Hit 500 landings recorded in my logbook last week and it didn't feel like enough

I've been doing line maintenance for six years and figured once I hit 500 landings I'd feel like a real mechanic. But when I actually got there last Tuesday after a 737 came in with a stuck flap, I just sort of shrugged. It wasn't the milestone I expected it to be. What made me change my mind was talking to a senior guy who said he'd seen 10,000 landings and still found something new every time. Made me realize that number didn't matter as much as the specific fix I learned that day. Anyone else feel like hitting a round number just kind of fizzled out?

3 comments

3 Comments

jade_johnson13d ago

Man, I felt that in my bones. Hit 1,000 landings last year on a Cessna that came in with a bird strike and I just checked the box and moved on. What really stuck with me was a few weeks later when I chased a fuel leak for two hours on an old A320 and finally found a hairline crack in a line nobody else bothered to double check. That fix felt way bigger than any number on a sheet.

rileyb6113d ago

Man I feel that. There is something about finding a problem that everyone else walked right past that just sticks with you way more than any routine landing or check box. Those little cracks and hidden issues are the ones that could actually kill someone if nobody caught them, and knowing you were the one to spot it makes all the difference. Its like the difference between just doing your job and really knowing your machine. Does it ever make you a little paranoid about what else might be hiding in places nobody looks?

kim.zara13d ago

lol @rileyb61 you're not wrong. I had an old Cherokee that had this weird vibration at idle that everyone just wrote off as "they all do that." Finally found a cracked engine mount bolt hidden behind a bracket. Now every time I hear something off I'm like "what else is about to fall apart." Makes you trust the machine but also question everything at the same time.