VOLUME XXXII, NUMBER 1

March 2021

IN THIS ISSUE 2021 AMC

2021 AMC Aviation Maintenance Conference
Aviation Maintenance Conference � 1 We would like to extend our thanks to the AMC
AMC Follow-Up Items � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 2 community, our members, associate members, and
AMC Plane Talk Articles exhibitors for their support. We have followed the
COVID-19 pandemic as it has evolved and continue
Breaking News  � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 4 to follow protocols established by all local, state,
Glory Days � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 8 and federal health officials. Due to continuing travel
Obsolescence of People � � � � � � � � � � � � 12 difficulties, large meeting prohibitions, and ongoing
In Memoriam � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 16 economic hardships COVID-19 has imposed on our
AMC Steering Committee and Events industry, the 2021 AMC Conference planned for
May 10-13, 2021 in Tampa, Florida has been transitioned
AMC Steering Committee������������������18 to an online format.
ARINC IA ��������������������������������������������������18
How this online format will take place is still under
development. When all the logistic have been worked
out we will be sending more information along with a
schedule for the online meeting.
The 2021 Discussion Items have been posted to the
AMC conference website. Please go to https://www.
aviation-ia.com/conferences/aeec-amc to download
the discussion items and index. Please note: these
files are located under the “Documents” tab of the
conference pages. There were a 113 new discussion
items submitted along with 17 carryover items.
NOTICE We wish you all continued good health through this
The material in Plane Talk® is meant world-wide pandemic. As always, please feel free to
only as general information. In all cases reach out should you have questions. We are here to
no maintenance action published in help and are happy to do so.
Plane Talk® should be taken that is not Best regards from the AMC Steering Committee and
in consonance with your particular entire ARINC IA Team to All and Stay Safe.
company’s operating and maintenance
procedures, your approved maintenance Sam Buckwalter
Program Director
manuals, or your certification agency’s
Executive Secretary AMC
directives.
c +1.443.454.0584
www.aviation-ia.com/activities/amc sam.buckwalter@sae-itc.org
www.aviation-ia.com
 AMC FOLLOW-UP ITEMS
The responses to most AMC discussion items result in a solution being accepted and
the discussion item being closed. The following list identifies those discussion items still
unresolved at the time of publication of the 2020 AMC Report. Airlines and suppliers are
requested to contact the AMC Executive Secretary if an open item has been satisfactorily
closed.
ITEM SECTION SUBMITTER SUPPLIER ACTION
1 20-030 Test System AFR/KLM Safran Safran to supply TSDP
Boeing and Collins
Collins
2 19-073 Electrical Power VIR Aerospace to report on
Aerospace
update to VFSG.
Avionics Instruments
Avionic
3 20-052 Electrical Power UAL to provide part No. for
Instruments
transistor.
Resolve issue with stringent
Collins
4 20-092 Navigation DLH replacement of Assy A3 on
Aerospace
TPR-901.
Collins to find the root
Collins
5 20-100 Navigation ANA cause analysis on the O/E
Aerospace
converter.
ANA to work with Honeywell
6 19-175 Navigation ANA Honeywell and Woodward to resolve
DAA-4A Drive Unit issue.
Collins Aerospace to resolve
Collins the nuisance messages on
7 19-178 Navigation ANA
Aerospace Weather Radar to reduce
NFF.
Collins to provide root cause
Collins
8 19-182 Navigation ANA analysis for the optical
Aerospace
encoder.
Boeing and Collins to
9 20-107 Navigation ANA Boeing provide resolution Flight
Director out of view.
ANA request Thales to
10 20-122 Communication ANA Thales
resolve radio interference.
Collins Collins to provide resolution
11 19-124 Communication ANA
Aerospace and action for SPR fault.
ANA would like Honeywell to
12 20-130 Communication ANA Honeywell find a conclusive solution for
the limit witch fault.

