Career Corner

Think you need 20 years of experience to fix big problems? Diagnose with confidence in your first year on the floor. The secret? Troubleshooting charts. And the best part–they were made just for you.

Troubleshoot without decades in the trenches.

Think you need 20 years in the shop to crush big problems? Try 20 minutes in the manual. Here’s the secret every top tier tech knows: Troubleshooting charts are cheat codes. And they’re made just for you. 

You’re not stupid–just under-equipped

Your A&P isn’t the finish line—it’s your license to learn. You won’t know everything on day one, and that’s okay. It just means no one’s handed you the tools that actually work. Tools like troubleshooting charts. They don’t just help you learn—they help you solve real problems, even the complex ones, without second-guessing yourself. Luckily, you don’t need gray hair or grease-stained coveralls to fix the tough stuff. You just need one thing: The troubleshooting chart.

What is a troubleshooting chart?

It’s a flowchart. But instead of showing you how to restart grandma’s computer, it leads you to the fix. You start with a “cabin won’t pressurize, prop de-ice won’t turn off, low EPR.” Then it walks you through yes/no questions, one by one, until you hit the answer and find the fix. It’s like GPS for your brain. No guessing, no pushback. Just look here, check that, remove and replace. 

And the best part? It’s in the manual. Already written, waiting for you. 

Why troubleshooting charts put you miles ahead 

These flowcharts come straight from the engineers that built the plane. They ask the right questions in the right order. Follow them and: 

• Find root causes faster than techs twice your age

• Understand systems better than half the hangar 

• Outperform other junior mechanics that don’t read the manuals

You can wing it, or you can win it

Most junior mechanics guess–you’re going to know. All it takes:

• Open the manual 

• Find the troubleshooting page

• Follow the arrows like the smart human you are

It’s not hard. But learning to troubleshoot is rare. And rare gets noticed. So stop stressing about experience. Start using the tools that make experience easier to gain. You’ve got the brain–now use the chart. The hangar won’t know what hit ‘em.

Stay smart, Nate.

Author: Nathan LaVoie