Hi, aviation question if you have a minute, I’m planning on starting an 18 month AME program next year and from your blog it seems like being an AME is going quite well for you, I was wondering if you could give me any ideas for good ways to prepare? Is there any skills or experienced you wish you already had at the start of your training? I’m open to any kind of hobby, learning resource, or volunteer experience that would give me a leg up. Thanks for your time!
Oh that's so awesome! I'm unfamiliar with the general process of becoming an AME, I hear it can be more difficult than the US A&P equivalent.
Tbh I didn't purposefully prepare for school, but I did used to spend a lot of time thru high school & post in A&P school, volunteering with my local air museum's EAA restoration hangar & the airshow they host annually too. Learned a ton from the old retired airline guys & experimental airplane builders over the years. I'd say try to find a little place similar. Aviation is a big tight knit community of kind passionate folks and is best experienced by putting yourself out there and making your own passions for it visible. Good folks will pick up on that and drive efforts. From my experience, it's lead to some really fun experiences and connections to wrench on some awesome stuff.
As for my personal experience after A&P school and getting fed to the wolves right away, I really wish I had previously had more experience wrenching on stuff in general. I'd learned the metal plastic & wood crafting side of being a mechanic from my time with the museum, but growing up I never had the chance to wrench on cars or anything big/mechanical outside of small electronics. So yah, if you have the opportunity to tear into & reassemble a junker car or even a lawnmower or whatever, totally would recommend that. I have an apprentice at work who grew up w/ good money, mid 30s and never wrenched on anything in his life, poor guy is STRUGGLING. And I know I was starting out too. As for anything else, tools, don't buy Snapon everything, it's just a namebrand. Start cheap but decent quality (Gearwrench,Icon, Milwaukee etc will get you thru 99% of tasks.) and upgrade to the good stuff over time as it wears & breaks. I'm still trying to wear out my $9 ratchet & $30 wrench set from Harbor Freight so I have an excuse to get the nice stuff XD
Hmm... as for jobs, do all the research before joining a company. Read the recent/lowest reviews for a job before committing to a "permanent move". If you can get with major airlines, definitely do it and don't hesitate. I couldn't afford to move/leave home for 2 majors & maaan I high key regret it. Oh, and skip the "contract" 3rd party jobs ie "line mx hire for airlines" if you can. They have a high turnover rate and most take $10-15/hr of your work (ie say an airline normally pays $45/hr for the same job that 3rd party is only going to pay like 28-30.). And if let's say a job doesn't work out, maybe 2. Don't get discouraged. It can be TOUGH AF getting footing in the industry. Just take whatever experience you can get and hop onto the next ship. Wasn't meant to be, there's always better opportunities.
Also, stay humble, but firm. An aviation maintenance license is dubbed "the license to learn". Always show willingness to learn from suggestions, learn new skills, but even take things with a grain of salt sometimes. I'm unsure of how things are in the AME world, but from my experience, there are possible times you may get asked to do things that conflict with the manual and/or your morals. Stick to what's right and remember, we hold A LOT of responsibility and a lot of people trust us with their lives. If something feels wrong/sketchy, you don't have to commit. I left my last job for that very reason, even though I thoroughly enjoyed it. But, way better off now, safer too. Long story 😅
