Light Aircraft Mechanics (Tanana: lawyers, school, maintenance)

[tessa_marie]

So the hubster is a mechanic....and is now considering becoming a light aircraft mechanic....generations his family have been involved with airplanes in some form or another and he can't repress the desire any longer.

In his research so far, it seems to be a decent job to get into up there. But what he can't seem to figure out is whether or not he should get a formal education first or if he should take on an apprenticeship type thing with someone and then do his licensing exams. He's joined a light aircraft forum to find out, but it seems to be a rather slow moving forum. so I thought what the heck, I"ll ask here!

Anyone know? Thanks for the info, if you do know!

[Rance]

All I know is there are many planes here of all different sizes and shapes. I have no idea where or who teaches the mechanics tho. Maybe rotorhead has some info.

[warptman]

On the job training takes just as long as going to school. I'd go the schooling route just so you actually get trained by a FAA approved instructor. That way he'd get taught by the book instead of hands on. It might cost a little more that route, but he'd learn everything he needs to know in one place. UAA has a Aviation Technical facility on Merril Field.

[Arcticthaw]

UAF through the Tanana Valley Campus has an A&P course. Airframe and Powerplant, they also offer private pilot ground school etc. I believe they also offer evening classes so he can work and go to school.

This is one of the Few FAA certified coursed nationwide.

[tessa_marie]

After thinking/discussing it, we're thinking that after he's met some folks and what not and while we're waiting to become "residents" of AK, he'll try to get some maintenance work to find out if he likes it...then we don't have to go through the immediate expense of it, ya know?

[rotorhead]

There's certainly plenty of work for A&P mechanics in Alaska, but keep in mind that a lot of it can be in some pretty remote areas by lower-48 standards, especially if you get into helicopter work.

It's a high demand occupation, but the entry requirements are fairly high as well. In some ways it's harder than getting licenced as a pilot. Compared to working on cars the liabilities are high as well. Every time an airplane crashes the estate of the deceased ALWAYS sues the mechanics who have worked on it, sometimes even if it was years or decades ago. The lawyers go after everyone up and down the food chain hoping to hit on someone with money along the way, regardless of who's fault it actually was. It's one of the reasons there's so, so, much paperwork involved with working on airplanes compared to autos.

I'm not trying to be a wet blanket, but I know quite a few aircraft mechanics who have finally given up working on airplanes and gone back to cars because they just got tired of all the hassles for not any more money than they'd make working for a dealership. The rewards can be pretty good if you get hooked up with a good company, though. The folks working for the airlines seem to be typically quite satisfied with the situation, for example. Not that they'd ever show it, of course, acting like a crusty, surley old curmudgeon seems to be the default mode for most aircraft mechanics I've met, regardless of age.

As a career it's definately worth looking into, and I'd also recommend a formal school over the apprenticeship route. As a general rule, the school-taught guys seem to get a broader exposure to the different kinds of work out there, though perhaps not as deep. The apprenticeship guys typically have a more narrowly focused or specialized education, depending of course on what kind of work the shop they apprentice at does. I've been in the aviation biz for about twenty years now and I've seen both good and bad mechanics who've come up through both routes, it's more of a motivation and ability issue than where you got your training in the end.

One thing you'll have to watch out for is the places that are really looking for an aircraft washer or line service guy, but dangle the "apprentice mechanic" carrot to get someone to stick around doing the scut work for lousy money. You'll expect to get stuck working the most routine or boring jobs when you're the new guy, they're not going to trust you until they've seen your work and you've earned it. If you're working all the time and it seems like its been an awfull long time since you've learned anything new, it might not be the right place to stay.

Good luck on it, either way.