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 AMC FOLOW-UP ITEMS

ITEM SECTION SUBMITTER SUPPLIER ACTION

Honeywell to provide
13 20-131 Communication ANA Honeywell
response to ANA question.
Collins to provide root cause
Collins
14 20-133 Communication ANA analysis for bearing wear
Aerospace
and water ingress GCU Fan.
ANA would request
Collins
15 20-136 Communication ANA accelerate schedule of the
Aerospace
PFCSOV.
ITT and Bombardier
16 19-204 Engine Systems ANA ITT Aerospace to resolve issue door
actuator.
Boeing and Ipeco to
Equipment Boeing and
17 19-239 ANA follow up on possibility
Furnishing Ipeco
of SB.

3
AMC PLANE TALK ARTICLES
Breaking News
By Marijan Jozic, Chairman Emeritus, AMC

This is a very important piece of information; perhaps, the most important in the last few
years. It will save you time, and if it saves you a lot of time it will save your company a
lot of time. And as we all know, time is money. Or to quote my former boss: “It’s all about
money honey!”
Therefore, read the rest of my story and you will not regret it. Let’s start with some
engineering theory. Each engineering department at an airline has three products:
1. Continuous Airworthiness Maintenance Program (CAMP)
2. Modifications
3. Troubleshooting
2. and 3. could indirectly fall in 1., which is the maintenance program. Look at the diagram
which is also published in ARINC Report 674: Standard for Cost Effective Acquisition for
Aircraft Lifecycle Support.

4
 BREAKING NEWS

The base of the CAMP is Maintenance Planning Document (MPD) which is provided by
the aircraft manufacturer. Boeing calls it an MPD but others could have different name.
That document is sent to the airline engineering department which then defines CAMP
for their fleet. MPD is the minimum maintenance program. On the top of it engineers can
add different tasks based on analyses of the whole list of items: Component Maintenance
Manual (CMM), experience, test specification, repair specification, engineering orders,
service bulletins, service letters, airworthiness directives, overhaul manual, structural
repair manual, and many more documents. That is that big block with all these items in
our illustration. That is, actually, the life of an engineer. That life is complicated.
An airline can receive between 2,000 and 3,000 Service Bulletins (SB) per year depending
on fleet size. All of the SBs need to be evaluated then there are Airworthiness Directives,
Service letters, Revisions of CMMs and Aircraft Maintenance Manual AMMs etc. Hundreds
of hours are spent on that work.
For example, you receive a SB for a display unit. As the engineer you need to research
your company records system to obtain the information about Mean Time Between
Unscheduled Removals (MTBUR) most common failures, repair costs, replaced parts, etc.
Then you start to scratch your head in doubt: Should I do it or should I not issue the
Engineering Order (EO)? What is the payback? Is the cost of performing the SB on the
whole fleet worth it? Interesting dilemma!
Your maintenance technicians are complaining about a blower in your aircraft fleet. After
researching, you confirm they are right. The blower
has poor reliability. You also see that there are at
least six SBs issued against that blower and your
company has elected not to accomplish even one of
them. Then you start to scratch your head in doubt:
Should I do it or should I not issue the EO. It costs
money to accomplish the SBs on the whole fleet,
but I don’t really know if it would help. Interesting
dilemma!
You as an engineer issued the EO to improve performance of your Distance Measuring
Equipment (DME). Unfortunately, after accomplishment of the EO (based on SB) the
reliability of the DME was even worse. You noticed that in all modified units the transistors
at the output were failing and that repair of units are more expensive than before. Then
you start to scratch your head in doubt: Should I do it or should I not? Should I stop the
modification and reverse modification in all modified units before transistors are blown. It
costs money to reverse the SB on the whole fleet, but I don’t really know if it would it help.
Interesting dilemma!
Well, I have been an aviation engineer for 40 years and I could tell you more stories like those.
For me, the dilemma was not that big because I have found the way. The ultimate solution
is to review the AMC conference reports because many of those items are mentioned
there. I am 100% sure. For me, I had to dig into the AMC meeting reports and after few
hours of flipping pages, I had enough information to be able to make the decision. First, I

