"There was not a time in my life when I wasn't interested in airplanes,"
says Larry Bell. In fact, he remembers when he was so small that he called
them "airpanes."
"Like any little kid, I was fascinated with anything that flew," says Bell.
His interest in planes led him into the aviation field. At 18, Bell became
an aircraft maintenance engineer apprentice. He then became an aircraft inspector
in his mid-30s. He is now an aviation technology instructor.
Bell says he prefers working with smaller planes. "Jets are too big and
not much fun. To be quite honest, I don't think working on them is as
exciting a career as the one I've had."
At one time, he owned a fleet of small airplanes and fought forest fires
with them. "I worked in aerial forest fire for years. You simply had to have
the aircraft ready to fly, and it had to be serviceable. When it comes to
fire control and aerial applications, someone might get killed."
This type of work is called a "specialty aviation."
Although he loves this field, Bell says it's "incredibly demanding,"
and points out that what you do on the job can mean the difference between
life and death.
"Only enter if you're suited for it. Ethics is an incredible part
of this," he says. "For instance, when you sign off on an aircraft, you are
literally putting your name on it.
"Think carefully. You need honesty and ethics. Most people don't have
any idea about the responsibility involved. You can take out many people by
not paying attention."
When new students realize how serious this responsibility is, they sometimes
change their minds about this field. Bell has had students leave for lunch
and never come back!
For those special ones who are "dedicated airplane crazy," there's
nothing like it. "The best reward is watching an airplane fly away and [knowing]
it's as safe as it can be," says Bell.
Janice Elrod is on the board of directors for Women in Aviation, based
in Texas. She has always enjoyed watching airplanes fly, but didn't enter
the field until circumstances changed in her life.
"Back in the '70s, after going through a divorce and not having any
skills that made me marketable, I met some people who were aircraft mechanics.
They were all men," she says.
She liked the activity and being outdoors, so she decided she wanted to
do that, too. "These gentlemen were in the reserves, and I said, 'Gee,
I could do that.' So, I joined the military and became an aircraft mechanic,"
says Elrod.
After that, she applied for a civil service job working on aircraft, and
she worked on the weekends as a reservist doing the same thing. "I did the
same job seven days a week. That's how I got in aviation in the first
place."
Elrod finds her work as an aircraft inspector very rewarding.
"You see tangible rewards on a daily basis. If you're a mechanic,
you actually see something you fix fly. With an inspector, it affects not
only you or the airplane, but you see how it affects the general population
that flies."
She worked at the Federal Aviation Administration headquarters in Washington,
D.C., for nine years. "I wrote a lot of safety policies, and I saw how these
were used in the field. Now, when I climb on board an airplane, I take a great
deal of pride in knowing that I have something to do with the safety of the
people who are on that flight," says Elrod.
"Even if you are a little fish in a huge pond, you can still play a significant
part in ensuring safety."
Of course, the rewards are not without challenges, especially for women
in this male-dominated field. "In the case of women, you not only have the
everyday challenges, but you have the challenge of people who have perceptions
of your capability to do the job," she says.
Deborah Romine of Kansas has been in aircraft maintenance quality for many
years. She is currently an auditor for the Airline Suppliers Association.
"My job is to inspect aircraft parts suppliers to a standard and aid them
with compliance. I try not to leave a facility with the person confused or
not in agreement."
In Romine's situation, she is educating people "regarding aircraft
parts traceability requirements, from the airline perspective to the regulatory
requirements," and she truly enjoys the teaching aspect of her job.
She received her A and P certificate (which you have to have to become
an aircraft inspector) in 1987 and says that at the time, the job market was
very poor. Things are different for those entering the field today.
"The field is wide open in respect to when I finished school. The Vietnam
veterans are retiring and there are not enough certified people to fill the
slots," she says.
"I have enjoyed my various positions in quality. Once, I attempted to change
careers, but I could not find anything that I liked better."