Problem Solver
Matthew Downey
Areas Matthew Downey is Knowledgeable in:
Aeronautical Engineering
Techniques Matthew Downey Uses:
I prefer to not jump to any instant conclusions, but use a thorough thought process, taking all details into account. Thinking outside of the box is a must for any innovation and I would apply this to try to come up with new ideas, or modernise a current idea. Sometimes it may take research in another field to look at the way they have overcome a problem and then adjust this to suit.
Matthew Downey's Problem Solving Skills:
- Experience bringing a new aircraft into service and overcoming associated problems
- Working in a small team with limited resources at sea maintaining aircraft
- Currently employed as a Royal Navy, Leading Aircraft Engineering Technician (Mechanical)
Matthew Downey's Problem Solving Experience:
- As a supervisor I have assisted with fault diagnosis on aircraft regularly. On one occasion on the back of a ship I noticed that one of the landing gear was lowering a lot slower than the opposite side. I knew that a function of the landing gear is a gagging valve which restricts the dampening of the oleo, when the aircraft landed back on this function appeared to be off but I decided that the valve must have been fitted incorrectly, therefore ceasing further flights. On further inspection it was apparent that the valve was fitted incorrectly therefore placing it in the on position when the indicator was not showing.
- I recently deployed on the back of of a small frigate with a new helicopter that has never been deployed before (Wildcat AW159). I helped decide how we were going to carry out scheduled maintenance with such limited resources all being on the back of a ship in the South Atlantic. I personally forecasted what maintenance could be carried out whilst we had the chance to disembark at certain locations with better facilities, allowing the maximum airframe hours to be achieved.
- When the Royal Navy first received the brand new Wildcat AW159, I was part of a team that helped bring this into service. This involved intense checks on the technical publications for every job we carried out. We had to scrutinise every detail of the processes as these had many mistakes which would have never been noticed before as we were the first people to carry out the jobs. If we encountered any problems these would be recorded in a document and then fed back to the Design Authority.