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The Steps to Earning Your License |
THE DETAILED STEPS TO EARNING YOUR LICENSE
1. Document your practical experience. This can come in several forms, but is often a signed letter or letters from licensed A & P mechanics whom have supervised your airframe or powerplant work and can confirm that you have 18 or 30 months of work experience. If you do get a letter, make sure it is specific about who you are, what work you have done, how long you have been doing this work, and that it includes the signature and A & P number of the mechanic who wrote it. Depending on your situation, your practical documentation can also include: Repair Station maintenance training records, military training records, DD-214, school transcripts and factory training courses. Documented military experience is pretty much an automatic signoff. [Military Occupational Codes Equivalent Credit] Make sure you use everything you have to provide the FAA with an accurate picture of your experience.
2. Locate your nearest FAA Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) on the internet [www.faa.gov/about/office_org/field_offices/fsdo/] or in the blue pages of your phone book. Advise them that you are pursuing an airframe and/or powerplant license and need to make an appointment with an inspector. Obtain a copy of FAA Form 8610-2 and fill it out before you go to the FSDO. You can download the form [ http://forms.faa.gov/forms/faa8610-2.pdf ]. Treat this appointment like you would a job interview: be on time, neatly dressed & courteous and don’t forget to bring your documentation and photo identification with you. The inspector will want to be satisfied that you have the experience that your documents say you have, so don’t be surprised if you are asked a few questions. Sometimes the inspector will simply ask you general questions about your work experience and other times you will feel like you’ve been waterboarded. Don’t worry, they are just doing their job and they don’t want you to come back and haunt them.
3. Once you have your signed FAA Form 8610-2, you are approved to take your knowledge (written) tests. There are three computer-based written tests: General (everyone takes), Airframe and Powerplant. Once you pass those, you take your Oral and Practical tests (again: General, Airframe and Powerplant) with an FAA Designated Mechanic Examiner (DME).
This is where AMTI can help! Many mechanics stall out at this stage. Are they too busy? Or is it procrastination? Maybe they are a little afraid of failing?
Contact AMTI for a comprehensive program that takes all the mystery out of the testing process. You will know what to expect and when to expect it. When its all over, you will wonder why you waited so long to get your license.
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