TriadCareers.com

What does your job entail?"I do scheduled and unscheduled maintenance on Cessna corporate aircraft. With scheduled maintenance, we're looking for anything before it becomes a problem. With unscheduled maintenance, maybe it's for a problem that a pilot encounters in flight. We troubleshoot it, fix it and send them on their way."

Training is also a big part of Walbroehl's job. And Walbroehl often goes on test flights to be sure a maintenance problem has been solved. "You can't always duplicate a problem on the ground," he explains. Walbroehl is one of 86 mechanics at the Cessna service center, among nine centers in the continental U.S. The center's mechanics service about 60 airplanes a week. Walbroehl also supervises a crew when its supervisor is absent and helps familiarize new mechanics with Cessna jets.

How did you become involved in this line of work?"When I was 12 years old in elementary school in Miami, I had an uncle who was in the Air Force. When I became interested in jets, he took me to a maintenance hangar where a technician explained everything to me. I thought 'Man, this is neat. I've got to get around it.'" In high school, Walbroehl attended an aviation program part of each school day. After graduation he joined the Air Force, working in aircraft maintenance. Later Walbroehl was a mechanic for Eastern Airlines and US Airways before joining Cessna in Greensboro 10 years ago.

What training or education is required?Aviation mechanics must have an Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) license issued from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Locally, you can complete a two-year program at GTCC's aviation school. According to GTCC's Web site, the T.H. Davis GTCC Aviation Center at the airport offers an aviation systems technology program that prepares graduates for a career as an aircraft technician with an A&P rating. (Walbroehl's son, Dave, 22, is enrolled and is slated to graduate in August 2009.)

What does it take to do your job successfully?"The biggest thing is training. If you don't have the training, you're going to be fighting a big battle. And you have to have the willingness to learn." General manager Paul Witt adds that mechanics also need good reading and writing skills. Mechanics notate and certify all maintenance they perform in a shop maintenance manual.

What's most challenging about your job?"Staying up with the technology. For example, I was recently in school to learn about Cessna's newest aircraft, the Mustang." Technology on today's aircraft is complex, particularly the electronics, Walbroehl notes. With the Mustang, "it's another different system we've got to get used to and understand how it works."

All mechanics' work is checked by an inspector. "As they say, two sets of eyes are better than one." And the FAA requires annual Human Factors Training "to remind us of our limits and of the things that can trip us up which could cause us to make a mistake. This is why flying is so safe."

What is most rewarding?"For me, personally, it's after we've disassembled a plane and put it back together, and then it's great to see people get on it and travel on it safely. It's great to be part of making that happen."

Any advice for those interested?"You need to have mechanical aptitude and attention to detail and be alert to what you're doing, plus reading, writing and computer skills. Go to GTCC's aviation school and get an instructor to take you through the school and talk about what's involved to see if you'd be interested."