[flagged]
American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died
61–70 of 175 posts
Re: American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
> unenumerable amount of knowledge, tips and experience silently disappears Not to be negative about experts here, but of all industries, isn’t airline maintenance one of the most documented and standard procedure focused of them all? I would hope that someone maintaining a 777 doesn’t have to remember certain tricks or tips outside of what the manuals say, and when mistakes are found, they’d be noted, investigated a…
There is a famous story about how an F16 got grounded because an half inch metal pin was missing from the cockpit canopy. Nobody knew what the pin did or if it was even necessary but you can't fly a plan that 'missing a part'. After several days of being grounded they finally reached out to a guy who had retired 20 years ago who told them the pin was a part of a analogue sensor that had been replaced nearly 30 years…
I babysat for a military fighter jet mechanic when I was young, he said when they dismantled and rebuilt planes there was a drawer for all the spare parts that were left over.
Re: American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died
#63[flagged]
It seems like this guy just truly loved his work. It's ok to be inspired by his passion rather than immediately turning to the most cynical explanation for his long tenure.
Re: American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well ... It takes four years of education before becoming a taxi driver in London: https://thetaxi.academy/ It takes also many years of study before they will let you touch any living person with your scalpel, and then many years of apprenticeship with actual surgeons when you do touch people with your tools. I can imagine maintaining a big jumbo jet also requires some specialized practical knowledge you cannot acqui…
> It takes four years of education before becoming a taxi driver in London That doesn't apply to private hire vehicle drivers afaik.
Or Uber drivers in London
Re: American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is one of the saddest aspects of our societies being optimized for maximum short-term gains. In the past, master craftsman would own their own shop and pass it down to their apprentices, leaving a tradition and legacy that could last hundreds of years. This dynamic is becoming increasingly rare.
On the other hand, doing the same work (let alone the same job) for all of my adult life would be actual spirit-breaking torture for me. I respect people who can do it, who can live a simple life doing the same thing every single day and be happy about it. Sometimes I wish I had that ability. But it is very much _not_ me.
There are two sorts of folks working in the trades: the ones who claim to have multiple years of experience, but in truth have the same year of experience repeated, and those who for each year they have worked, have applied the past towards learning and improving their mastery of the craft.
See: https://rainfordrestorations.com/category/woodworking-techni...
Re: American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well ... It takes four years of education before becoming a taxi driver in London: https://thetaxi.academy/ It takes also many years of study before they will let you touch any living person with your scalpel, and then many years of apprenticeship with actual surgeons when you do touch people with your tools. I can imagine maintaining a big jumbo jet also requires some specialized practical knowledge you cannot acqui…
There are detailed step-by-step instruction cards (task cards) for every single maintenance operation on an airplane. Nobody is reinventing the wheel, they’re carefully following predetermined procedures. Someone has to figure out which maintenance procedures need to happen, but the work itself is laid out for you step by step.
Cool! I did not know that.
Augmented reality glasses, coupled with an AI that can interpret vision would seem to be useful here then.
Re: American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
You speak of tacit knowledge[1] Worse is that they who have the knowledge don't realise that others don't know what they know, it's completely automatic and ingrained to the owner. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacit_knowledge
There's nothing implied about tacit knowledge being knowledge that you don't know others don't have. For instance in chess mastery, one is fully aware that you simply see the board in a different way. It's not like you're aloof of your own 'advantage', but then in lessons you work to gradually, step by step, instill such in the student. Some of the most successful teachers are those who themselves learned the game a…
28? You make it sound like he was 90!
Re: American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died
#68[flagged]
His late wife: He went to work to play with his friends.
Re: American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died
#69How many apprentices did this guy managed to put through the pipeline before his career was over? It always shocks me how low this number tends to be for highly skilled craftsmen. They spend their century maintaining/creating some of the best work on the planet but when they disappear, unenumerable amount of knowledge, tips and experience silently disappears as quickly as it was gained, and it's sad to observe every…
I didn't see any details in the article other than this quote, which seems promising.
> He’s the guy who sits with the new kids at lunch and passes it on.
Re: American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died
#70Dear God, I hope he transferred that knowledge the best he could.