Expert: Ray Wilkinson - 6/19/2006

Question
Sir, i am 17 year old boy from INDIA(bombay) & i have passed 12th with 60% marks in PCM i am interested in aviation field plz can u tell me the difference between AERONAUTICAL ENGG.&AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE ENGG.are they one and the same plz temll me about the cope in this field and also about some universites offering these course. PLEASE GUIDE ME .THANK U

Answer
Vaibhav

Sorry, I don't know how your assessment system works in India, so I don't know what PCM is. However, regarding your question:

Aeronautical engineering (and aerospace engineering) is the engineering activities behind all of the industry, so it covers design, aerodynamics, structures, materials, systems and some operations, as well as the minority subjects like reliability.

Aircraft maintenance engineering is about the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) side of the industry. Typically, this is done by licensed engineers, who are not normally graduates but highly skilled technicians. They are the people who keep the aircraft in an operational and safe state. They carry out checks at set intervals to try to ensure the aircraft will not fail in service, and that it can continue to operate safely until the next check. They are also the people who will do the major and minor repairs, and incorporate minor modifications.

I hope that helps you.

Regards

Ray