AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - November 2020 - 94

P&E

MAINTENANCE TRAINING

newcomers-looking to see what aviation has to offer."
Dyan explained that the program is 65
percent lecture and 35 percent practical
training. Light sport repairman students
have access to resources from the college's
airframe and powerplant program. "Plus,
it is simply a great way for someone to discover if maintenance is truly something
they want to pursue."
STARTING WITH THE REGULATIONS

Every morning of the course starts with an
in-depth analysis of FAA regulations and
their applicability to light sport aircraft, as
well as exercises in proper documentation
and maintenance recordkeeping.
"The correct documentation of completed maintenance work is nearly as
important as the correct completion of
that work," Dyen tells the students in his
classes. "The rules and regulations can
take only a few hours to learn, but the
mastery of them is just beginning for most
students. The course's goal in this is to get
them to know where to find the answers
to their questions."
WORKING ON THE AIRFRAME

A significant part of the course takes
place at BRCC's hangar, located at nearby
Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport
(SHD). There, the school maintains
an aircraft repair shop, complete with
engine cutaways, aircraft system training
aids, and a full-size paint booth. Several
donated aircraft are stored on the flight
line and in the hangar, where they are
frequently called upon for students to
damage and then repair. The latest addition: a fabric-covered Avid Flyer.
An estimated 3,000 aircraft are re-covered annually. "A lot of mechanics may
downplay the need to skillfully handle
materials like Dacron or Ceconite," Dyen
said. "But with that many still flying, a technician who can master an aircraft covering
system like Poly-Fiber will possess a valuable skill for the foreseeable future."
A leather artisan and private pilot
from Virginia, Chuck Pinnell was surprised by some of the course's material.
"I was astonished to see the interworking
and details of a fabric-covered airplane,
94 | AOPA PILOT November 2020

and the structural strength of such a malleable material. You simply don't imagine
something so light supporting the loads
of flight."
In addition to fabrics, students also
get experience repairing composites
under the guidance of Cindy Foreman,
an industry expert and the author of the
textbook Advanced Composites. "Since I
started in the late 1970s, the use of composites has only increased. Aircraft have
gone from just a few surfaces and controls being composite to, nowadays,
virtually entire aircraft," Foreman said.
"The weight savings, combined with
their inherent strength, is making composite construction more widespread in
light sport aircraft, and the students need
to be ready and prepared to conduct such
repairs in the future."
ENGINES AND PROPELLERS

While an estimated 85 percent of light
sport aircraft are powered by Rotax
engines, which require factory training to
conduct warranty-covered work, course
participants are taught the basics of working on any piston-powered engine, from
measuring cylinder compression and safely
changing oil to adjusting the ignition timing and replacing hoses and cables.
Students discover the vital importance of unmarred propellers to flight,
and how even a little damage can affect
safe operations.
"As a pilot, I have approached the propeller on a typical preflight inspection
rather cavalierly," Pinnell said. "Now, in
the wake of this course, I have a completely new appreciation for all those
nicks and scratches that I would have
previously overlooked. I now look at the
blade face with a completely new perspective. All pilots should not just take heed of
the importance of it, but should consider
this training to simply learn more about
the machines that they fly."
Fay Taylor, a private pilot also from
Virginia, attended because she was
looking to volunteer her time at a local
mechanic shop. "I came to learn as much
as I could as a refresher and get a glimpse
at the future of flying," she said. The
course provided Taylor with a structured

A POWERFUL CERTIFICATE
Levels of light sport repairmen
While someone can earn only
one light sport repairman
certificate, the certificate has
two rating categories: inspection and maintenance. Unlike
the airframe and powerplant
certificate, the maintenance
rating actually denotes greater
privileges than the inspection
rating.
The inspection rating is
only issued to the owner of an
experimental aircraft operating as a light sport aircraft and
allows the owner to perform
the annual condition inspection required by his or her
aircraft's operating limitations.
Furthermore, each FAA repairman certificate-inspection rating identifies the registration
number and serial number of
the aircraft associated with it
so repairmen can't go beyond
their limited scope. Given this,
the courses to earn an inspection rating only require 16
hours of training.
A light sport repairman
certificate with a maintenance rating (LSRM) allows
the mechanic to also perform
maintenance and conduct annual condition inspections on
light sport, and certain experimental, aircraft. However, the
added privileges require more
training-120 hours for airplanes-and the holder cannot
do major repairs or alterations unless the manufacturer
determines that the repairman
has the additional training to
perform the work, including
engine overhauls.
The LSRM also has four
aircraft categories: airplane,
glider, powered parachute,
and weight-shift.
-CLF
AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - November 2020

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