I think every pilot will have been in the situation where he reported a technical defect to a ground engineer and the ground engineer simply asks him to stop and repeat his brief to another ground engineer.

This may be because the first ground engineer just doesn't know or that he's just lazy or even both but most of the time this means that he's from a different trade group.

There are multiple skills in aircraft maintenance but in europe ground engineers come in two flavors, there are the B-1 or 'A&C' (or airframe and engines) guy's who are skilled in anything about the airplane concerning structure, engines, complex hydraulics, mechanical installations such as landing gears, etc. and the other trade group, the B-2 or 'avionics' who are skilled in the avionic's, electric's, autoflight, wiring systems, comm's, nav's etc. side of the aircraft.

B-1 guys are sometimes called heavies. and B-2 guys are sometimes called lazyonics (don't know why).

Here are a view picture by picture jobs that we did to show what we do.

Replacing a wire:

Replacing a reed switch:

Replacing a VOR/LOC antenna:

Replacing pitot tubes:

Replacing a uplock switch on the line:

Replacing a conduit in the nose gear:

Replacing a slat full extend switch:

Swapping a engine cowl:

changing an engine:

Fore more general information about aircraft u can go to the 'how does an aircraft work section'.

What the passengers see out of the terminal is called 'Line maintenance', major repairs and modifications are done in the hangers.

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