aviation on Cliff538

Learning the Trade - Becoming an Aircraft Mechanic

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 13:12:11 -0700

This deep dive back into film has started me rooting around in old boxes looking for my old negatives and polaroids. I found a bunch. Got some of the Polaroids scanned today and uploaded. I had more than I thought. I picked the best ones, and you can see them below. I’m not using my new fancy Polaroid Frame that’s CSS-made because I wanted the worn, dirty, real look of these old Polaroids. I have a lot more negatives, and when I get time, I’ll start scanning them. I’m excited to see what’s on them. Seems daunting; I may research having someone else do it because there are so many. After I see the price, I’ll probably just decide to do it myself.

Nothing special, and won’t mean much to anyone, but I wanted them recorded and archived online. I also forgot how bad the quality of these Polaroids is, LOL. I have to admit, I was a little shocked at how bad the quality is and still is. Just a reframing after so many years of looking at digital quality. It’s nostalgic and fun, but ouch. I did brighten them a touch in post because they were so dark. Whatever Polaroid camera I was using was about two stops too dark.

The polaroids are circa 1987 to 1989. I started A&P school in 1987; that is the school to become an FAA-certified aircraft mechanic, with an Airframe and Powerplant license. Right away, a local shop called AeroTwin hired a few of us students to work part-time with full flexibility to go to school, which was ideal. We got to start learning the “real world” way of fixing airplanes while we learned the book way in school. It was an incredible experience and one that I’ll never forget.

We were thrown into the deep end right away. No sweeping floors and handing a wrench to someone. It was grab that bucking bar, crawl into that aircraft, and start bucking rivets. Of course, everything, well, most everything was supervised by a certified mechanic, as we were not allowed to sign anything off.

It was such a great group of mechanics. The friendships and camaraderie were something that I’ll never forget. I loved the work; I loved fixing things. Watching an airplane take off after we had spent weeks or months on it felt good. Plus, at that time in Alaska, it was a damn good career. Lots of work, many places hiring, and plenty of ways to move up.

Our bread-and-butter workload was rebuilding heavily damaged Cessna Caravans that had been wrecked or damaged while flying out in Western Alaska by Mark Air, now one of many out-of-business carriers. Not sure what those pilots were doing, but we had plenty of work.

After A&P school, I worked full-time at AeroTwin but left soon after for ERA Aviation. They needed DHC-6 Twin Otter mechanics, and supposedly they had a path to flying, which was what I ultimately wanted to do. I worked there for several years and learned so much; the guys there took me under their wing and turned me into a pretty good mechanic. After a few years, I learned the path to flying for them was really just a carrot and not real.

Soon after being strung along, a ramper talked to me and said he had received a strange phone call from a small operator in Kotzebue, Alaska. The owner hired him on the spot and said, “Can you be here in two days?” which made the ramper nervous and he turned down the job. I looked at him and said, “What’s this guy’s number?” I called him the next day; he said, “Can you fly? Can you be here in two days?” I said, “Hell yes, to both.” I talked to my boss that night, left on good terms, packed up my meager belongings and toolbox into storage, and jumped on a MarkAir B737 jet to Kotzebue.

The story from there will have to be another blog post. But that’s where the fun really begins. Becoming a pilot.

** you can click on a photo to bring up a viewer and scroll.

Short Walk in Omaha / The Rest of the Daily Shots | February 26, 2025

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 19:49:39 -0700

iPhone 16 ProMax shot/processed (shot in RAW)

The Rest of the Daily Shots | February 12, 2025

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:29:20 -0700

You can see the daily shot at 365Pixels.

Here are the others from the day I shot and had to choose from. Would you have picked a different one for your daily shot?

Inspired by @maique@social.lol, who posted some rainy-day windshield shots, I thought it was perfect that it was raining in BNA.

Landing in BHM, I was able to get this shot with the spoilers up.

Waiting for the van I loved the wet curve in the road with the towers in the background. When you see it, you know it needs to be captured.

Another variation really captures the lighted concrete towers. I really like the contrast in this one.

This was behind the check-in counter at the Hilton, didn’t even need to convert this one to black and white, right out of the camera and added a border.

Tue, 11 Feb 2025 09:40:40 -0700

This is how we used to change a nose tire on the Twin Otter; this technique is probably frowned upon today 😆

I spent many hours working and flying on ol' 100AP; I miss that plane.

#oldschool #aviation #arcticmaintenance #twinotter

Thu, 30 Jan 2025 15:52:13 -0700

CFM LEAP-1B

Sun, 12 Jan 2025 14:53:01 -0700

In the early 90s, at a Dewline station at -40F on the North Slope of Alaska, A Canadian company chartered us for weeks while they fully automated the Dewline stations. I’m sure it was mixed emotions for the hardy, brave souls who lived at and cared for these sites to watch them be automated. I wonder how many went to the tropics after that!

From Above & Holding The Line

Thu, 02 Jan 2025 18:49:46 -0700

These are two of my favorite pictures. I was extremely lucky to be driving down the highway and catch these guys working in the hills. I had my 200-500mm lens, which allowed me to take these shots. It was all shot out the window. I sat there for hours, watching these guys work. I would like to do this after I retire. I respect these pilots greatly. I was able to contact the pilots via social media and made sure they received copies of the prints.