Fear Short

Military aircraft maintainers pride themselves on being able to overcome adversity and make the seemingly impossible, possible. They work long hours in difficult conditions with lots of blood, sweat, and tears expended to keep the aircraft flying.

They accomplish these herculean tasks on a regular basis and yet some of them are afraid when it comes to getting their FAA Airframe & Powerplant license. Why? Because they have heard how hard it is to get. So, some of them just put it off to another day, sometimes 20 years later. Or never.

Is it difficult? Well, it’s not as hard as climbing Mount Everest or as easy as getting a driver’s license. But think about this, those people who put it off because it sounds difficult will sign up for a four-year college degree with no hesitation, which is way more difficult than two weeks for an A&P.

Maybe you have even looked at some of the written questions and wondered how you’ll ever remember all that information. Let me ask you this. Have you ever had to learn lots of information before passing an exam? Were you able to do it? Yes, and you succeeded because you set your mind to it and dedicated yourself to passing.

Getting your A&P in two weeks at Code 1 Maintenance is no different. Those who dedicate themselves to learning the material and the hours of study, leave with their A&P. Can you pay attention to a few lectures, do some hands-on tasks, and then do 8-10 hours a day studying written questions that have the answers provided? And with the assistance and guidance of an experienced instructor who holds an A&P?

Nearly all of the people who attend and stick with the program get their A&P within two weeks. But what about the others? Well, those are the ones who decided it’s too hard, or not worth the effort, or had life get in the way. And there are always a few who just want to pay their money and be given the license, but it doesn’t work that way. The FAA controls all the testing and schools have no control or influence over it.

It all boils down to this. You have valuable aircraft maintenance experience but the vast majority of aircraft maintenance jobs in the civilian world require an A&P license. And operators are already getting desperate, with one regional airline offering a $15K signing bonus for mechs with experience. In fact, Boeing released a study that stated the U.S. would be short more than 150,000 A&P mechanics over the next 20 years.

So, what’s it going to be? Two weeks of hard work for a lifetime of good-paying job opportunities, or just two more weeks of what you are already doing? All it takes is for you to decide that you can do it and that you want to do it. It’s all mental. The rest is just two weeks of sweat.

Don’t let the fear of it being hard to keep you from doing it because the accomplishments that are worthwhile are never easy.