This role requires in-depth knowledge of chemistry and a keen sense of observation and judgement, to adhere to the critically important safety principles that apply to your work.
Being an Aviation Special Processes Technician requires discipline and precision in treating all manner and shapes of aircraft parts. You will be cleaning parts made from exotic materials using chemical, electrical, and mechanical means. Once cleaned, you will employ surface treatments such as conversion coatings, deposition, plating, thermal spray, diffusion coatings, or etching.
After that, you will toughen these parts using shot, glass, and flap-peening processes. This leads to the next steps: heat-treating, stress relief, and furnace brazing. All of these procedures are like adding armour protection to the parts, ensuring that they will be reliable and able to endure the toughest stresses — your work will keep the aircraft flying safely for many years to come.
Did you know that landing gear materials withstand repeated high-energy pounding, and are so highly internally stressed that they need to be specially coated with high-tech, complex paint compounds to guard against hydrogen embrittlement during high altitude flying conditions?
If this fact seems intriguing, then this role is for you.
Career Pathway
- Completion of Secondary School is required.
- Training in aviation maintenance at a community college.
-
Experience as an aviation machinist or aviation maintenance
technician is also an asset to becoming a Special Processes
Technician.
Career Opportunities exist within aviation maintenance and manufacturing organizations.
Job Titles
Some of the job titles available in this occupation include:
- Aviation Plating Specialist
- Heat Treating Operator
- Plastics Technologist
- Process/Production Design
Certification
CAMC Certification available with a minimum of 2 years' experience in the occupation, plus 6 months for specialization. Certification specializations are available in the following areas:
- Cleaning/Stripping (CS)
- Surface Treatment (ST)
- Peening (PN)
- Heat Treatment (HT)
A minimum of 6 months is required for each of the sub-areas for specialization.