5
 BREAKING NEWS

had a bookcase with binders. Every year was one binder. Last 20 years, 20 binders were
in my bookcase ready to be opened. Later, I had it in my computer and the digging in PDF
was easier. But still time consuming.
But the times have changed. ARINC IA (which is part of SAE-ITC) Staff are very smart, and
we want to help aviation industry which has suffered mightily by COVID 19. We didn’t just
rest on our laurels. ARINC IA decided to establish a data base loaded with all information
discussed since 2003 at the Aviation Maintenance (AMC) and Flight Simulation Engineering
and Maintenance (FSEMC) Conferences. Previously, we had it on paper and in PDF but it
was not easy searchable. Therefore just a few people were using it.
In the second quarter of 2021, the gigabytes of data will be available for you to search,
study, learn, and use. If you are evaluating an SB, just insert the part number of the unit or
SB number. The results will show you what we discussed at AMC or at FSEMC. That will
help you a lot.

It is fantastic tool, and it will be great help for the industry. Also, after each AMC or FSEMC
the data base will grow and cover all new things. This will also stimulate all of you to
submit more questions for the AMC and FSEMC conferences, because the answers will be
unbiased, safe, and secured in the database for future use for you and for others. You will
always be better off, because you can learn from others’ experience and they can learn
from yours.
Actually, the subject database is a well of pure knowledge collected in our open forum
discussions. You might say that we preserved the historical knowledge and made it
available for you to use. The bottom line is that you will be empowered with technology
to easily search close to 20 years of experience in aviation. It is in your hands; and, it all
depends on you.
Many MRO’s would find the possible business case to develop repairs on certain LRU’s
after analyzing the data. That could help all of us.

6
 BREAKING NEWS

OEM’s can also use it in two ways: to improve their own products or to design something
new because of need expressed at AMC or FSEMC.
And now the fun part: how to get started and what will it cost. In a few short weeks, we will
have the necessary subscription contract ready for your review and internal procedures
for such matters.
We want to recognize that our Members and Associate Members are helping the aviation
industry through their membership participation. Depending on your level of activity
support, your organization may gain access to these searchable databases “practically”
for free. That means that all your engineers, purchasing managers, material planners and
analysts can use it without limitation.
If your organization is a member of all three committees (AMC, AEEC and FSEMC), we are
excited to say that discounts are available up to 100%! AMC Only and FSEMC Only Members,
as well as Associate Members supporting all three activities can receive discounts up to
40% in recognition of their support.
If you are not a member or associate member, no worries – we also thought about you. It
will cost you just a bit more, and you will have as much profit as others. The ROI will be just
a few days. Only one hint, tip or trick will make your day and will save you a lot of digging
in the different data sources which are mostly on paper or in pdf format. You are also our
friend and because we would like to help the whole industry, we made it available for non-
members too.
As always, ARINC IA will welcome feedback and insight describing your experience and
ways we may better that experience with our new tool. We need your experience and
testimonials to improve the product and customize the interface to serve you better.
We will preserve all knowledge (old and new) and keep it available for your use.
Soon ARINC IA will provide a training/information video on our site to introduce and
familiarize you with the database. Therefore, monitor the site in couple of weeks from now
and search for video and information about database.
As I said, the database will be available in Q2 of 2021. Soon (a matter of weeks) you can
contact Vanessa Mastros, vanessa.mastros@sae-itc.org, for contract and pricing details
for subscribing to the database.
This will be your company’s best investment in the last couple of years and you will not
regret it. Do not miss the opportunity to get this benefit for your company and subscribe
to the AMC FSEMC database. How cool is that?

