Aeronautics Class in Alsace: Episode 3: Visit to an aircraft maintenance company for the ISAS Year 10 class

Episode 3 of our aeronautics class in Alsace! This month, the students visited Mulhouse Air Service, an aircraft maintenance company that has specialised in the servicing and repair of light aircraft since 1972. Drawing on these 50 years of experience, they welcomed us to their premises to show the students behind the scenes of the aeronautical world: everything that, before and after each flight, allows an aircraft to fly safely.

Hangar 15-A at Habsheim aerodrome (LFGB)

It was in hangar 15-A at Habsheim aerodrome that Tristan, an aircraft mechanic, welcomed us to the premises of Mulhouse Air Service. On the programme: not only a presentation of his trade and of the hangar, but also an on-site study of engine components on aircraft under maintenance (a PA-28 and a Cessna 172), whose engines had been opened up for the students’ curiosity.

Cylinders, spark plugs, carburettor, pistons, engine hours… so many technical terms that the students were able to revise while putting images and real objects to words that can be very theoretical and technical. It was all expertly handled by Tristan who, besides how the engine works, covered possible failures and their consequences… a pilot (in the making) forewarned is forearmed!

The highlight of the visit was an aircraft completely taken apart following a runway excursion with no injuries, which the mechanic intends to rebuild entirely. The students could thus see what an aircraft looks like when stripped down to its simplest expression: the structure of the airframe and wings, the tail unit…

The visit ended with a look at a few aircraft in the neighbouring hangars, a sign of the sheer variety that makes up the aviation world: gliders, three-axis microlights, aerobatic aircraft (XA-42 and even the Extra 330 of Margaux Tahar, French aerobatics vice-champion), and finally a magnificent STAMPE, a 1940 biplane with its Renault engine: enough to send everyone home with stars in their eyes. (Photo of the aerobatic aircraft and the Stampe).

Jean PINTA

Read earlier episodes

Episode 1 - Opening of the aeronautical class

Episode 2 - Discovering the adventurers of aeronautics and space

© Photos: Jean PINTA