Innovative Work Aids

By Alicia L’Archevêque

Helicopter maintenance demands specialized skills and equipment. At STARS, aircraft maintenance engineers use their ingenuity to design and build custom work aids that streamline tasks, enhance safety, and significantly reduce costs for the organization.

STARS engineers are innovators, and now, with the growth of 3D printing and digital design, their creativity is growing a cache of clever work aids like custom tailboom stands, cowling stands (also known as engine access stands), bottle stabilizers, and more.

“We used to carve [work aids] out of wood or by filing down a chunk of aluminum,” said Ryan Gillis, an aircraft maintenance engineer at STARS who has designed and 3D-printed a variety
of items now in daily use across the organization.

The process of adjusting and perfecting work aids is also accelerated throughout the entire STARS engineering team. Once a first model is rendered, improvements are just a couple of clicks away.

“We can shave hours off the job by being more accurate in how we approach things,” said Gillis.

Supporting a helicopter tailboom separated from the fuselage previously required rigging it into straps hanging from rented cranes. Now the massive piece rests safely in custom-built mobile steel supports that were designed digitally and fabricated in a STARS engineer’s garage. It has eliminated the need for costly rentals.

Another example of how work aids save STARS money is a unit designed by Gillis that helps with the accurate disassembly and assembly of control rods inside the helicopter’s mechanical build. Buying a similar aid from a manufacturer would cost USD $49,000 and require a six-month lead time. Gillis built his version for pennies, and it has since been rolled out across the organization.

Approved work aids serve to assist accuracy, improve efficiency, and reduce risk. They’re not industry requirements and are only implemented when an aircraft is grounded.

STARS doesn’t own a 3D printer. Most custom work aids are built by engineers printing them at home. One STARS engineer even welds from his home shop, creating metal work aids for his team. 

Gillis said creating work aids while off-duty is a STARS engineer’s way of supporting the charity.

“This is our way of giving back,” says Gillis.