The Lost Art Of the Skilled Trades · 2026-08-04 · 24 min
Aircraft maintenance apprentice Miyah Spade of Canadian Helicopters breaks down what it really takes to keep planes and helicopters safely in the air - and why almost nobody knows this trade exists. Miyah just walked off the floor of an international aerospace maintenance skills competition in Orlando, where her team was the only one to fully complete their event - removing and reinstalling a 150-pound aircraft slide under a strict manual, timed, and inspected to the letter. She talks about what it takes to hold that much information under pressure, and introduces the "Dirty Dozen" - the twelve human factors, like distraction, pressure, and complacency, that aviation maintenance crews are trained to watch for on every real job, not just in competition. Miyah is an aircraft maintenance apprentice studying at Centennial College and working with Canadian Helicopters.
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