What is maintenance?

Aircraft maintenance is the overhaul,

an aircraft or aircraft component.[1]

repair,

inspection

or

modification

of

2. What is repair?
To restore to sound condition after damage or injury; fix:
2A. what are the two types of repair?
Major repair means a repair:
(1) That, if improperly done, might appreciably affect weight, balance, structural
strength, performance, powerplant operation, flight characteristics, or other qualities
affecting airworthiness; or
(2) That is not done according to accepted practices or cannot be done by
elementary operations.
Minor repair means a repair other than a major repair.
These definitions often lead to controversy when deciding how to classify a proposed
repair. The FAA published an advisory circular AC 120-77 - Maintenance and
Alteration Data. In that document is a decision chart that can be used to determine
major and minor repairs. That decision chart is shown below:
3. what is alteration?
is usually done to improve upon a current aircraft design or performance standard.
They are also performed to equip an aircraft for special purpose operations
(photography, crop spraying, etc.)
3a. what are the two types of alteration?
Major alteration means an alteration not listed in the aircraft, aircraft engine, or
propeller specifications (1) That might appreciably affect weight, balance, structural strength, performance,
powerplant operation, flight characteristics, or other qualities affecting airworthiness;
or
(2) That is not done according to accepted practices or cannot be done by
elementary operations.
Minor alteration means an alteration other than a major alteration.

4. Differentiate preventive maintenance to maintenance

1. The care and servicing by personnel for the purpose of maintaining equipment
and facilities in satisfactory operating condition by providing for systematic
inspection, detection, and correction of incipient failures either before they
occur or before they develop into major defects.
2. Maintenance,

including

tests,

measurements,

adjustments,

and

parts

replacement, performed specifically to prevent faults from occurring.

3. Preventive Maintenance
4. Preventive

maintenance (also

called

planned

maintenance

or

planned

preventive maintenance) is driven by time, meter or event based triggering.

Maintenance tasks that are undertaken during PMs are pre-determined based
on

number

of

factors

including

experience,

age,

manufacturers

recommendations etc. It is assumed that a machine component will degrade

within a time period that is common for its type. Under a preventive
management approach, the relevant parts will be removed, replaced or rebuilt
on or before the expected failure point. For example, your engine oil in your
car is proactively replaced at 10,000 miles. Mean-time-between-failure (MTBF)
statistics can determine help optimize preventive maintenance management
schedule to include inspections, repairs and rebuilds.
5. The main issue with a preventive maintenance approach is that the way a
machine is used, how often it is used, as well as a number of other variables,
directly impact the operating life of the machine and its components. In many
cases, parts are replaced when there is no need. Therefore, this approach can
sometimes result in unnecessary maintenance. Unnecessary maintenance can
become even more costly if the technician causes collateral damage during
the replacement.
6. - See more at: http://www.maintenanceassistant.com/blog/short-guidepreventive-predictive-maintenance/#sthash.Q0qhKdnY.dpuf
Predictive Maintenance
Predictive maintenance is determined by the condition of equipment rather average
or expected life statistics. Essentially, this methodology tries to predict the failure
before it actually happens by directly monitoring the machine during normal

operating condition. In the car example above, rather than replacing the oil every
10,000 miles, using predictive maintenance methodology, oil samples are taken at
regular intervals and the oil is replaced when it degrades beyond a certain point. This
is called condition-based maintenance. In many cases, when predictive analysis spots
an issue, the repair can be scheduled at a time that minimizes the impact on
production.

