Welcome, to episode 82 of The Hangar Z Podcast Brought to you by Vertical Valor Magazine.

In this episode, we get to highlight some of the good work being done by the personnel we consider to be the backbone of our industry, our maintenance technicians. 

We had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Faith Ortega. Many of you will recognize her from her social media platform How to Helicopter.

During our conversation, Faith talks about earning her A&P through Southern Illinois University out of Carbondale Illinois. SIU has an outstanding aviation program where she graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Aviation Technologies with a specialization in helicopters.  

For our audience that is not familiar with the different positions in the maintenance technician world. The A&P (Airframe and Powerplant) certification refers to a certified mechanic who is authorized to perform maintenance and repairs on an aircraft's airframe, engines, and other related systems. 

On the other hand, an IA (Inspection Authorization) is a higher-level certification that allows an individual to perform and approve annual inspections and sign off on major repairs and alterations. 

In short, while an A&P can perform routine maintenance and repairs, an IA has the authority to inspect and approve the work performed by an A&P, and sign off on more complex repairs and alterations.

Faith began her career as an A&P out of college working for Helicopters Inc which is heavily involved in the ENG industry which stands for electronic news gathering. 

After gaining vast experience at Helicopters Inc. Faith joined us in the public safety aviation community as a HEMS base mechanic.

Faith has done a lot of work through her social media platform to promote the work being done by maintenance technicians and also to help recruit the next generation. In addition to that she volunteers her time at the Gateway Youth Aeronotical Foundation. 

During our conversation, we talk at length about the program at Southern Illinois University, she talks about the differences in working in the ENG industry vs the HEMS industry. We also discuss recruiting the next generation into the aviation community.

I would like to thank our sponsors Metro Aviation SHOTOVER and CNC Technologies as well as our supporters on Patreon.