Do you, like me, ever get annoyed by those pesky, over used buzz words or phrases? “…on the same page”, “Think outside the box”, and “Core Competencies” come to mind. One that I frequently see rearing its syllables is “Robust”; i.e. a robust system, design, or part. In aviation we love and need specificity, and the use of that over-used term begs for definition when used…but it seldom is, thus the annoyance. So, just how robust is your Purchase Order system?   Among part suppliers such as distri...

If you’re reading this, then this blog somehow made it through the institutional censors. Of course, everyone abhors the thoughts of “censors”, so these guys refer to themselves by the more palatable term “proof readers”. Professional proof readers call themselves Editors, and if you make a living writing, you’d better be careful to appeal to your target audience lest you find yourself edited out the door. OK, enough fun with this sarcasm.   Businessmen and academia are perpetually analyzing the...

I’ve been to quite a few, various trade shows these last few years, and it seems the subject of FAA inspector variation comes up with some regularity. You know, the stories about how different FAA inspectors interpret the regulations varyingly.     Now, before we proceed any further, I want to state my experience with inspectors whom are not FAA employees, in order to hopefully qualify this blog. While at a major airline, I was at one time in charge of all the inspectors at a huge Maintenance an...

If you’re like me, you likely read the title as “Automatic” rather than “Autonomic”. On closer examination of the term, I had flashbacks to my youthful days in Biology class. For those physiology aficionados among us, the term “Autonomic Nervous System” will be familiar. The organs of our body, such as the heart, stomach and intestines, are regulated by a part of the nervous system called the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The ANS is part of the peripheral nervous system and it controls many or...

Permit me a momentary departure from my usual blog themes with this one. For those of you who enjoy aviation history, I hope you’ll enjoy it.   I have a few pieces of aviation art I would consider to be collectables. A numbered print I have is called “The Doolittle Mission”. It is signed by one of my hero’s, Jimmy Doolittle. I purchased it the day after he passed away. It shows a B-25 Bomber lifting off the Aircraft Carrier Enterprise followed by the others on their way to a secret mission for a...