To see where business jet maintenance is headed, just look at mechanics’ toolboxes. Those who turn wrenches on the most modern airplanes still need the standard-issue screwdrivers, wrenches, sockets and ratchets, but they also need a powerful computer to analyze what ails their charges. The computer–usually a laptop PC–replaces bulky and expensive test equipment for previous-generation aircraft and plugs directly into the aircraft’s own maintenance computer to download normal and abnormal maintenance information, help mechanics record events surrounding intermittent problems and troubleshoot problems before they cause more expensive damage.
This development is an inevitable result of the increasing complexity of modern jets and the growing integration of aircraft systems. Engines, via fadec, talk to avionics, which interact with air-data and navigation systems and know the status of flight controls and environmental systems and even the temperature of the jet’s skin, as well as a lot more data delivered by sensors mounted all over the airplane.
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