The engineers keeping HEMS and SAR special missions flying

As Director of Engineering, Baycroft’s responsibilities change from day to day, he explained: “Sometimes I’ll go out and crew an aircraft. I do management of engineering crew, parts ordering, maintenance control planning, crew rostering and recruitment. I liaise with the NSW RFS for modifications and maintenance planning. I’ll liaise with operations on the day-to-day flight schedules. I undertake the initial training for maintenance items to pilots, new employees and engineers, carrying out system familiarization training for those who have never worked on a tank or a hoist, for example.”

Baycroft’s career path started in Canada in 2003 with type training, taking four years. “Financially I had to put myself through school,” he said. “In Canada, you do the training all at once. I was lucky that the company where I did my apprenticeship had 85 aircraft with many different types. We ran heavy, medium and light helicopters, both American and Russian products, and I worked on all of them throughout my apprenticeship.” He continued: “As an apprentice, you’re continually learning, and that exposure to lots of different engineers and aircraft was important.”

As an apprentice, you’re continually learning, and that exposure to lots of different engineers and aircraft was important

That learning experience continues throughout an engineer’s career, explained Baycroft: “There are courses to work on for each aircraft. I did Bell 412 training in 2015, recurrent Bell 412 training in 2018, and I’m doing CH-47D training right now.

“The NSW RFS Bell 412 aircraft are heavily modified. We use the forward-looking infrared red (FLIR) for fire mapping, but the mission consoles are Coulson-built, so I’ve had to learn a lot about these kits to understand how they operate and how to fix them.”

Troubleshooting and an analytical brain are key skills for engineers. “You need to be able to work on your own and think on your own. You have people’s lives in your hands and need to instill confidence, and that comes with time and experience,” said Baycroft.

Having fought fires in North America, Australia and Asia, Baycroft hasn’t lost his appetite for foreign climes.

“I always have been a traveler,” he said. “In a few years, I’d hope to be doing a similar role abroad. I’d like to both manage engineering operations and still have the option to be on the tools, maybe with a focus on CH-47Ds.”

Baycroft is not unaware of the difficulties to his work: “Very often you’re not at home, and for some people that’s hard. I’m suited to this lifestyle. Firefighting operations can also be emotionally hard, sometimes having to watch a town burn down during bad seasons.”

But he is proud of the work he does. Baycroft concluded: “I’ve been personally involved in maintaining an aircraft when they get dispatched to go help others and save people’s lives. That’s a great privilege.”

Now an engineer based at Bristow Group’s Caernarfon search and rescue (SAR) base, Reece Aspden joined Bristow as an engineering apprentice, and has no regrets

“I grew up around aircraft and aviation, but always knew I wanted to be an engineer of some kind,” said Aspden.

“While studying mechanical and building, a friend mentioned the Bristow apprenticeship scheme. Although I’d already applied for the Navy, I sent an application to Bristow too. Looking back, I definitely made the right choice,” Aspden continued.

“As an apprentice engineer, I studied for nine months in the Cotswolds, attending lessons, workshops and taking exams, with fantastic lecturers. This, followed by three years working with exceptional people in Bristow, all around the UK, helped me attain my first aircraft maintenance license.

“I’ve often been asked whether a university degree would have been more beneficial. For me, it’s an easy answer. I left my apprenticeship with experience, an internationally recognized license and enough savings to put a deposit on my first home.

“Having only quite recently attained my B1.3 license, I’m content in taking the time to gain more experience on the aircraft I work on and furthering my career by becoming a more competent engineer. There’s always more to learn and I’d like to start the process of taking my B2 licence exams this year," he said.

But there are hardships to contend with, explained Aspden: "There are many perks to a job in aviation maintenance, but perhaps one downside is how hard it can be to leave the job at the door. With such responsibility on your shoulders, you can find yourself at home, thinking about what you’ve done at work that day."

You can find yourself at home, thinking about what you’ve done at work that day

“You never really stop learning in aircraft engineering,” he added. Depending on the manufacturer, type training to work on a specific aircraft could mean a six to eight week course in the USA or Italy. “Or, if you’re lucky,” he quipped, “Aberdeen in November.”

Aspden said: “There’s always something to test your knowledge, even if you’ve worked on the same aircraft for years. It’s a small part of what keeps the job interesting. Continuation training keeps us up to date with the latest practices and information on our aircraft and everything encompassing aircraft maintenance.

