Flying through rugged country, fast and low feels like adventure tourism for Chris Smith, Engineering Manager at Ravensdown Aerowork. The glamorous, thrilling side of topdressing is also the ultimate picture of his team’s hard work on the ground to keep the daredevils airborne.
Creating confidence in the air
The Wanganui business is all about topdressing, yet what happens in the hangar is crucially important. Like great pilots, well trained aviation engineers are essential.
Chris says: “We aim to give our pilots confidence in the safety of the aircraft and the feedback is that they like the standard we achieve. Maintenance overhauls are scheduled at every 150 hours and we don’t want any breakdowns during that period.”
Ravensdown Aerowork prides itself on having the best maintained agricultural aeroplanes in New Zealand. It succeeds by making training a strong part of the company’s ethos, and supporting its engineering employees to develop their skills to the highest level.
A winning strategy
It’s this commitment that won the business the ServiceIQ Award in Aviation Training at the 2015 Aviation Conference in Queenstown.
When Chris joined the business in 2009, he and Brad Collins, the company’s helicopter engineer, put in place a formal training programme to increase capability and service excellence.
“We encouraged all the guys in the hangar to study and become licensed aircraft engineers. It took time to build the depth of knowledge but about two years ago we achieved the coverage we needed. We now have a good succession plan and enough skilled and qualified engineers to manage the workload.”
The company has created a supportive environment where staff can earn as they learn and fully develop their careers, starting out with an on-job training apprenticeship to graduating with a nationally recognised diploma.
Maintaining a competitive edge
It takes several years to learn and refine the skills that are needed to gain an aircraft engineer’s licence. Recruits build up their knowledge, experience and prove their worth by achieving the ServiceIQ Certificates in Aeronautical Engineering Levels 3, 4 and 5.
“By Level 4, the trainees become useful. They know their way around the aeroplane and if you give them a job, you know they are going to be able to complete it,” Chris says.
The business has five Licenced Engineers (LAME) including Chris, plus a team of 12 at Level 3 or higher in Aeronautical Engineering, Aviation Store Keeping or Maintenance Planning. They service either helicopters or light aircraft with single-engine and fixed undercarriage. Five engineers manage the maintenance check for each aircraft.
While a damaged wing requires the skill of experts with years of experience who are able to execute a smooth and seamless mend to the aircraft’s skin.
Speaking of seamless, a top ground team helps Ravensdown offer a competitive one-stop service: with just one phone call to the company, farmers can order the fertiliser and Ravensdown will arrange the spreading by truck or aircraft. Mission accomplished.