February 2007 - American Bonanza Society

least 30 months in trade school (or documented practicalexperience) and has passed three written tests (airframes, powerplantsand general), an oral and a practical exam that, byFAA Rule, must last at least eight hours!The maintenance or avionics shop may display on its wall arepair station license specifying what it can and cannot work on.If it does, an FAA principal inspector inspects the shop every fewmonths to ensure compliance with the temts of the license.The parts that the mechanic installs must have an attachedFAA Form 8130-3 "Certificate of Origin" specifying wherethe part came from. Most of the parts and avionics are madeunder a PMA (parts Manufacturing Authority) which meansthe manufacturing shop has been subject to an inspection bythe FAA certifying that the parts it makes are done to theFAA's satisfaction.Finally, depending on what was bolted onto or removedfrom your airplane, the shop submits an FAA Form 337,explai ning how it modified your airplane from its originalType Certificate (which was issued to Beechcraft after theyexplained to the FAA how they built your Bonanza and all theybuilt like it since 1947).All this is contained in Federal Aviation Regulations(FARs) and well-known by those FAA employees at the FlightStandard District Offices (FSDOs) who are responsible forenforcing the rules.There is a disparity between the various FSDOs throughoutthe country on enforcement of all the rules. It is possible to"shop" for an FSDO that i somewhat more len ient towardaward ing you (a manufacturer) a PMA. At Texas Instruments,for instance, we were able to move considerably faster than thecompetition in Kansas and Oregon by being in the FAASouthwest Region instead of the Central or Northwest FAARegions. Poor Apo llo-ne UPS Technology-was stymied byhaving to deal with the Northwest Region which was populatedby Boeing engineers who had very limited general aviationavionics experience and generally held Apollo to airline equipmentstandards!Training future Asian wide-body pilotsI'm now involved in a new experience to add to my long(and sometimes weird) aviation career. A well-known Floridabasednight school has been awarded a contract from an Asiancountry to train future airline pilots from scratch. The studentsspeak only "aviation English" (there is a school that teachesaviation English).These young Asians arrive and progress through private,commercial, instrument and multiengine ratings, just likeevery other group of students. However, in addi tion, they aregranted 20 or so hours of turboprop training before being sentback to their home country. I am told they will then commencea year of riding in an airl ine wide-body jumpseat observing.Then they jump into the right seat as a first officer and eventuallyoccupy the captain's seat of a modem passenger jet.Most of us in the USA don't understand the explosion ofair travel in countries outside our own. But it is possible thatthese fine eager young men could be captains of a wide-bodyinternational jet before the age of 30!Anyway, to allow these pilots to get their turbine time, I amin a group of pilots who are flying with these young menthroughout the USA for them to log time in a turbine airplane.The airplanes are "well-loved" Beechcraft King Air B-90s. Thework is fun and rewarding. And I'm sure I'll have more interestingstories to add to my repertoire in comi ng months.If you see a used (but not abused) older model King Airexecuting an instrument approach to your airport. land andthen depart without shutting down and deplaning anyone.please wave. It's probably me and my Asian students at work.See ya next monthJim Hughes of Orange City, Florida. is the former chief pilot.corporate aviation for Embry·Riddle Aeronautical University. Henow heads Marketing & Professional Services, a consulting firmspecializing in flight support and avionics integration. His ratingsinclude AlP and A&P licenses and type ratings ranging fromBoeing to Sikorsky helicopters. He has more than 22,000 hours,including more than 3,000 in Bonanzas, Barons, Dukes andKing Airs.To staff its table in the Type Club tent during Sun 'nFun,ApriI17-23,ABS needs a few members ta volunteersame time in the shade near Air Show Center to talk about Beechairplanes with fellow and future ABS members. If you plan on attendingSun 'n Fun and want to help represent the premier aircraft type club, pleasecontactTom Turner at bonanza8@bonanza.org or 316-945-1700.