available
• Evaluate and select part purchases or maintenance services by demonstrating a cost/benefit analysis.
• Maintain spare parts inventory to meet vintage aircraft requirements; manages parts storage and tracking
• Assist with repairing the Ground Support Equipment
• Responsible for aircraft towing and parking
• Oversee the washing and cleaning of aircraft exteriors and interiors
• Responsible for fuel farm operations, repairs and airport/fire inspections as required
• Acceptance of fuel during fuel delivery
• Maintain good housekeeping practices for aircraft and hangar
• Demonstrate honesty, responsibility, integrity and fulfillment of commitments


Qualifications
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Knowledge, experience, skill, and/or ability

Required
• Maintains a current Airframe and Powerplant certificate]
• Experience maintaining vintage aircraft: radial engines and Allison, Merlin and Rolls Royce V12
• Ability to identify the nature of a problem with a vintage aircraft and manage the actions necessary to correct the problem
• Ability to perform routine aircraft maintenance and determine when and what kind of maintenance is needed
• Experience with product evaluation and inspection for vintage aircrafts, vendor selection and working with outside aircraft maintenance agencies
• Aircraft maintenance log completion, forms and records experience
• Must be thoroughly familiar with assigned vintage aircraft and appropriately certified to meet companies Maintenance Standards
• Must have knowledge of the proper tools, parts, materials, support equipment and facilities needed for vintage aircraft maintenance
• Must be familiar with vintage aircraft fueling, towing and parking
• Experience with routine maintenance and cleaning of vintage aircraft interiors and exteriors
• Ability to perform routine facility maintenance and housekeeping

Preferred
• Mathematics – ability to use math to solve problems; Additionally courses in physics, chemistry, electronics, computer science and mechanical drawing are helpful

Required computer skills
MS Office (Word)

Education/experience/certifications
Associate’s degree (A.A.) from accredited institution and 5 plus years relevant experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Special remarks regarding work environment:
• Manual dexterity and the ability to quickly make coordinated movements of one hand, a hand together with its arm, or two hands to grasp, move or assemble objects.
• Arm-hand steadiness and the ability to keep the hand and arm steady while making an arm movement or while holding the arm and hand in one position
• Must be accessible by cell phone except on PTO days
• Maintain required certifications through training
• May need to move up to 50lbs with assistance
• Work hours can extend past normal office hours
• International and Domestic travel may be required
• Must be actively applying for, or in current possession of a valid US passport.
• Must be available to work occasionally on Saturdays during flying season

Language Ability: Ability to read general operational manuals or governmental regulations and safety documents. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and update procedural manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to requests and questions from managers, supervisors, and co-workers.

Math Ability: Able to add, subtract, multiply and divide in all units of measure using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.

Reasoning Ability: Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form. Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.

Other skills: Knowledge of general office practices, procedures and equipment; extreme professionalism and communication skills; ability to prioritize tasks and work independently; strong organizational and interpersonal communication skills; And experience interacting with senior level management.

Work Environment & Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions for this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job the employee is regularly required to stand; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; talk or hear and smell. The employee is frequently required to walk and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee is occasionally required to sit and climb or balance. The employee is regularly required to move up to 25 pounds with assistance.

The vision requirements include: ability to adjust focus, depth perception, peripheral vision, distance vision and close vision and to be able to otherwise perform the essential functions of the job in a manner that does not present danger to the employee or others with or without a reasonable accommodation.

Now there's a job description written by someone with absoluely no knowledge of warbird operations... On time?? LOL!
No wonder they seem to be hiring more often than McDonalds..

_________________
Those who possess real knowledge are rare.

Those who can set that knowledge into motion in the physical world are rarer still.

The few who possess real knowledge and can set it into motion of their own hands are the rarest of all.

After all that I would like to know what they start you out at.

I'd apply , but i'm only familiar with mac computers, dont have a cell phone, and can't work saturdays during hockey season. picky, picky!!

I like this part:



So, basically.... the ability to juggle a combination socket rail, merlin piston & a bowling ball while finding your butt with both hands without the aid of a flashlight and/or map.
.. altho the second part of that requirement could mean you get to pick off tourists with a 30.06 if they step too close to the toys.. sorry, aircraft

_________________
Those who possess real knowledge are rare.

Those who can set that knowledge into motion in the physical world are rarer still.

The few who possess real knowledge and can set it into motion of their own hands are the rarest of all.

Too bad for them Gary already has a job...

Wish I could take it, but they don't want me yet I'm sure... So I'll keep training the Jerry Springer crowd to try to figure out what an airplane is and how to fix it.(Man, I wish this place would advertise on shows where the people were interested in AIRCRAFT and not societal rejects on parade) (I am referring to Springers show- not the students)...

Robbie
stopping before I get into a rant about the standards for admission... lol...

