Going Electronic #13

Maintenance Requirements

Many people who have begun to transition from a paper system to an electronic one for tracking the maintenance requirements on their aircraft use a spreadsheet. Certainly today's spreadsheet programs are technically capable of making the basic calculations required. In the hands of an experienced user who understands how to make use best use of it, a "template" can be developed to handle the maintenance requirements for an aircraft, but it's very easy to corrupt the information it produces through entry errors or omissions. There is no quality control and no history. WinAir uses a similar, but far more sophisticated system that virtually eliminates errors.

Obviously, different aircraft types have different requirements that may or may not apply to them. With the WinAir Maintenance Schedule Template, all the requirements that MAY apply to an aircraft of one type are set up. These can include Inspections, Components, AWD's, Service Bulletins, company requirements, etc. When an aircraft is added to the system it is attached to the appropriate template and all the possible requirements are instantly set up automatically for it. The user then simply steps through them one by one and marks them as applicable or not to that specific aircraft. Then the current compliance information can be entered. Simple check marks in the aircraft file make it obvious which requirements apply, and which ones have been complied with.

Another major concern is quality control. When a user enters the compliance date or airframe time for a requirement - or the interval - or the next due time - typographical errors are easy to make and can have serious consequences. WinAir makes this much less likely by cutting out the typing. First, flight time entries are made in the log file so that total aircraft time can be checked - WinAir will even increment the date automatically. When an aircraft requirement is updated, the interval is filled in automatically from the template, then simply click the Log Entries button and pick the log entry when the maintenance was carried out - the date and airframe times are carried forward automatically! The next due time is also automatically calculated and simply needs to be confirmed with the click of a button. An inspection can be updated or a component removed or installed without typing anything.

So what about component part numbers and serial numbers? WinAir takes care of those too. For component requirements, the template contains all the possible part numbers that can be installed in each position, and all the overhaul and retirement lives of each. At install, the user simply picks the right P/N from a list and the intervals are brought forward. Even the serial number can be picked from a list of those available. Because WinAir integrates Inventory and Maintenance, it knows which components are available for installation - and it knows what the current TSO/TSN is for components in the system, so even that is entered automatically. Similarly, by simply picking the correct log entry when a component is removed, the TSO/TSN on the part is automatically updated. Again, no typing means fewer mistakes. And because most of the necessary information is built right into the template, the person doing the updates on the computer no longer needs to be a combination of maintenance manager and computer programmer.

But where WinAir really shines is in the history it keeps. Every update, installation, and removal is recorded in history. You can look at which aircraft a part has been installed on, complete with dates and airframe times. You can even correct the history if mistakes do get made somehow. In fact, you can also look at the history for a requirement on the aircraft. This means that in addition to component history, you can see what engines have been installed in one position, or see a list of inspection compliance history for an aircraft.

With WinAir, updating maintenance and installing or removing components is so easy, you may even want to set up items that are normally on condition, just so that you can track the reliability. Does one radio repair shop do more reliable work than another? Should you develop an internal overhaul requirement for a particular actuator to reduce down time? The possibilities are endless...