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Who We Are
I’m John Eakin. Since 1965 I have been flying or fixing a variety of military and civilian airplanes, rotorcraft and
missiles. In the mid-1980’s I found I was frequently tasked with researching the service history of various aircraft - people wanted to know what were the weak spots and what needed to be fixed.
Most government agencies were quite accommodating in providing the data we asked for, but I always had the feeling that additional important information was just waiting to be found - perhaps I just
wasn’t asking the right questions. The problem was that I didn’t know what questions to ask, because I didn’t know what data was available and how it was arranged.
Not knowing when I was well off, I soon found myself with hundreds of reels of nine-track magnetic tape and an eclectic
collection of computer hardware and software to crunch it.
Happily, I found that this data really was a treasure trove of valuable information. Much more than just what
had broken, but often why it failed and who
was responsible for the failure. As our computer capabilities grew and our collection of databases expanded, it often became possible to merge the data and look at a larger picture. We were able to answer questions far beyond the vision of the original database designers.
What We Do
As in most things, defining the problem is the first step to finding an answer. We work with our clients to devise a
research strategy that will ultimately answer their questions.
We know what questions can – and can’t – be answered by specific data sources. Just as importantly, we help our clients avoid erroneous or misleading data sources.
Every day we prove the old saying that no one is finding new ways to break aircraft - the same thing has probably happened
before, often many times. And we often find that some prior investigator has extensively documented a failure mechanism.
How We’re Better
While selected portions of some of these databases are now available on the internet, most of the online databases are not
complete and may be quite misleading.
For example, one of the most widely used government databases contains more than six-hundred data fields but presents only about a dozen fields on their web site. In addition to only limited data availability, the reports are not searchable by cause, and model designations are not standardized. They fail to mention these little details, so what you think you see is not always what you get.
The ADR data library is maintained in-house and is complete and documented. We are the sole civil source
of many databases. We know how each database is collected, what it contains, and, just as importantly, what it does not
contain and what fields are not consistent or dependable. We can search on any combination of data fields, we don't have to wait for the internet to respond and were not at the mercy of some unknown programmer to tell us what we can search or what the output should look like
Perhaps as important as access to the data is the person behind the search. I hold airline transport pilot, flight
instructor and A&P mechanic certificates and have several decades of experience in both aviation and computer databases. We speak the language of aviation - our clients never deal with clerks
or geeks.
Our services are very reasonably priced and we’ll tell you up front exactly what the charges will be. Plus, our work is
backed up by our “pizza box” guarantee – if, for any reason, the data we provide is not useful to you, we’ll make it right or refund every penny.
(All we ask is that you let us know within a reasonable time.)
We don't always have the answer, but we usually know who does.
Unreasonable, impossible or silly questions are not just welcomed, but encouraged (it keeps us on our toes to find new sources). No charge or obligation to discuss your aviation information needs – and everything we do is completely confidential.
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