Appreciation post: paper manuals vs digital on the ramp

So I used to be all about having every manual on my tablet. Thought it was the future, you know? No more greasy pages, everything searchable. Well, last week I'm out on the line in Seattle with a CRJ that's throwing a bleed fault. Tablet battery dies at like 40% because it's 30 degrees out. So I'm standing there scrolling through my phone, trying to read a fault isolation tree on a 5 inch screen with frozen fingers. Meanwhile my old-school buddy Mike pulls out the actual paper manual from his bag, finds the page in about 10 seconds, and starts calling out steps. I ended up borrowing his spare. Digital is great for the office but in the cold or rain, give me paper every time. I just wish they'd make the fonts bigger. Anyone else keep a paper backup or am I the last dinosaur?

2 comments

2 Comments

harpery4714d ago

Tablets and phones crap out way too often on the flight line, that's on you for not having a backup battery or keeping it warm. Switching back to paper is just admitting you can't handle modern tech, not proving it's better.

emma_dixon7014d ago

Oh come on, is it really that deep? Like yeah batteries die, it happens with any device, but acting like switching to paper is some huge admission of defeat feels a bit much. I mean, paper has its own issues too, you get a drop of hydraulic fluid on it and suddenly your whole checklist is a blurry mess. Sometimes people just prefer the reliability of something that doesn't need a charge, not that they can't "handle" tech. Feels like you're making a mountain out of a molehill over a personal preference thing, honestly.