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Originally Posted by PGA07  Has anyone out there gone through the A&P certification process? |
Yep!
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If so, what is the time frame and pay like?
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You can earn your A&P by attending an approved school or through work experience.
If you choose school, you will need at least 1,900 hours of training, usually over one to two years. Many community colleges offer an A&P program, but there are dedicated A&P schools as well.
If you choose work experience, you will need 4,800 hours of A&P-type work to qualify. The FAA figures this as thirty months of full-time work experience. Most people use experience gained while in the military or by working as an apprentice in a shop.
After you attend school or acquire the experience, you will have to take the written, oral, and practical exams. There are three writtens, one each for general, airframe, and powerplant. The oral and practical exams are administered by a DE. He will quiz you over just about everything, and then watch you perform A&P tasks such as sheetmetal repair, fabric repair, AD and logbook research, etc. Mine took about 2.5 days.
Pay starts around $14-15 an hour for the regionals, $20-25 an hour for the bigger guys. Pay at shops and FBOs vary quite a bit, but $10-15 an hour seems to be the norm.
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Would it still be possible to work on your flight ratings while being employeed as an A&P.
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I did. I'm very happy that I decided to get my A&P. I think flying makes me a better mechanic, and wrenching makes me a better pilot.