7
 Glory Days
By Marijan Jozic, Chairman Emeritus, AMC

December 17, 1903 was the first flight of a heavier than the air
machine. Lord Kelvin (Kelvin thermometer) said just 5 years before
that date: Flying with a heavier than the air machine is impossible.
70 years later Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon. Isn’t that great? It is
unbelievable! But if we look at aviation, we can notice that in the beginning the biggest
problem were materials and design of the aircraft. Most crashes were due to inadequate
design. By the 1980’s that was almost perfect. After that most problems were related to
human factors.
After 1980 the Glory Days of aviation started, and they lasted for 40 years. Around 1980 the
“oldies” like B707, A300, and DC-8 left the world fleet. What was flying around that time?
Well let me see: B747-classic, B737, DC-9, MD80, and DC-10. They all had robust avionics
systems with a lot of relays, synchro’s, op-amps, and a lot of classic round dial instruments
and control panels. B747-classic had a mini-FMS called PMS which could hold a few
waypoints. It had to be programmed before
every flight. Also, the gyroscopes were
those mechanical Carousel IV type built by
Delco. DC-10 autopilot was better and more
modern but full of operational amplifiers.
Great stuff. The first digital aircraft was
Airbus A310.
With the introduction of A310 the avionics
shops had to be converted to new digital
technology. That was not a small task.
The bench technicians were not used to
repairing digital PCB’s. Meaning that they
all had to go to school. It was a difficult time
for older techs. But the longest journey
starts with the first step and that is school.
For me that was the opportunity to do something exciting. Besides my regular job at
engineering, two days a week I was an instructor at the evening school, teaching digital
technique and microprocessors. That was a great experience and very useful for my
company. However, that was the beginning of a new time: digitalization.
Soon there was need for more systems in the aircraft and every couple of years new
systems had to be installed. It started with TCAS and followed by RVSM, Satcom, MMR,
GPS, EGPWS, ELS, EHS, etc.

8
 GLORY DAYS

At the end of the 80’s and all the way untill the first few years of the millennium were the
greatest years for design engineering. The greatest stuff was installed in the fleets. Just to
remind you the aircraft flying around were: B737-200’s followed by NG’s, then B747-400’s,
B767, and B757 on the Boeing side and A310, A320, A330, and A340 on the Airbus side.
By that time the quality of aircraft was superb, and the number of accidents and incidents
was low.
Engineers have been doing a great job. Their work was very high quality and very innovative.
We used to have an old engineer in our department, and he would say: “A good engineer
will make himself redundant.” And that is exactly what happened. The engineers designed
all modifications required in those aircraft and the work was done. You could feel that new
times were coming soon. Suddenly engineers were not that important anymore. But what
about software?
The new aircraft delivered by Airbus and Boeing had all required systems installed, not to
mention the next generation: B747-8, A380, B787, A350, B737-MAX, and A320NEOS. All
of them are flying computers. The guys in the repair shops have to go back to school too.
New cool stuff is all over the place but most of the stuff is not failing. When it does fail
it is difficult to repair without modern equipment. The technicians have to go to school
again to learn a new data bus. There is a CAN bus, then we have the Ball Grid Array (BGA)
technology, Moisture Sensitive Devices (MSD), Electrostatic Sensitive Devices (ESD), lead
free soldering, infrared fault detection, x-ray machines, microscopes, etc., and of course,
software, which is a whole new ball game.
Let’s talk first about reliability. Back in the 80’s, there was an Air Data Computer (ADC)
that had a reliability of 4,500 hours
MTBUR. The unit was installed in
the B747 classic. In the B747-400
the Air Data computer was 25,000
hours MTBUR. Most of components
were even better than 40,000 hours.
Meaning that some components
were flying for 10 or more years
without removals. In next generation of aircraft like B787 or A350, people are not satisfied
if the component is flying for 40,000 hours MTBUR. It should be double. What do you
think of 80,000 hours? Engineers have done a great job designing. The job is done so well
that small repairs shops can no longer survive.
Just to remind you: The test equipment is extremely expensive. If you spend millions of
USD for a test set and you use it only five times a year for five hours each time, you are
doing an insufficient job because you are losing a lot of money. But with a fleet of 20 new
aircraft you can expect more than a few removals of a certain part number. The only way
to do it cost effectively is to do a lot (and I mean a lot) of third-party work. Eventually a
few shops would do such investment. This is called barrier to entry. Only the shops with a
lot of money or the shops which like to gamble will do that. Otherwise, outsourcing is the
best second option.

