hands-on or theory ????

[flame_bringer]

Ok the reason why i figured i'd post this topic is because i stumbled across alot of people ( engineers technecians mechanics ) that keep trying to convince me to stop reading books and try to focus on working and hand skills and claiming that hands-on solely makes for a good engineer and the theory part is useless and wont do me any good .
So i started to get scruplous about the matter as to why am i reading when i can learn by working straight and seeing the thing in actual , yet i ran into another engineer a few days back and he kept encouraging me to study and read and always refresh my knowledge and keep myself updated invariably and he markedly said '' theory is more important with theory you can trouble shoot with hands-on you're a pair of hands and an engineer is not supposed to be good at hands but ought to be good at knowledge '' .
So now im a bit undecided , should i just drop reading and revising training manuals , books , AMMs and rely on working , or should i prioritize theory and knowledge over hands-on .
So what takes do you guys have on this matter ?
Thanks in advance

[zigmund]

I dont think its a simple one or the other answer for which is better, a mix is ideal, but if you were to prioritize one over the other id definitely have to say hands on. Theory is useless without hands on.
Example, you could spend weeks reading about the theory behind wiring manuals and diagrams but still not imagine the real life equivalent. You might be able to pass an exam which is nice, but do one solid wiring job on an aircraft, or spend a solid day trying to troubleshoot a system using diagrams and checking connectors , checking continuity, replacing boxes or switches, and you'll know a lot lot more.

[flame_bringer]

Thank you for sharing your perspective
one thing im wondering about though , is that when im at home and have a free time and not up to anything i would usually spend it on reading and educating myself on the subjects , should i follow through on this or should i just focus on working when im at work and stop reading at home during my liesure seeing as theory is not really needed ?
also iv heard that the theory part is usually extensively covered during the type course so no need to try and learn it on my own since it will all fall into place upon taking the type course .
so am i wasting my time by reading ?

[flame_bringer]

edit to the topic :
Consider yourself an employer and you get 2 guys applying for a job one thats extremely astute and knows how the system works quite well but if you hand over a spanner to him and ask him to open up a nut or ask him to make a lock wiring it would take him decades , and another guy who can open up the nut or make the lock wiring for you in 1 minute but knows next to nothing .
who would you opt for ?

[RotaryWingB2]

Theory is incredibly important, but not at the expense of hands on.

If you can only do one, hands on will benefit more.

If you can do both, carry on!

[flame_bringer]

Thanks for the response

[mrmagooo]

Hands on all day long! If you are starting out your career not only will you get the hand skills you need as an engineer, but you will learning the systems by seeing them work and hence your knowledge will build up. I have been on several type courses and as a rule, you dont really get to know how the systems works until your work it. Theory is fine, but it is easier when you can see it working rather than a pretty drawing

[ab33t]

This is the egg and chicken riddle

[Genghis the Engineer]

I really do believe that without both, you are never going to be a good engineer - whatever route you take your career.

There are a breed of maintenance engineer who will regard hands-on as everything; they'll rarely ever get off the shop floor into any seniority.

There are also a breed of university graduate engineers who decline every chance to get hands on experience, and think that book learning is everything. They might make it to junior design office jobs or maybe middle management.

Any good engineer definitely needs both at a good level; the specific balance will depend upon the person and the job - certainly in a maintenance job, hands-on is most important, but not to the total exclusion of book-learning. The reverse for, say, a design engineer.

G

[mrmagooo]

Rubbish!

Throughout the airline maintenance industry there are people in mangement positions that have worked their way up from the shop floor. All station engineers that I know are engineers with hands lots of hands on experience. (although maybe not the best engineers!) Then as you look through maintrol departments esp at the companies I have worked they are decent engineers with hands on experience who have worked their way up. Upto and including maint ops department managements.

If you are good with your hands then you will work your way up in seniority as you gain supervisory experience and wont be limited to the shop floor as genghis says.

If you want to get into higher management then you really need to do a degree in bean counting as thats the way the industry has/is going!

[Jetdoc]

Always remember that people have different learning styles. Some people benefit greatly from reading. Others need to see things in front of them. The question you should ask yourself is 'what is your learning style'?
My view is that you, as an engineer or technician, probably need need both. Which one benefits you the most is based on how you learn the best. Personally, I read alot. During my career, anytime I worked on a system, I would always go back and review my training notes or even basic theory.
Having a solid foundation in theory can greatly aid your troubleshooting skills. Doing the job builds your hand skills.

[flame_bringer]

Thanks everyone for the valuable responses .
regards