Volume 1 No. 13
Friday, November 16, 1945
In the days of aviation when there
Y/ere no mechanics, the pilot had to do
all the repairing himself, including
splicing, vj-elding, covering, rigging,
engine overhauling, trouble shooting,
etc. The vrork vms usually done on a
barnstorming field or in some man's
barn. The pilot or mechanic, if any,
did not have a Manual 18 to refer to
in malcing a repair. He made the re
pair in his ovm way, bolting his rein
forcing plates on a broken spar out of
■white pine, oak, poplar, or anything he
thought might be strong enough. The
engiao had to be overhauled and checked
more often than the modern ones because
of poorly designed materials and inex
perienced mechecnics. Aviation has made
great strides since those dcys. Today's
aviation mechanic must familiarize him
self with the modern way of maintaining
the airworthiness of the airplane. He
must keep himself posted in the up-to-
date way things are being done. Ho
m.ust know the types of materials de
signed for use in the different loca
tions in the aircraft, engine or prop
eller. He must be a good electrician,
m.etal worker and wood worker. He must
Imov;" hOT to v/ork with fabric and paint.
In order to complete tlie necessary
papers on major repairs, the aviation
mechanic of today must also be a draft
sman and have a fair comm.and of the
English language.
I am proud of the vrork tlio mechanics
are doing at Piedmont Aviation. One
T/ould have to travel far to find anot
her operatioi building Crop Dusters or
experimenting with a Crop Sprayer. This
type of vrork is good experience and has
improved the workmanship of a lot of us.
I have been to other airports and
seen TiTork, seme good and some bad,
I believe the Trorl-onanship of Pied
mont Aviation mechanics is the best.
There is still room for improvement
for ell of us.
If v/e keep ourselves posted on to
day's aviation problems, strive to
cut the cost of each repair job (still
doing the job as good as it can be
done) and finish it as soon as possi
ble, there Virill bo a future and a
good job for each of us,
F. J. Brwrn
PLIGHT rEPARTI'.GI'ir
Gurnoy Smii±L took Mr. Ptuynolds to
Wo^T York last week. On their return
trip they had a forced landing at
Fort Meade, Md. Gurney rode back as
Co-Pilot vj-ith Mr. Groat in the Stinson
No# 9. Our mechanics. Smith, Anderson
and Myers put tlie ship back in co:aim-
iasion and Gurney flev/ it in Thursday
night •
Mr. Groat took a trip to Hamlet, H.C
on Tuesday. The trip was uneventful
but MB wonder v/hy Mr. Groat alvmys
gets good looking girls on his trips.
He took another trip to Concord on
Thursday no girls '.III
Charlie Vestal left Thursday for
the Piper factory. He took Joe Culler
along to pilot one of the t\70 new Cubs
v/hich he is bringing back to us,
% j| J{C sK J'!'>jc^
PERSONALS
R. G. I'levrell and W. C. Baker were
away from Saturday to Wednesday of las