9
 GLORY DAYS

Now a few words about important stuff. All the time before and during the Glory Days
there was a platform called ARINC Industry Activities (IA). It was established 70 years ago,
long before the Glory Days. A few progressive operators established the consortium to
help airlines (operators) to discuss and solve current technical problems, learn new things,
and establish the standards. In my quest through
the industry, I found that this is rather unique.
Airlines, airframers, and suppliers come together
to work on problems. No boundaries, no financial
and legal hindrance, just a voluntary urge to help
each other. The consortium got this shape after a
few decades and became the most important body
in the Glory Days. The three important conferences
were organized (AEEC, AMC, and FSEMC) and
they were a beacon of knowledge. Engineers were
coming and going, aircraft types were coming
and going, the technologies were coming and going but ARINC IA was always there.
ARINC IA was always ready to provide the best possible service to the industry. Can you
imagine how empty the life of engineer would be without that beacon.
Every time management wants to cut your budget, remember that the beacon of
knowledge was there to provide help in every situation. If you needed technical know-
how, standardization, new technology, or access to a network, ARINC IA with AEEC, AMC,
and FSEMC was around especially in the Glory Days. Due to ARINC IA the Glory Days were
made possible. There is no one aircraft flying without ARINC standards. Some people do
not even know that they are using ARINC standards daily. Glory Days without ARINC IA…
Impossible.
Recap:
Old classic fleets were phased out. Digital fleets, which were modified to be superb, started
to be used. Then they were phase out. Now the newest aircraft which are lighter, lower fuel
consumers, and equipped with everything wished and dreamed of are in use. Then the
world was hit by the lousy COVID 19.
Now the operators are flying 30% of flights they used to fly. Even 30% of those flights are
not full. It is the biggest crisis in aviation history. Therefore, I can conclude that the Glory
Days were between 1980 and 2020. We had engineering fun, exciting projects, a lot of joy
when our inventions worked as planned and that all went down the tube with COVID 19.
There is not one operator which is not downsizing. For many years ahead we will suffer.
Well, I am happy, as are a lot of engineers, that I lived in the Glory Days of aviation and that
I enjoyed every moment of it. Many of us especially peers which are now 60+ years old can
proudly look back to the Glory Days.
To finish the story positive. I am also sure that “new” good days will come. The setback will
last for some time but new fleets will fly around, and transport freight, passengers, and
happy people will go on holidays, business trips or family visits. It will take some time, but

10
 GLORY DAYS

the Glory Days will return. The new engineers will have a new challenge. We have done all
the work to make present technology perfect. Absolutely perfect! It can’t be better than
that.
New aircraft are not polluting air as in the old generation. The components are super reliable.
New systems are designed to fly optimum routes and save fuel. Low fuel consumption
means less CO2 in the atmosphere. Aircraft are lighter because of use of new materials,
meaning that they can carry the same amount of payload and use less fuel. Again, less CO2
in the atmosphere. New procedures like taxiing on one engine or electric tow trucks which
bring aircraft from the runway to the gate is again, less fuel consumption and less pollution.
The engines are more efficient, again less pollution. The latest generation of aircraft is a
perfect machine. Now, look at the repair shops. Use of environmentally friendly materials
in increased (think of chemicals we are using for lubrication, cleaning, rework). Talk about
sustainability?! That is our second name. Everything is optimized and perfect. Therefore,
the development will stop for now. The next step will be revolution in air transport and
maintenance. When? Nobody really knows. But it is coming.
New engineers will have to develop all electric airplanes. Today, it is not possible to fly
passengers in all electric airplanes, but you never know what the future will bring. They
say that 6,000 fully loaded Teslas have the equivalent of energy for a B787 flight from
Amsterdam to New York. 6,000 Teslas is a lot of energy! Right now, the ratio is 1:40.
Meaning that energy in 1 kilogram of fuel is equivalent with a battery of 40 kilogram which
is fully loaded. There is a lot of development required to reach the same level. But the new
engineers will overcome this.
There will be new development in the future no doubt. The life and the aviation will
never be the same as in the Glory Days. Therefore, cherish the memories of the aviation
Glory Days. Next step in evolution is coming but nobody knows when and what it will be.

