TIL a 30-year mechanic thinks our whole trade is going soft
I was bench testing a Garmin G1000 interface module at the hangar in Mobile, and this old-timer working on a King Air's engines just shook his head and said 'You boys just plug things in and read a screen, you don't fix anything anymore.' It made me wonder if we're losing the hands-on troubleshooting skills for just swapping LRUs. How do you balance using modern diagnostics with actually understanding the underlying circuits?
Totally get that old guy's point. My shop manager says we're just parts changers now, and it's a real problem. You gotta know WHY the box failed, not just that it's blinking red.
That "parts changers" line hits home. I try to force myself to trace the wiring diagram before I pull the box, even if the fault code points right at it. It keeps the real problem solving skills sharp for when the computer is wrong.