Airframe & Powerplants Certificate the Sailor way
The steps and advise below are geared toward Sailors and Marines who are going through the process of getting an A&P certificate. However, if you are from another service, I believe you can still find value from my experience.
There are some basic requirements to become an FAA certificated Aircraft Mechanic that must be completed before you start your journey.
- You must be
- at least 18 years old;
- able to read, write, speak, and understand English.
- You must have 18 months of practical experience with either power plants or airframes, or you can work on both at the same time for 30 months concurrently. You must show proof of this experience.
- As an alternative to this experience requirement, you can graduate from an FAA-Approved Aviation Maintenance Technician School. This would be like the Aviation Institute of maintenance (AIM) or a college that has an aviation maintenance technician curriculum.
Once you meet these basic requirements, your first step will be to schedule an appointment with the Flight Standards District Office (FSDO). The FSDO is the local FAA office for your area. Make sure you must make an appointment, The FSDO will NOT see you without an appointment.
This appointment is for the FAA agent to evaluate your experience and to determine whether you meet the experience requirements to obtain a mechanic certificate. As an example: If you have been an Airframer for several years, you will have met the experience requirements to test for the airframes portion. If you also want to also test for the powerplants portion, you must prove to the agent you have the prerequisite experience. This can be done several ways. Print all of your qualifications from your training record and bring them to your appointment. Documentation is king! But also, be prepared to speak of your experience. He will most likely ask what your duties have been and tasks you have performed that qualify you to become a mechanic.
When I went to my appointment, I printed all my qualifications from my training record. At the time I was an airframes QAR, I had just transferred into QA. I had not completed my powerplants or avionics quals yet. The FAA agent quickly thumbed through my training record and proceeded to ask me questions about my experience and tasks that I have done. AGAIN, be prepared to answer questions about your duties. When he asked me about my powerplants experience, I mentioned that I had helped change engines, rotor blades, high speed shafts, performed engine washes, Engine inspections as a plane captain, even if you just observed them all this counts as experience.
After about 5 minutes of questions, it was friendly back and forth conversation, no need to be nervous. He was satisfied with my answers and signed me off so I could test for both airframes and the powerplant portions.
Once you have successfully convinced the FAA agent that you have met the experience requirements, he will hand you an FAA form 8610-2. Do not lose this form! This form is your authorization to take the test and must be presented to the testing station. Depending on if you were authorized for what portions, there will be a 2-3 knowledge tests. Knowledge tests: General, airframe, and powerplant. (if you are just doing the airframe portion then you will only take the General and Airframe tests, if you are doing just the powerplants portion then you will take the General and the Powerplants tests. If you were authorized for both the airframe and powerplants portion you will take the General, Airframe, and Powerplant tests.
The tests are taken at an authorized FAA testing center. These can be found at the FAA website: FAA.gov. The tests are approximately $160 for each test. If you are active duty, The NAVY COOL program will pay the fees for the knowledge tests once. This means that if you fail a test, they will not cover the fee for a second attempt. So be prepared for the tests and do not fail. I think every service has a COOL program. This program stands for Credentialling opportunities On-line. Check with your respective service for details. The NAVY COOL program is a “first come, first serve” program. So contact your ESO or better yet, e-mail the NAVY COOL representative to ensure they have adequate funding and for any changes in the program rules.
The FAA mechanics tests are a multiple-choice type test, similar to a rating exam. The general test has 60 questions, the Airframe and powerplant tests each have 100 questions. The passing score is 70% and there is a 2-hour time limit for each test. Keep in mind that the test scores are only good for 24 months. Once you take your first test, whether it be the General, Airframe, or Powerplant, you have 24 months from that time to get your certificate or you will have to re-take the tests. I recommend taking the general test first, it is not that difficult and only has 60 questions.
I also recommend buying study guides. I used the ASA Prepware study guides. They are about $15 for each test. Well worth it in my opinion. I would not take an FAA test without them. Be sure to get the correct book for the year. The 2019 books are already out. You can get them from the ASA website or Amazon. This is what the airframe study guide looks like. There will be a separate one for the general and powerplant.
Do not take the knowledge tests all on one day. Take some time between each test. I studied the general for a week and a half before I took that test. 2 weeks of studying for the airframe, and a month for the powerplant. I passed each test with an 85% or greater
Once you have completed all your knowledge tests, you will need to complete an oral/practical test with a FAA Designated Mechanic Examiner (DME). The list of DME’s in your area will be on the faa.gov website. You will need to schedule an oral/practical with a DME at least 2 weeks out. This gives you time to study and for the FAA to send the DME your list of tasks for your practical. Do not take this test lightly, Make sure you are ready. The oral/practical is an all-day affair with a lunch break included. Be prepared for an 8-hour plus day.
The oral portion is just how it sounds. He will ask you questions, and you will have to answer them. There are study guides that you can purchase to help you with the oral portion. I would also speak with the DME a day or two before your practical test, a lot of times, they will give you “tips” on their oral to help you along. They are there to help you. They want you to pass. There is more paperwork for them to complete if you fail. Be prepared for the oral regardless!
The practical portion is a list of taskers that you must complete to the DME’s satisfaction. The FAA will send the DME this list of tasks that you must complete usually 2-3 days before your appointment. This list is random, no practical will be the same. Some of my tasks, where as simple as taking a fuel sample, and looking up a part in the correct IPB. I also had to Time a magneto to an engine. I had to manufacture both a flexible tube/hose and a steel tube. The practical portion is geared toward general aviation and piston engine aircraft.
One good piece of information is that for any task they give you for your test, they must have a publication or documentation for that task. So, if there is a task you have never done in your time as a mechanic (and their probably will be a task or two that you have never done before on the test) if you can follow a pub to the letter, you will be ok. Like the knowledge tests, the oral practical has a passing score of 70%. The DME will determine if you have met that standard. There are a lot of resources out there for the practical, YouTube is a good source, that is how I learned the basics of how to time a magneto and find top dead center on a piston aircraft engine. I went to a local flight school and “volunteered” a couple days with the mechanic who was more than happy to show me the ropes to the smaller aircraft.
If you are successful with the oral/practical, the DME will issue you a temporary mechanics certificate. Your plastic cert will come in the mail a few weeks later. With the temp certificate in hand you will be able to work as a mechanic. This oral/practical test usually runs about $1000 in my area. NAVY COOL will also pay this fee. If you haven’t been keeping count. NAVY COOL has paid over $1500 for your certificate. And all you had to buy was a couple study guides. For less than $50 you can get you’re A&P certificate. There are other methods to get your cert, Bakers school of aeronautics is a good course for knocking everything out in a week or two. It is expensive. I took me a little over 3 months to get my A&P certificate from the time I received my testing authorization from the FSDO to the completion of my oral/practical. You just have to buckle down and study. Good luck!
Be sure to visit faa.gov and go to the FAA for you tab, then hit the mechanics link. There is a ton of information to get you started.
If there are any questions or comments, Please comment below.
Sammy
