New A&P student, questions

Bell206 said:
I think he was asking about getting the 30 mos exp to get his test authorization tickets. Baker only works if you have the tickets like you had?
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Hmm, I re-read it. Maybe? I fit his scenario (did experience instead of school, got auth'ed, went to bakers to sit the exams and use their dude for O&P) -- not sure if he was lookin for something else.

Getting my experience blessed by the feds was the hardest part of the whole rigamarole for me.
 
Doc Holliday said:
You mean that same type of cash most musicians get paid in?
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Not the ones who do it for a living. Amateurs and weekend warriors...sure. Not sure of the relevancy, in any case.
 
bnt83 said:
New A&P Student, don't get sucked into the Snap-On tools world, I only buy their torque wrenches and some misc things.

Snap-On is basically Gucci/Chanel for men.
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I agree if we're talking about buying the tools off a truck, but many community colleges have opportunities to buy truck tools at a significant discount. This past fall a coworker and I were looking at what he could buy snap on tools for through the CC he's attending and comparing it to the equivalent tool at Lowes or Home Depot. The snap on tools were the same price and higher quality so why wouldn't you buy the good stuff?

I'd advise against going into debt for any of them though.
 
mondtster said:
I agree if we're talking about buying the tools off a truck, but many community colleges have opportunities to buy truck tools at a significant discount. This past fall a coworker and I were looking at what he could buy snap on tools for through the CC he's attending and comparing it to the equivalent tool at Lowes or Home Depot. The snap on tools were the same price and higher quality so why wouldn't you buy the good stuff?

I'd advise against going into debt for any of them though.
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Yes, my school NAA gives a $1000 snap on tool voucher upon completion. I'll plan on using that sparingly. Many A&Ps who post on YouTube aren't exclusively using the top tier brands. Actually, they mostly advise against overspending.
 
Geosync said:
A co-worker of mine did that. But he took 3 times as long as me, who went through a school. The problem he ran into was our supervisor became wishy washy about signing him off, and it became a major issue. Also, while OJT is great, there is something to be said for the foundational knowledge in electric/mechanical/hydraulics/etc. Maybe you know all that from building cars since birth, but not everyone is like that. So if it is more convenient to go that route, by all means go down it.
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I'm curious, why would the supervisor be "signing him off" for anything? The FSDO does that. Even if his supervisor wouldn't help him out I'd think he could bring pay stubs to the FSDO showing his hours and make it happen but it would likely make the sell significantly harder. Especially if the FSDO is one of the more challenging ones to get authorization to test from.

BTW, "building cars since birth" doesn't give you any fundamentals in electrical, hydraulics, etc. If anything I'd consider it somewhat of a detriment. I've met more mechanics and car guys who don't understand the basics than those that do, even though they may be able to successfully repair most car problems.
 
WheelSpatz said:
Yes, my school NAA gives a $1000 snap on tool voucher upon completion. I'll plan on using that sparingly. Many A&Ps who post on YouTube aren't exclusively using the top tier brands. Actually, they mostly advise against overspending.
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There's good reason for not overspending. You really don't need much more than a good set of screwdrivers, 1/4" sockets and ratchet, and a set of combination wrenches. Snap On tools ARE better than the box store or Harbor Freight tools, but pretty much any of them will work to do what we need to do on airplanes. I'd spend good money on the core tools you use everyday and less on the stuff used occasionally.

Most of my tools at the airport are from the box store and I'd bet I do as much heavy maintenance as any mechanic on this board does, and it is done successfully.
 
MuseChaser said:
Not the ones who do it for a living. Amateurs and weekend warriors...sure. Not sure of the relevancy, in any case.
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Read the post above my comment. And as far as A&P's go, I can reply "Not the ones who do it for a living. Amateurs and weekend warriors...sure."
 
mondtster said:
The FSDO does that.
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FYI: local FSDOs have been requiring a signed letter from a supervisor(s) verifying the applicants experience prior to issuing the test authorizations. Pay Stubbs and hours don't cut it anymore with most of the current ASIs. They want verifiable experience now.
 
Bell206 said:
FYI: local FSDOs have been requiring a signed letter from a supervisor(s) verifying the applicants experience prior to issuing the test authorizations. Pay Stubbs and hours don't cut it anymore with most of the current ASIs. They want verifiable experience now.
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That’s why I wrote it the way I did. :)

Here in the Midwest we are pretty lucky. The FSDOs seem to take a fairly practical approach, that being that if you show up with reasonable evidence that you’ve done what you claim you have you’ll walk out with an endorsed 8610. More documentation is always better than less however.
 
mondtster said:
Here in the Midwest we are pretty lucky
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You are lucky. 20 years ago at the old Part 135/145 day job it was SOP to type out request on a company letter head for any helper who wanted to get AP. Then some new PMIs started showing up and when they found out some guys had "limited" experience they didn't issue the tickets. Last I heard is even worse.
 
Bell206 said:
You are lucky. 20 years ago at the old Part 135/145 day job it was SOP to type out request on a company letter head for any helper who wanted to get AP. Then some new PMIs started showing up and when they found out some guys had "limited" experience they didn't issue the tickets. Last I heard is even worse.
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Changed just a few months ago. Tightened up the requirements. http://fsims.faa.gov/PICDetail.aspx?docId=8900.1,Vol.5,Ch5,Sec2
 
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