I once thought experience beat all, but a young mechanic showed me otherwise.

For years, I believed that if you had enough hours on the hangar floor, you could fix anything by feel. Then a new kid joined our crew, fresh from school with all this book knowledge. He caught a fault in a landing gear system that I had signed off on, using a diagnostic procedure I'd skipped. It was a tiny sensor reading, but it could have led to a big issue. Now I see that mixing old hands-on skill with new technical methods is the way to go. It keeps us sharp and the birds flying safe. I guess sometimes you need a fresh pair of eyes to learn something new.

3 comments

3 Comments

paige_barnes20d ago

That's a really good point about mixing old skills with new methods... makes me wonder how much pride gets in the way sometimes. Did that moment make you change how you check your own work now, or do you just run the book procedure every time no matter what? Feels like there's always a push and pull between the way it's always been done and the new school way.

the_jessica20d ago

That pride thing paige_barnes mentioned still makes me double-check.

michaelnguyen11d ago

Ever notice how that push and pull shows up in small stuff, like refusing to use GPS for a drive you "know"? @the_jessica, that double-check habit is smart. I've learned the hard way that mixing both methods usually saves you from yourself.