A&P PowerPlant Phase & SMAT Graduation

The last four months of mechanics school was spent in the powerplant phase - engines. We had one major project running the duration of the phase, which was to completely disassemble and reassemble and aircraft engine. For our group, we were given an IO-520-F engine for the project. I had asked for this engine type because it's what PMA has on two of their Cessna 206 aircraft flying in Palau.

After disassembly, we spent a few weeks measuring all the internal components to ensure they were within the manufactures specifications - then it was reassembly time. Thankfully, we had been fairly methodical during the disassembly portion to bag and label the 100s of parts and pieces so we knew were they went when putting it back together.

Our reassembled engine was to go on the school's Cessna 210, so the removal of the engine on it and the installation of ours took a few days to accomplish. All the engine controls, fuel lines, oil lines, propellor control, etc. had to be removed from the old engine and then attached to ours. It was a great feeling to hear our engine fire right up on the first try and run well - four months of work paid off!

The last few weeks of school were a blur. We packed up the house and our container, I took my powerplant oral, practical, and written exam and graduated - the close of one chapter, and the beginning of the next with Pacific Mission Aviation!