The Complete Guide to an A&p License: For the Best Job in the World

OK, now that you're out of high school, now what? Do you wait around for someone to come around and give you a job? Do you have any ideas what you'd like to do? Do you know what you like to do? Should you go to college and major in Business until you think of something else? Or do you get right down to business and get a focused education in something that interests you and will serve you for the rest of your life? Your going to need a specialized education in this world if you want a decent, well paying job. And by well paying, I'm talking $80K to $110K a year well paying. So ask yourself this. Have you ever ridden on an airplane, or watched them at an airport and wondered who takes care of them? And if you have, did you just conclude that it must be by the folks who built them. You wouldn't be alone. The entire world of how airliners, and other aircraft, are maintained is pretty much unknown to the general public. It's necessarily not by design. It's just because it's often done in places where most people aren't allowed to go and watch. And when an airplane ever needs servicing or something inspected or replaced, it's not done by Boeing or Airbus, it's done by the certificated aircraft mechanics who work for the airline that owns the airplane. What is a certificated aircraft mechanic? They are people, just like you, who looked into this profession and decided to pursue a career maintaining the nation's aircraft that carry millions of people every day. You don't have to know how to fly. You don't have to have some prior aviation knowledge or experience. You just have to know to get started. If you like working with your hands, if you like a challenge, if you like to travel, this just might be the opportunity you've been looking for. This guide will show you how to get the FAA issued Airframe and Powerplant certificates necessary to work on aircraft. When you have both Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) certificates, you can choose from thousands of well paid careers across the country as a certified aircraft maintenance technician maintaining the aircraft that millions of people depend on everyday. These are careers available to almost anyone, male and female, after completing just 14 to 24 months at an Airframe and Powerplant School of their choice. If you'd like to know more about this opportunity, as well as the incomes you can expect (over $100,000/ year with an airline career), you owe it to yourself to look into this. This guide includes direct contact information for the over 150 Airframe and Powerplant Schools, Colleges and Universities that offer an A&P program. Many people are surprised to find out how many there are and how close one is to them. Even if you've never ridden on an airplane before, you can qualify for, and be successful as a certificated Aircraft Technician. If your a veteran, all of the A&P School's in this guide qualify for VA Education benefits. Veterans who worked on aircraft while in the service will find a current list of the FAA office locations you can contact to see if you already qualify to take the Airframe and Powerplant tests. Airline aircraft mechanics are the second highest paid group, next to the pilots, with any airline. But you can also choose from many other opportunities (from private aircraft and corporate aviation) that only certificated aircraft mechanics can do. The rocket science stuff has already been done when aircraft are designed and built. But someone has to maintain them. If traditional college isn't for you, but you want a solid, well paid and secure future for the rest of your life, this guide get you off in the right direction with all of the facts. Take a look, it just might be the beginning of the best job you could ever dream of.

About the Author :
Richard Wening grew up in the suburbs and orange groves of Southern California. After building model airplanes and radio-controlled, self-designed gliders as a youth, Richard went on to join the US Air Force maintaining B-52's and KC-135 aircraft in Minot N.D. After earning his A&P certificate, he went on to a career with Continental and UPS Airlines in Southern California. With over 35 years of aircraft maintenance experience, he has worked on aircraft ranging from 747's, A300's and DC-8's to Bombardier regional jets and Robinson Helicopters. Richard holds a B.A. in Business Management from Minot State University N.D. and earned his Airframe and Powerplant certificate after graduating from National Aviation Academy in Clearwater, FL. Richard currently resides with his wife JoAnne, in a house they built themselves in Southwest Utah and occasionally works as a temporary contract aircraft mechanic for aircraft maintenance facilities in Arizona and Nevada.