Hahahahaha

Don’t ya just love H.R weenies?

I’ll bet during orientation, they do a short-arm inspection, and then examine your crayola drawing to ensure you stayed inside the lines.


Reminds me of a large company I once applied at. The touchy-feely orientation actually had a part where you “discovered your inner child”. I walked out laughing so hard it hurt.

What I find really amusing is that the companies that go to extreme lengths to screen applicants, often have a fair amount of worthless employees that are mainly speedbumps to the operation.

When I see an job opening like that, I don’t give it a second look. IME, it describes an environment where following the rules is more important than accomplishing the mission.

It sounds like to me (as a company owner and one who has had to write want ads for our hot rod shop) that they have hired some people who looked good on paper but in reality didn't know their ass from a hole in the ground. We've had lots of kids come and go because basically... they were worthless, regardless of what their "dimploma" from various technical colleges conveyed.

Building hot rods or warbirds sounds like a dream job to me. You wouldn't know it by how these kids act about 60 days in...

I bet if you mentioned checking the valve clearances on a Centaurus & RB211 during the interview process they wouldn't catch it....

_________________
Those who possess real knowledge are rare.

Those who can set that knowledge into motion in the physical world are rarer still.

The few who possess real knowledge and can set it into motion of their own hands are the rarest of all.

Having served (and currently serving) on several search committees for employees, then hiring & managing said employees for wide range of businesses and professional organizations, I would suggest that you might try reading that job description with an eye towards winnowing out unqualified people, as opposed to enticing qualified people to apply.
...just a thought from someone who has "been there & done that & have the tee shirt" and is "too soon old & too late smart"...

"Dr. It hurts when I do this."
"Don't do it."

Now THAT reminds me of the large corporation I retired from. Methinks many large organizations are being run like that now.

_________________
"They can teach MONKEYS to fly better than that"

http://www.heritageflight.org
http://www.bravo369.org

I know what you’re talking about.

I see a fair number of kids getting into aviation maintenance today, that have no real interest or aptitude for it. Most went to a crappy school, got into serious debt, and got a nasty shock when they were offered $8-10/hr, instead of the “big bucks” they were promised. And then the constant whining commences. They seem to think raises are based solely on longevity instead of productivity.

Ask these kids to define their work ethic, and they don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.

Some are less than worthless. My productivity goes down dramatically when I have to watch their every move so they don’t do something stupid. Any expectation of making a profit on the task quickly disappears. Even today, someone can get an A&P license and lack the mechanical aptitude to fix a toaster. I think some of the schools are so desperate, they will graduate guys who would normally spend a lifetime in minimum wage jobs.

I have a frequent argument with shop managers over these guys. I will quote 200 hrs for a major structural repair, and they think putting one of their kids with me, means they’ll only have to pay me for 100 hrs. In reality, having to constantly watch over the guy, and explain everything in great detail, can easily push the job to 300 hrs. And a drill or cut-off wheel in the hands of these idiots can quickly become a $10,000 mistake.



As far as this ad, I find it a bit strange. They appear to be assuming an applicant is in slightly better than a vegetative state, and they want to confirm he/she is a normally functioning human being. It suggests to me that they have previously hired “vegetables”, and are trying to avoid that mistake. This makes me wonder what kind of people they have working there now, and leads me to ignore them as a potential employer.


If they want to screen out the unqualified, all they need to include in their ad is a statement that applicant’s must pass a written test covering the knowledge required for the job. That will scare away all but the top guns in the field. A GA shop I know, ran an ad in the big aviation magazines for mechanics. 2300 resumes flooded in (the airlines had just laid off thousands). They started over by running the same ad, but with the testing requirement, and got less than 20 resumes. Actually, they didn’t even have a test, but the trick worked beautifully.


Maybe I’m just “old school”, but when I pursue a job with a shop, first, it’s usually a long phone conversation about their needs and my capabilities. I’m brutally honest, and I ask them very pointed questions too. Next is a FTF meeting, where they show me the shop, and I show them my previous accomplishments. I keep a large book detailing some of my more challenging repairs, loaded with photographs and after-action-reports of the problems encountered and my solutions to them. I also have photos of all the tools and equipment I can bring to a job. Money and other details are finalized, and the deal sealed with a handshake.


I’ve been burned once, by a shop owner who was a lying SOB. But GA aviation is small enough (and I’ve been around long enough, plus the internet) that I can usually dig up some background info on a person before pursuing a job.

Were you in the Air Force?

_________________
"There are two types of people here; airshow whores and airshow prostitutes. The whores, like you and I, do airshow stuff for free, whereas the prostitutes are paid" - Reg Urschler

TINBENDER 2, could not agree with you more if I met a kid who was thinking of becoming a A&P I would tell them to go to school for auto repair, the money's better and you can do work on the side and not have all the bull.