So You Want to be an Aircraft Mechanic?

There are a host of reasons why year after year thousands of intelligent individuals attempt to break into the aviation maintenance career field.

They will do anything and everything they can just to get their "Foot in the Door".

Where else are you required to accomplish many tasks with sheer brute force and brawn, exceeding the bodies normal capability? You also must weave your body into unimaginable locations filled with wire and sharp objects, and function with the precision of a surgeon. Our bodies are required to withstand the sun, wind, rain, cold, and the darkness of night. We often use our senses of smell, sound, sight, touch, and even taste to determine whether an item is capable of withstanding the required loads or meeting its objective. Our hands are burned, punctured, smashed, cut, and placed in areas and chemicals that have been deemed too dangerous and harmful for even laboratory animals.

Aviation mechanics must know the systems intimately, and be able to reason, calculate, and rationalize any defect imaginable. These functions must be performed with great speed and accuracy, as humiliation and/or unemployment await the incapable. The mechanic must know, interpret, and attempt to locate vital information in a vast array of books, publications, and bulletins. Then, upon successful accumulation of the data, we must use skills and techniques to produce a job that will sustain lives. Upon completion we must document our every move, and be prepared to enter federal prosecution, which could result in fines, loss of license, and/or sentencing.

Weekends, normal hours, and holidays are often talked about, but seldom enjoyed. Pagers have become as common as the Phillips head screwdriver. In addition, we are expected to be neat, clean, and have a delightful disposition. However, with any job of this caliber, a few frustrations and a little stress is to be expected.

Sometimes it's so good I can hardly stand it myself.

It's no wonder why so many individuals want to be just like me.