11
 Obsolescence of People
By Marijan Jozic, Chairman Emeritus, AMC

A few years ago, I was the Chairman of Obsolescence Management Guidance (OMG)
Working Group. This standards activity develops ARINC Report 662: Obsolescence
Management Strategies for Commercial Aircraft, which is dealing with obsolescence.
I can proudly say that my team of industry experts did a magnificent job! We reshaped
the original ARINC 662 standard which was dealing only with obsolescence of electronic
components. Supplement 1 to ARINC 662 deals with obsolescence of:
• Piece Parts
• People (Tribal Knowledge)
• Consumables, Chemicals, and Processes
• Test Equipment, Tooling, and Ground Support Equipment (GSE)
• Software
I would like to urge you to download the standard, it is an excellent read. It will be more
than necessary to use it, especially now, in time of COVID 19. Yes, we all know about
obsolescence of parts, chemicals, test equipment, and software but we were not so
involved in obsolescence of people.
COVID 19 invaded the world. COVID arrived sneakily. Nobody expected that it would
stay for so long and that it would change our lives this dramatically. For the first few
weeks nothing atypical happened, but then we started to realize the long term impact
on the aviation industry. Aircraft were flying empty and then they were not flying at all.
Almost every operator decided to lay off thousands of employees. All together hundreds
of thousands engineers, technicians, and others just lost their jobs. In the chaos the most
knowledgeable and the most experienced were the first to go. Mainly because they were
older and closer to retirement age. Partly because they were good enough to find another
job. Again, no big deal. There was not much flying, no exciting projects, because everything
just stopped or switched to slow mode of operation. But it will not stay like that forever.
At some point we will gain the herd immunity (population immunity) and life will become
normal again. At that moment it will be realized that there is the obsolescence of tribal
knowledge, people.

ARINC 662 states clearly:

The individual and the value of the knowledge embedded with that individual are
generally underestimated and capture measures are either taken too late or not at
all. When an individual leaves due to any reason, it can be difficult to replace them
without losing crucial knowledge. Therefore, the transfer of knowledge becomes

12
 OBSOLESCENCE OF PEOPLE

more important. The risk is dependent on how each particular company maintains
the knowledge and stores crucial information. Know-how, or tribal knowledge, is in
the heads of the individuals and, for continuation, it must be preserved. Therefore,
it is of paramount importance where the information is stored and how it can be
accessed.
There are two main aspects to “people” obsolescence.
The first concerns maintaining the level of knowledge and skills in individuals
required to perform the necessary tasks.
The second aspect of people obsolescence concerns the transfer of knowledge from
one generation to the next. Often critical knowledge that makes an organization
successful resides in older workers, and too often there is no structured method
for transferring this knowledge to the younger workers, and the knowledge walks
out the door when the older worker retires. Loss of this knowledge can cause
considerable disruption within an organization when a task must be performed
and there is no one there who knows how to do it.

OMG Working Group

ARINC 662 was finalized at the end of 2018. Now in 2021 we are facing exactly that problem.
Individuals who left the companies due to COVID 19 retirements or layoffs could not carry
over the torch to their successor. There was no strategy and no time for it. The people who
left, took the knowledge with them.

13
 OBSOLESCENSE OF PEOPLE

ARINC Standard 662 provides strategies for obsolescence management and Section 5.0
is dedicated to mitigation of obsolescence and guess what? Section 5.5 is dealing exactly
with obsolescence of people and preservation of knowledge. There are three simple rules:
Know-How, Know-Why, and Know Where. To emphasize that, here is the famous quote I
stated in 2018: “Obsolescence of people is an underestimated area, especially as aircraft
become increasingly complex.”
Shortly many executives at airlines will scratch their heads and ask themselves: “What
went wrong?”
They should have read ARINC Report 662 at least to be aware of the magnitude of the
problem. The problem is fixable, and it will be solved, but everything has the price.
Before the next wave of layoffs (hopefully there will not be next wave) people should
read ARINC Report 662 and realize that the knowledge is in the heads of employees and
should be preserved in one way or another. Those people know how to resolve problems
and to run the departments. The new generation will learn that too but in the meantime
the company will suffer setbacks because of lack of knowledge captured from the heads
of the obsolescent people.
For some companies/departments it is already too late. Employees are gone and years
of tribal knowledge and experience are lost. Of course, we can also look from another
standpoint. Perhaps the standpoint of positivity and optimism. Some companies will be
“more than happy” to hire such knowledgeable people. Those lucky ones will actually gain
knowledge without significant effort and save cash.

