by Pete Miller
In March of 2026, a team from the Maintenance class at Rising Aviation went to Verticon in Atlanta and competed in the Aerospace Maintenance Competition.
Verticon is a trade show and conference staged by Vertical Aviation International (VAI), and the event delivered 280,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space, 684 exhibitors, and 64 aircraft on display.
We were sponsored by Southwest Airlines and by Adam White of Pilot MRO, LLC, which is based in Atlanta.
After months of study and preparation, we headed to Atlanta. The AMC competition consisted of 22 teams from the Army, Horizon Airlines, and schools. There were three high schools in attendance.
Teams consisted of three competitors and an alternate. The alternates were given the opportunity to create their own teams, which could present a challenge, but it reflected real-life situations in maintenance where mechanics who don’t know each other well may have to join together to accomplish a task. Our alternate, Sebastian Rosas, joined an alternate team. They named themselves “the Mischiefs”.
There were 9 events that encompassed some basic and some applied skills, to include troubleshooting. Each event had a time limit of 15 minutes. Errors or omissions had penalties that were added to the time the team achieved. The goal was to finish the competition with the lowest combined time. The exception to this rule was the borescope event, where teams were expected to use up to the 15 minute limit, and they were rewarded based on how many objects they found inside an enclosed JT-8 burner can.
Introduction Video:
On to the events…
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MOHR Electrical Wire Harness Testing: This was an event where competitors used a Mohr TDR (Time-Domain Reflectometer) to locate a fault in a long wire run. The top School Team was The Mischiefs, the alternate team with our own Sebastian Rosas. Sebastian won the event. Our own Jaden Barraza also competed in this event. |
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Snap-on Precision Torque Application: Competitors had to install and torque bolts and nuts in a star pattern. This was the one event we didn’t win.
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USA Borescopes Borescope Inspection: Using a USA Borescopes unit, competitors were expected to locate objects in a burner can. The boys found 29 out of 33 objects, and finished with a final time just shy of 8 minutes. The top School Team was Rising Aviation High School. The three boys each won a borescope unit, and the school got one as well. |
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Southwest Airlines Thrust Reverser Troubleshooting: This was an event sponsored by Southwest. The object is to troubleshoot switches in the thrust levers, measuring resistance, and then “replacing” the faulty switch (the judge had a switch to fault one of the two thrust levers). We then had to verify the fix. The top School Team was Rising Aviation High School. In the spirit of competition, we deferred the win to the second-place team. |
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Aviation Technician Education Council & Choose Aerospace General Maintenance Challenge: This was a 20-question test of questions from the General A&P written exam. Garrett Moore got 17 out of 20 questions correct. Top School Team: Rising Aviation High School
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 Southwest Airlines Tire and Wheel Inspection: Another event sponsored by Southwest. This involved the inspection and documentation of a 737 nose wheel and tire. The top School Team was Rising Aviation High School. Again, in the spirit of competition, we deferred the win to the second-place team. |
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Av-DEC Antenna Gasket Installation: In this event, competitors had to remove an antenna from the simulated belly skin of an aircraft, replace the conductive gasket, verify the electrical bonding, and reinstall the antenna. Top School Team: Rising Aviation High School |
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FedEx Express Safety Wiring: This event took place in an enclosed box that contained several safety wire tasks. The box is affectionately known as the “Blood Box”. Ask us how we know… Top School Team: Rising Aviation High School |
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 Moeller Aerospace Click-Loc Challenge: The Click-Loc challenge involves a product that provides a secondary locking solution that can replace the use of safety wire in some applications. Competitors had to secure fasteners using Click-Loc, and do the alternative safety wiring. This demonstrates how much time can be saved using the Click-Loc product. Top School Team: Rising Aviation High School. |
You can see from this that Rising Aviation students won 8 of the 9 events.
It’s also important to note that the AMC Professionalism Award (determined by judge vote) went to Student: Garret Moore of Rising Aviation High School. I had no doubt.
The highlight of the awards ceremony was that Rising Aviation won the School Overall Trophy. While we were up on the stage, the emcee, Ken McTiernan, just asked us to stay on stage because we also took the Overall Trophy for the entire competition!
One of the highlights for me during this competition was that all the students’ parents came to Atlanta to show their support.
Immediately after the Awards Ceremony, I was interviewed by Sanp-On:
A month later, we were treated to a trip to Orlando to visit MRO Americas (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul), which is a very large conference for aircraft maintenance in general. There were over 1000 vendors, as well as another AMC competition. Southwest flew us there, and the parents of one of our students provided a place to stay in Kissimmee. We checked out the competition, which is MUCH larger: 90 teams and 29 events this year. The teams are what I refer to as the “Big Boys”, the pros in the business: military, big airlines, and some schools. Notably, there was a team from a high school in Istanbul.
So what’s next? We are planning on competing at Verticon next year in Anaheim. And we’re considering competing at MRO, which will again be held in Orlando.
