A Primer on Aircraft Engine Maintenance and Accessory Care

The engine or engines are the heart and soul of every aircraft. Of course, there is propulsion. But the engine drives every single system on the aircraft in flight. Electrical power production? Engines. Hydraulics that operate every major system? Engines run those. Taking care of the aircraft engine and accessory systems is one of the most important parts of the preventative maintenance program. It takes a dedicated program to maintain these systems, and having the right parts on hand to support the brands in question. 

Here’s what we suggest for aircraft aircraft engine and accessory maintenance. 

Understanding Aircraft Engine Components and Maintenance

Modern turbine engines are the most reliable power plants that the world has ever known. The average failure rate of a turbine engine is around one per every 375,000 flight hours, which is an astounding ~99% lower than piston engines. But even with these staggeringly high statistics, or maybe more correctly, these incredible margins of safety are due to the strictest maintenance requirements in any transportation sector.  

Here are the key points to use for aircraft engine maintenance. And by this, we are mostly referring to the preventative maintenance cycle. Turbine engine repair is completely different and is generally best conducted in engine-specific MROs. 

  • Familiarize yourself with the different components of an aircraft engine, including the accessory drive, fuel pump, and engine starters. Of course, this is an assumption that you are already licensed or credentialed to work on airframes, aircraft engines, and accessories (A&P).
  • Regular maintenance and inspections ensure optimal engine performance and safety. All engine manufacturers have standard PMs and maintenance cycles so make sure to consult the OEM data. 
  • Understand the role of leading manufacturers in providing high-quality aircraft engine parts and accessories. Textron, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce, and General Electric are the biggest manufacturers and all are OEM producers of parts for the engines as well. 

Troubleshooting and Repairing Aircraft Engine Issues

So, there are a couple of different types of maintenance models that you need to heed for aircraft engine maintenance and repair. These are called proactive maintenance strategies, and the second are known as responsive maintenance strategies. You really want to focus your attention on proactive maintenance because these are what cost a lot less in terms of downtime, failures, and even lost assets. Failed parts have a nasty tendency to also cause damage to downstream parts and components. 

Proactive Maintenance

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First off, PMs are your best friend. This is to prevent equipment failure and reduce downtime. Regularly scheduled maintenance tasks are added to the calendar or on an hourly cycle to identify defects and address any potential issues before they become a responsive maintenance task. 

The next phase of maintenance, and this is largely an emerging technology, is predictive maintenance. The internet of things, big data, and machine learning are all being employed to predict with high levels of accuracy mean times between failure. If you can predict failure, you can cut it off at the knees by replacing components on a predictive schedule. 

Condition-based maintenance is what we generally think of with repairs when it comes to actual operating conditions. When a tech is conducting an inspection or check on the aircraft and comes across a part that is beyond allowable limits, this is a condition-based maintenance action. 

Responsive Maintenance

There are three basic types of responsive maintenance: corrective, reactive, and emergency. These are fixing failed or broken engine parts, replacing “run-to-failure” components, or the most expensive variety which are emergency repairs. 

Now, run-to-failure is generally not an aviation-specific failure unless it is a part that does not impact airworthiness. 

Accessory Drive and Component Maintenance

The accessory drive and associated components are critical to the safe and effective aircraft operation. This is important for all aircraft, and it is especially critical for aircraft like the E-11 BACN or the Leidos ARTEMIS II where critical ISR equipment uses high levels of electricity and the accessory drive system.

The components in the accessory drive system vary from aircraft to aircraft, but generally speaking it includes:

  • Hydraulic pumps
  • Electrical generators
  • Fuel pumps
  • Engine starters
  • The gearbox assembly 

All of these components are critical areas, and they are also heavy use. All engine accessory systems require some sort of preventative maintenance like changing the oil, hydraulic fluid, and checking the packing and seals on drain plugs. They also often require magnetic chip detector checks where a magnet is used to check for metal flakes in the oil or hydraulic fluid. These are simple examples of tasks that can be a strong indicator of the actual health of both engines and accessories. 

Choosing the Right Aircraft Parts Supplier

The right aircraft parts (OEM new, rebuilt, or high-quality certified replacement) is everything. We understand the factors to consider when selecting a supplier, including inventory, pricing, and customer service. In fact, we understand it so well that we have invested heavily in our company and processes with the Greenwood Parts Intelligence Program (GPIQ). This proprietary software allows us to source parts faster with much higher accuracy than anyone else in the business.

We work with and contract with the suppliers that carry the widest range of aircraft engine parts and accessories. Afterall, maintenance is what keeps airplanes flying. 

Parting Thoughts Best Practices

Engine maintenance is what makes flying the safest form of transportation the world has ever seen. The failure rates are unbelievably low, with some manufacturers even claiming as few as one failure per one million flight hours. This doesn’t happen without the best parts on the market. We know who the ideal parts provider is because we have built a robust system to identify them, along with good, old-fashioned networking. 

Your engines must have great maintenance, and there are a lot of items that go into that. We are here to help you get the strong supply chain in place to keep your turbine fleet in peak condition.