Spinning Wheel

What goes up must come down
Spinning wheel got to go round
Talking about your troubles it’s a crying sin
Ride a painted pony
Let the spinning wheel spin

“Spinning Wheel” by Blood Sweat and Tears

Spinning wheel. Two steps forward, three steps back. There are many clichés to describe the process of seeming to get nowhere. Sometimes it feels like the efforts of some to increase the professional perception of our craft are being hindered by others determined to remain lower-class aviation citizens. Are we just going in circles?

I am proud to be an A&P mechanic. Most of the aircraft mechanics I know share that pride. But there is a line between pride and arrogance. Take it a little further, and there is a line between being arrogant and being offensive.

Here is the verbiage of some aircraft mechanic t-shirts I have seen for sale online that are examples of being proud, arrogant and offensive.

Example 1 – Proud: “Proud to be an aircraft mechanic.”

Example 2 – Arrogant: “God created aircraft mechanics so pilots can have heroes too.”

Example 3 – Offensive: “Aircraft Mechanic. Because Badass Mother F****r is not an official job title.”

If your company allows t-shirts to be worn at work, the first example would be appropriate. The second one may not, as it could drive a rift (or further deepen the rift) between mechanics and pilots in the hangar. The third example has no place in the workplace. Heck, I believe it has no place anywhere ­— it only serves to strengthen the negative perception some have of mechanics as “knuckle-dragging grease monkeys.”

Even though we may feel like our wheels are sometimes spinning, we must continue to promote professionalism in our industry. D.O.M. magazine is committed to continue waving the professionalism banner. So are our contributors. More specifically, I recently talked to J.D. McHenry, and he says he is setting a goal to write an article for each issue of  D.O.M. in 2015. He has already submitted articles for this issue and our November/December issue. McHenry says it is a personal goal of his to give back to the industry that has given so much to him by continuing to promote  professionalism in our industry. Thanks for your contributions J.D.! And thanks to all our contributors who continue to provide top-notch articles in each issue of D.O.M magazine!

Do you want to get involved in the professionalism discussion? NBAA will be hosting its 2014 Safety Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday, October 21 from 10:30 to Noon during the NBAA2014 Meeting and Exhibition in Orlando, FL. One of the topics on the agenda for discussion is professionalism. If you are going to be at the show, stop on in and participate in the discussion!

There are a lot of events, seminars and sessions lined up for NBAA2014. We have included a schedule of events that may be of interest to D.O.M. magazine readers beginning on page 57. You can use this to start planning your agenda for the show.

If you are going to be at NBAA2014, be sure to stop by our booth, 4268, and say hi to theD.O.M. magazine team!

Last, but definitely not least, we would like to welcome Gordon Dupont to the D.O.M. contributor team. Dupont is known to many as the father of the “Dirty Dozen.” He will be writing about human factors and safety management in each issue of D.O.M. magazine. If you have any subjects you would like to see him write about relating to human factors or safety management, you can email me at jescobar@DOMmagazine.comand I will pass the information on to him. Or you can email him directly at dupontg@system-safety.com.

Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you in Orlando!   — Joe

About D.O.M. Magazine

D.O.M. magazine is the premier magazine for aviation maintenance management professionals. Its management-focused editorial provides information maintenance managers need and want including business best practices, professional development, regulatory, quality management, legal issues and more. The digital version of D.O.M. magazine is available for free on all devices (iOS, Android, and Amazon Kindle).

Privacy Policy  |  Cookie Policy  |  GDPR Policy

More Info

Joe Escobar (jescobar@dommagazine.com)
Editorial Director
920-747-0195

Greg Napert (gnapert@dommagazine.com)
Publisher, Sales & Marketing
608-436-3376

Bob Graf (bgraf@dommagazine.com)
Director of Business, Sales & Marketing
608-774-4901