CAA NZ AME Subject 2: Aircraft Engineering Knowledge case studies
CAA NZ AME Subject 2: Aircraft Engineering Knowledge · Put your knowledge to work in context.
Subject 2 - Aircraft Engineering Knowledge is one of the theory examinations that sits inside the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand's aircraft maintenance engineer (AME) licensing system, which is administered under the Part 66 licence framework. It is aimed at engineers who already hold practical maintenance experience, or are building it, and who need to demonstrate the broad engineering knowledge that underpins certification work on aircraft and their systems. The CAA NZ AME Subject 2: Aircraft Engineering Knowledge case studies are 5 cases and about 5,021 words.
1Fuselage skin crack at a lap joint: SRM limits, ferry and widespread damage
During a scheduled A-check at a Part 145 organisation in Christchurch, an inspector working the left side of a Boeing 737-800 (62,400 cycles, 41,200 hours) finds a 22 mm crack running from a fastener hole in the fuselage skin just below the lap joint at stringer S-14, about 40 mm aft of a 2019 blend-out repair. Two adjacent fastener holes show intergranular corrosion, and one of them has a second, shorter crack about 6 mm long.
1,037 words, about 5 min2Elevator trailing-edge heavy after refinishing
A Piper PA-28-161 Warrior III has its elevator stripped to bare metal and refinished during a 100-hour inspection because of surface corrosion. The paint shop applies epoxy primer plus two polyurethane topcoats, adding approximately 0.11 kg, most of it concentrated near the trailing edge and around the trim tab hinges.
983 words, about 5 min3Engine-driven pump case-drain leak at the turnaround
At a regional operator's base, a twin turboprop is being turned around. During the walk-around you find a slow drip under the left engine nacelle at the hydraulic drain mast.
1,036 words, about 5 min4Low compression on one cylinder of a high-time O-320
A flight school's Piper PA-28-161 with a Lycoming O-320-D3G, 1,850 hours since overhaul against a 2,000-hour TBO, comes in for a 100-hour inspection. A differential compression test gives 74/80, 76/80, 52/80 and 70/80.
987 words, about 5 min5Generator loss in flight: battery endurance and dispatch under the MEL
Ten minutes into the climb out of Auckland, the number 2 starter-generator on a 28 V DC twin turboprop drops off line. The crew's reset attempt fails, and the generator control unit shows no overvoltage or overcurrent trip; the loadmeter reads zero.
978 words, about 5 min