“Once a year, we even get to train as firefighters and hose down real fires in a training environment. There’s plenty of variety.”

For Aspden, working on and around helicopters is satisfaction in itself: “They are incredible machines, and with modern developments are getting more complex. Obviously in a SAR capacity, the other side of the job satisfaction is when the aircraft comes back from a tasking, and you know that you’ve played a part in potentially saving someone’s life. That’s a pretty good feeling.”

Scott Weight, Senior Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) Engineer at Ambulance Victoria operated by Babcock Australasia, was hooked on engineering from his first taste of the job while still at school

“We were given the opportunity to do local work experience. I was unsure what I wanted to do with my life, so when I saw aircraft engineering as one of the options, I thought, ‘that sounds cool, I’ll give it a go’,” said Weight.

“I was to do two weeks of work experience with East Coast Helicopters, a local company at Caloundra Airport. I did my two weeks and absolutely loved it – so much so, I asked if I could come back and help out during the school holidays for free.

“I did this until I completed school and, after graduating in 1987, the owner of East Coast Helicopters asked if I would like to do an apprenticeship as an aircraft maintenance engineer. The rest is history,” said Weight. “In 1992, at the age of 22, I completed my four-year apprenticeship and had my first basic engineering license a few months later. I was on my way.”

As senior engineer at Ambulance Victoria, he is now responsible for maintenance of six AW139 helicopters contracted to provide HEMS support to the State of Victoria.

It’s a career that requires total commitment: “An EMS service doesn’t stop,” confirmed Weight. “You are constantly on call and on the go. This operation, in particular, is very demanding with a lot of moving parts, consuming a lot of my time during and after work.

An EMS service doesn’t stop. You are constantly on call and on the go

“We are constantly learning and upskilling via original equipment manufacturer (OEM) courses and other forms of currency training. This could be on a particular component like the hoist, or an aircraft monitoring system like Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS).

This records the status of critical systems and components on helicopters, so that the early detection of progressive defects, or indications of them, is possible. Therefore, rectification can be achieved before they have an immediate effect on operational safety. Aviation is constantly pushing the envelope of design and technology, so we’re seeing more technically advanced aircraft going into production. We need to be trained on them.”

After 35 years as an aircraft engineer, Weight still loves the job: “If I had to start again, I wouldn’t change a thing. Not too many people can say that about their job. I love the challenges, the complexity of the operation, and that we as an engineering team are contributing to saving lives. If that doesn’t give you job satisfaction, I don’t know what will," he concluded.

Megan Nunner, Engineer for Conair Aerial Firefighting’s aircraft, joined straight out of high school

Based at Abbotsford International Airport in British Columbia, Canada, Conair Aerial Firefighting’s aircraft maintenance engineers maintain and prepare for deployment a fleet of 70 fixed-wing aircraft. These are purpose-engineered for fighting wildfires on contract to governments around the world, with aircraft undergoing heavy maintenance between contracts. Nunner joined the team four years ago, straight out of high school.

“I knew I wanted something hands-on that was different,” said Nunner. “Aviation seemed to be an industry where I could do that.

“I stumbled across the Aircraft Maintenance Engineering (AME) program at British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) and decided to apply. It was the best decision I ever made.”

Just 16 months later, she graduated with a diploma in AME and a job offer from Conair.

“School was a lot of work in a short period of time,” said Nunner. “I was lucky to receive two scholarships that helped pay for schooling.”

I have learned to pay attention to the smallest details

Since joining Conair, she has worked on aircraft including the AT802 Fire Boss, Cessna Caravan C208B, Convair CV580 and De Havilland Dash 8-400AT. And deep concentration is crucial: “Aerial firefighting is demanding on the airtanker, as missions are performed in challenging conditions – heat, turbulence, speed and elevation changes, plus low-level flying and rapid weight changes when a payload is released. I have learned to pay attention to the smallest details," she said.

Her work with Conair has taken her from her native British Columbia to Alberta, Alaska, Washington and Australia.

“I’m normally away from home four months out of the year on base during the fire season, but will spend eight months in the field this year,” said Nunner.

“It’s an emergency environment and the aircraft have to be ready to dispatch when needed. Sometimes this means working overnight on the airtanker, as it operates during the day. And there are long periods of downtime waiting for a callout. No day is ever the same.”