Interested To Be Flight Engineer

Ibrahim asked;

i'm interested to be a flightlike you.can u tell me what the requiment needed.currently i'm working as avionics technician at malaysia airlines.for your information i'm a AMEL holder from DCA malaysia (instrument & radio)

Dear Ibrahim,

You need to have ability to release an aircraft for flight either A&C, B1 or under company approval. This is done after you have licence plus type rated on certain type or aircraft.

Not all company have full time flight engineer onboard, normal airlines do sometimes carry engineer onboard for a schedule flight to certain destination that does not have engineer coverage to release aircraft back to base. In Malaysia Airlines it is under Line Maintenance so you have to work your way to join the department, but as far as i can remember, only A&C engineer is accepted to fly onboard.

Unfortunately in east asia region, market for narrow to wide body vip aircraft is very limited so chances to be full time flight engineer is very scarce. Try to get licence and type rated for 737NG or Airbus A319/320 and look forward to find oppurtunity in Gulf and Middle East where the business jet is a lot around this area.

AVMP To ATA Chapter

Bro Z_Mie bertanya;

salam tuan..
saya anggota tentera yang membaikpulih agusta A109LOH. Bagi anggota tentera macam saya yang masih berkhidmat untuk mengambil LWTR, saya perlu membuat work schedule selama 2 tahun sebelum menghadiri exam LTWR..AN 5,saya sudah baca, permasalahan sekarang ini, bagaimana hendak menukarkan dari AVMP ke ATA chapter di work shedule.
saya mencari bahan tersebut tapi gagal untuk menukarkan maintenance manual dari military ke ATA chapter. Kerjasama tuan amat diperlukan, sekian terima kasih.

How to change from AVMP to ATA chapter for a purpose of collecting work schedule for military personnel.

My answer;

I can't find any direct conversion for it, however in this link, it details for every ATA chapter numbers, there is a details explanation for what sub-system it is for. Basically you have to do extra effort to individually select the ATA chapter for every work recorded in your work schedule.

ATC Controller

Aisy asked

I'm a final year engineering student, will be graduating Aug-2010. the thing is, I am seeking for a job right now, since I'm on a study break, and am thinking of aplying at SPA for the Pembantu kawalan trafik udara post(SPM qualification).

1)What I want to know is, how long would someone need to get from being a Pembantu to Pegawai ATC? 2)Does this job require perfect eyesight? I'm short-sighted.

3) Is it true that ATC are at risk of getting exposed to radiation?

My reply;

Unfortunately i dont have any information regarding ATC Controller so i'm not be able to answer you pertaining this matter.

Different Between De-Icing And Anti-icing

Al Faisal asked

may i know the different between de-icing and anti-icing of an airplane?

My answer;

De-icing is a process where the ice will be removed (normally with de-icing fluid) from the aircraft (especially wings & horizontal stabilizer) and also from that process, a build up of an ice can be prevented or minimised by the characteristic of the de-icing fluid itself. De-icing is critical prior take-off as any layer of ice on top of the wing or horizontal stabilizers can effect the lift and controablilty which is crucial during that phase of flight.

Anti-icing is more for heating system that build-in the airplane itself to prevent ice built-up especially in flight such as on wing leading edges, engine nose cowls, cockpit windows as well as the pitot & static ports either by hot air from engine bleed system or by electric heating element.

Mechanic Or Engineer?

Fong asked;

if i go miat for easa part 66 program. i passed all the module, what do i call myself? mechanic or aircraft engineer?

My answer;

Once you got your licence, you already an engineer but without type rating. Once you received type rating from any authority or company approval then you are an engineer with type rating. Without type rating you dont have any previleges that you can exercise as an engineer. Probably depend on the organisation that you currently employed, since you cannot exercise any previleges as an engineer, the company might assign you as mechanic. So my advice is, get your type rating ASAP.

B1 or B2?

From Safuan,

Hi Bro,
i think it's not to late to wish u selamat hari raya..:)
from what have u see after work long time, wht do u think about B2 avionic?..urm, is it true b1 work have lot of work than b2 avionic?..i'm asking this question since i'm interested on b2 avionic..hopefully if it meant to be to get pursue for easa b2, i will go on that..

My reply:

Selamat Hari Raya to you to. B1 more on mechanicals and B2 is more towards avionics. B1 normally handling the components or parts such as actuators, wheels, hydraulic pipelines, structures etc. of the aircraft while B2 mostly on avionics boxes, wiring and so on. Cross responsibility also happen such as after replacement of parts where the replacement done by B1 and the testing done by B2.

To make statement that B1 have more jobs for me is not really correct. The best job is in the field that we really interested in, wether it will have a lot of work for me it should not be a concern. You can do less job but if you dont like it, no point doing it. Whether it is B1 or B2, both held same responsibility which is to make sure aircraft is safe for people to fly. Since you interested on B2, go for it.

Is It Too Late For Me?

En Ahmad asked:

I'm 26 years old and would like to apply for AME course in Glamorgan Univ in Cardiff.

After doing some research on internet,i found that Glamorgan Univ offer B Sc Aircraft Maintenance Engineering + EASA B1.

I need to hear your opinion and advise regarding this matter.

Do you think its too late for me to be in this field?

I'm looking forward to hear from you as soon as possible.

My reply:

Dear En Ahmad,

There is never to late to learn, as well as turning your life directions from where you are now. The main important thing is whether you sincerely like it or not. When you like what are you doing, age is not a concern anymore.

With regard to the requirement of the authority, in your case i refer it to CAA UK, the min age is 20 for LWTR and 21 for Type rating (Refer BCAR Sect L CAP 468), with regard to age limit as mentioned in Age Discrimination and Aviation Safety Legislation, the age limit is proportional to safety concern.

I encourage you to pursue it and establish as LAME, there is a lot of demand for LAME in a future ahead. Good luck.