TIL a 30-year mechanic thinks our whole trade is going soft

I was bench testing a Garmin G1000 interface module at the hangar in Mobile, and this old-timer working on a King Air's engines just shook his head and said 'You boys just plug things in and read a screen, you don't fix anything anymore.' It made me wonder if we're losing the hands-on troubleshooting skills for just swapping LRUs. How do you balance using modern diagnostics with actually understanding the underlying circuits?

2 comments

2 Comments

tessa17719d ago

Totally get that old guy's point. My shop manager says we're just parts changers now, and it's a real problem. You gotta know WHY the box failed, not just that it's blinking red.

kelly_coleman6119d ago

That "parts changers" line hits home. I try to force myself to trace the wiring diagram before I pull the box, even if the fault code points right at it. It keeps the real problem solving skills sharp for when the computer is wrong.