Note: This is what surprised me in the English language.

How can you be more than happy?
What does it mean if you are more than happy?

The takeaway of this article is to inform people about ARINC Report 662 and to stimulate
you the reader to download and read the standard. For an AMC Member Organization
there is no charge, for nonmembers there is fee. If you buy it, you will gain knowledge and
believe me the payback is gigantic.
I am still surprised how progressive ARINC industry Activities is. They are setting standards
ahead of the time. Not only that but last week I was investigating the use of Additive
Manufacturing in the industry and found that ARINC IA had a symposium about additive
manufacturing in 2014 at the AMC in Toronto, Canada. Isn’t that great to be able to conclude
that ARINC IA is doing a wonderful job. Additive manufacturing is a great development
and the FAA and EASA are very excited.
Developments are rolling in a good direction. Hopefully, along the way we will not lose
too many people with know-how, know-why, and know-where of our industry to continue

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 OBSOLESCENSE OF PEOPLE

development. For years we were the most modern industry and it is sad that everything is
practically without motion. Many people hope that 2021 will be the year that we will start
to climb out of the deepest crisis in aviation. We have already shown that we are flexible
and if we climb from the deep, we will also show that we are invincible.

ARINC 662:
The probability of occurrence should be considered in relation with possible
operational impacts to determine the obsolescence risk for a product:

Figure 1 - Obsolescence Decision Matrix

15
 In Memoriam
By Sam Buckwalter

LARRY CARPENTER
Long Time AMC Executive Secretary

The AMC community lost an enthusiastic supporter and contributor with

the passing of Larry Carpenter. He passed away at his home in Maryland on
January 1, 2021. Larry was the AMC Executive Secretary from 1982-2001.
Larry began his career with the Bendix Corporation where he was involved in
the early days of test. He then joined TWA to work on mechanical instruments,
then continued his work at Continental Airlines for telecommunications
systems. In 1982, he joined Aeronautical Radio, Inc. (ARINC) as Executive
Secretary of the Avionics Maintenance Conference. During his tenure as AMC
Executive Secretary, he worked with industry to further the development of
standards for automatic test equipment and onboard maintenance.

16
 IN MEMORIAM

In 1994 he was awarded the coveted Pioneer Award for his development of
Standard Modular Avionics Repair and Test, also known as SMART.
Also, in 1994, he was instrumental in the development and launch of AMC’s sister
organization, the Flight Simulator Engineering and Maintenance Conference,
or FSEMC. Larry was recognized as a long-standing industry leader and
celebrated a distinguished career, retiring from ARINC in Annapolis, Maryland
in 2005.
Larry enjoyed many hobbies. He was a fan of collecting a large assortment of
cooking and grilling cookbooks, grilling, barbequing, and smoking meats and
cheeses. But Larry’s ultimate hobby was all things woodworking from pens to
furniture.
Larry will be missed by friends, family, and the industry.

17
AMC STEERING COMMITTEE AND EVENTS
AMC STEERING ARINC IA
COMMITTEE
Sheila Liddle Rick Dupree
AMC Chair Delta Air Lines
Southwest Airlines
Dan Ganor
Ted McFann
El Al Israel Airlines
AMC Vice Chair
Karsten Montebaur
FedEx
Lufthansa Technik
Sam Buckwalter
Juergen Peschutter
AMC Executive
Secretary Lufthansa Technik
ARINC Industry
Activities Jacque Mallard

Kevin Kramer Southwest Airlines

American Airlines Özgür Arayici

Quentin Souleau Turkish Airlines

Air France/KLM Dean Conner

Johann Espinosa United Airlines For more information about ARINC Industry
Sharon Gradwohl Activities, see:
Air France/KLM
United Airlines www.aviation-ia.com
Ricard de Azevedo
e Souza
Azul Linhas Aereas

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*Each airline organization on the AMC A newsletter concerning airborne electronic equipment maintenance and
Steering Committee receives one vote. engineering dedicated to the avionics industry.

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