A range of cost-effective tools can be used within a predictive maintenance program

to analyze system performance and produce accurate factual data about pivotal
systems, so that maintenance activities can be undertaken the moment they are
needed. Improvements in quality, profitability and productivity can result when
predictive maintenance is used on capital-intensive assets.
- See more at: http://www.maintenanceassistant.com/blog/short-guide-preventivepredictive-maintenance/#sthash.Q0qhKdnY.dpuf
5. define the ff.
5A. inspection
Aircraft maintenance checks are periodic inspections that have to be done on all
commercial/civil aircraft after a certain amount of time or usage; military aircraft
normally follow specific maintenance programmes which may or may not be similar
to those of commercial/civil operators. Airlines and other commercial operators of
large or turbine-powered aircraft follow a continuous inspection program approved by
the Federal
Aviation
Administration (FAA) in
the
United
States,[1] or
by
other airworthiness authorities such as Transport Canada or the European Aviation
Safety Agency (EASA). Under FAA oversight, each operator prepares a Continuous
Airworthiness Maintenance Program (CAMP) under its Operations Specifications or
"OpSpecs".[2]The CAMP includes both routine and detailed inspections. Airlines and
airworthiness authorities casually refer to the detailed inspections as "checks",
commonly one of the following: A check, B check, C check, or D check. A and B
checks are lighter checks, while C and D are considered heavier checks.

5b.

Airworthiness is

the

measure

of

an aircraft's

suitability

for safe

flight.

Certification of airworthiness is initially conferred by a certificate of airworthinessfrom

a national

aviation

authority,

required maintenance actions.

5c. overhaul

and

is

maintained

by

performing

the

take apart (a piece of machinery or equipment) in order to examine it and repair it if

necessary
1.
Time between overhaul (abbreviated as TBO or TBOH) is the manufacturer's
recommended number of running hours or calendar time before an aircraft engine
or other component requires overhaul. On rotorcraft many components have
recommended or mandatory TBOs, including main rotor blades, tail rotor blades and
gearboxes.
5d.calibration
Calibration is a comparison between measurements one of known magnitude or
correctness made or set with one device and another measurement made in as
similar way as possible with a second device. The device with the known or assigned
correctness is called the standard. The second device is the unit under test, test
instrument, or any of several other names for the device being calibrated.
What are the different kinds of maintenenace check

A check[edit]
This is performed approximately every 250 flight hours or 200300 cycles. It needs
about 2050 man-hours and is usually performed overnight at an airport gate. The
actual occurrence of this check varies by aircraft type, the cycle count (takeoff and
landing is considered an aircraft "cycle"), or the number of hours flown since the last
check. The occurrence can be delayed by the airline if certain predetermined
conditions are met.
B check[edit]
This is performed approximately every 6 months. It needs about 120-150 man-hours,
depending on the aircraft, and is usually completed within 13 days at an airport
hangar. A similar occurrence schedule applies to the B check as to the A check.
However, B checks may also be incorporated into successive A checks, i.e.: Checks A1 through A-10 complete all the B check items.
C check[edit]
This is performed approximately every 2024 months or a specific amount of actual
flight hours (FH) or as defined by the manufacturer. This maintenance check is much
more extensive than a B check, requiring a large majority of the aircraft's
components to be inspected. This check puts the aircraft out of service and until it is
completed, the aircraft must not leave the maintenance site. It also requires more
space than A and B checks. It is, therefore, usually carried out in a hangar at a

maintenance base. The time needed to complete such a check is generally 12 weeks
and the effort involved can require up to 6,000 man-hours. The schedule of
occurrence has many factors and components as has been described, and thus varies
by aircraft category and type.
D check[edit]
This is by far the most comprehensive and demanding check for an airplane. It is also
known as a "heavy maintenance visit" (HMV). This check occurs approximately every
6 years. It is a check that, more or less, takes the entire airplane apart for inspection
and overhaul. Also, if required, the paint may need to be completely removed for
further inspection on the fuselage metal skin. Such a check can usually demand up to
50,000 man-hours and it can generally take up to 2 months to complete, depending
on the aircraft and the number of technicians involved. It also requires the most
space of all maintenance checks, and as such must be performed at a suitable
maintenance base. Given the elevated requirements of this check and the
tremendous effort involved in it, it is also by far the most expensive maintenance
check of all, with total costs for a single visit ending up well within the million-dollar
range.