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Hot take: Is it better to learn on older planes or should new mechanics jump straight into glass cockpits?
I had an argument with an old instructor back at the maintenance school in Detroit about this. He said you don't really understand a system until you've traced a wire on a 1970s 737 with a paper schematic. But the guy I work with now learned on a 787 and he can troubleshoot an LRU fault twice as fast as anyone else. I see value in both but I lean toward his side because most shops around here are moving to digital. What do you all think? Are we wasting time on old school methods?
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vera_murphy17d ago
@park.robin nailed it. Tracing real wires saved me when a digital readout glitched and I had to fall back on paper.
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park.robin17d ago
The 787 guy at my shop can swap a display unit in 10 minutes flat, but when that same LRU has a phantom fault he's lost. I traced a short on a DC-9 last month by following the wires with a multimeter. The paper schematics taught me how systems connect, not just which box to replace. You need that foundation or you're just a part changer. Both have a place, but skip the old school stuff and you'll be screwed when the computer lies to you.
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