The ABS Maintenance Academy, designed and taught by ABS technical advisor and Service Clinic inspector Bob Ripley, and co-taught by ABS technical advisor Curtis Boulware, combines classroom and hands-on training covering common Beechcraft squawks found in ABS Air Safety Foundation Service Clinics.  It teaches participants how to conduct an ABS Service Clinic inspection on their customers' airplanes, including common squawks and how to address them, and includes special emphasis on Beechcraft landing gear inspection, rigging and repair as presented in the ABS Landing Gear Maintenance Guide. 

ABS Maintenance Academy sessions are held two to three times each year in locations around the country.  Space in each two-day Academy session is extremely limited--20 students per course maximum--so every mechanic has time to personally train hands-on.  Practicing Beechcraft mechanics must apply for the limited slots. 

To be considered for an invitation to attend, an applicant must:

• be a certificated Airframe mechanic, or international equivalent, with IA highly desirable

• have at least five years verifiable experience maintaining piston general aviation aircraft

• be employed full time in a fixed-based facility that regularly maintains piston airplanes

• be eligible to receive aviation training in the United States

• be, or become, a member of the American Bonanza Society

An applicant must provide recommendations from ABS members who have used that mechanic's services, and may be required to pass a telephone interview as part of the selection process.