On June 18, Southport Aerospace Centre hosted the fourth annual Aircraft Maintenance Engineer Day at Red River College Polytechnic (RRC Polytech)’s Stevenson Southport Campus. The day included seven sessions for 240 grade eight students from Portage School Division, Sandy Bay First Nation, and Long Plain First Nation.

The students split into morning and afternoon sessions where they learned from experts who work in aircraft maintenance about aircraft hydraulic systems, the importance of daily inspection, what makes planes fly, and more. They also got to participate in simulators where they learned how to maintain a helicopter in the “hover” position.

This is the fourth annual AME day introducing grade 8 students to the world of aircraft maintenance and demonstrating the rewarding careers students could experience one day.

Students were also treated to hearing the story of a recent RRC Polytech grad, Riley Kintscher. He attended the first AME Day event in 2018 and was inspired by the speaker he heard that day so much that he decided to pursue a career in aviation and aerospace. This spring Riley graduated from the Apprentice Aircraft Maintenance Engineer program and is now employed by Canadian Helicopters Limited. Riley was a part of this year’s AME Day, inspiring other young minds to consider following in his footsteps.

The Apprenticeship Aircraft Maintenance program is designed to help students attain Transport Canada approved training status, 48 months of aviation maintenance work experience, and three technical examinations required to obtain an AME license.

AME Day 2024 was another great success and thanks to the expert instruction of their session leaders, students left with the knowledge of the incredible opportunities that await them should they choose to pursue careers in the aviation and aerospace industry, and how local training through RRC Polytech can help support them.

For more information about the AME Program, visit our catalogue.