About Barbara

Barbara is the President of Aviation RCS.  She performs a variety of services for aviation companies who are applying for or are maintaining their Federal Aviation Administration certificates.  Barbara provides expert knowledge in both Aircraft Certification and Flight Standards related topics including: compliance audits, quality systems, and Safety Management Systems (SMS).  

Barbara teaches SMS, System Safety, System Safety Recurrent, and Engineering Basics for the FAA; as well as Delegated Product Release Verification (DPRV) for SAE International.  Barbara also offers a Part 21, Certification Procedures for Products and Articles, course on an as-needed basis.  

Barbara also assists companies wishing to pursue FAA acceptance into the SMS Voluntary Program Standard (SMSVP).  This includes doing document reviews, onsite audits, and gap analysis; creating implementation plans; writing Safety Policy statements, procedures, and a basic SMS manual; assisting with application to the FAA for SMS; and follow-up audits as needed.

 Barbara previously worked as a Senior Aviation Safety Inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration's Aircraft Certification Service for 22 years.  Prior to that, she was an aircraft mechanic for the California Air National Guard.

Barbara was the project manager and team lead for 2 major rulemaking projects.  The first rule, published in 2009, overhauled the quality system requirements for all production approval holders (PAH).  For the first time in 60 years, all PAHs had the same regulatory requirements for their quality system manuals.  The 2nd rulemaking effort, which was placed on hold in 2018, was to add design and manufacturing to the Part 5 Safety Management Systems rule.   Barbara also worked with an industry team that developed the National Aerospace Standard NAS9927, Safety Management System Practices for Design and Manufacturing; and participated in the FAA's Voluntary SMS program, helping a major design/manufacturing organization to obtain an acceptance letter from the FAA for their SMS.

Barbara also served as an instructor at the FAA's Academy in Oklahoma City.  She was the course manager for the Part 21 Course, Certification Procedures for Products and Articles. Her students included FAA, industry, and other Civil Aviation Authorities.  She taught classes in China, Israel, and Mexico.  She also taught classes in Quality Systems Audits, ASI Job Functions, Designee Management, and other FAA courses as needed.  

Barbara has been both a team member and team lead for over 30 FAA audits of manufacturers such as Boeing, Honeywell, Pratt and Whitney, Piper, Cessna, and other parts manufacturers.

College Education - Barbara holds a Masters in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with majors in Safety Systems and also Human Factors.  She has a Bachelors of Science in Aviation Management from Southern Illinois University/Carbondale.

Certificates and Authorizations -  Barbara has completed the following courses and certification programs:

AS9100-2016 Lead Auditor Course (Rev. D) 

AS9100 Lead Auditor Course (Rev. C)

ISO-9001 Auditor Training and Transition Training (2000, 2008, and 2015)

FAA Quality Systems Auditing Course

FAA Aircraft Certification Systems Evaluation (ACSEP) Course

Airframe and Powerplant License