Can you get an A&P license studying part-time?

A&P knowledge - how and where best to get it?

I am as interested in the mechanical side of how the parts of the plane work in isolation and together, as possibly building my own one day. I have found A&P license info on the web to be sparse unless I want to enroll in full-time study. As a 40-yr old father of 3 with another career, this isn't an option but night school could be.

Please share your thoughts on how best to gain A&P knowledge. Any and all resources relating to expanding my meager knowledge would be appreciated as well.

Sort Of

City College of San Francisco does offer A&P classes at their SFO campus:

https://www.ccsf.edu/en/educational...ts/school-of-science-and-mathematics/AMT.html

I looked into it before, trying to do the same thing as you are. I found that the class schedule could be done (at least when I looked), but it was a lot of hours. Eventually I decided there wasn't any value (to me) to get the A&P instead of just building the plane.

Unless you plan on getting a job as an aircraft mechanic I doubt getting an A&P will accomplish much. Some A&P classes are nothing more than prep courses to help you pass the test. These type of classes do not exempt you from the experiance requirements to get the authorization to take the tests. If you enroll in an FAA accredited A&P school you can recieve the authorization to take the A&P tests after sucesfully passing the two year coarses.

It may make more sense doing some studying and then finding a mentor at the airport that will teach you some basic knoweledge and skills in exchange for a helping hand.

Advisory Circular 43.13-1B and 43.13-2B are a must read, and contain lots of valuable information regarding the basics.

http://www.faa.gov/regulations_poli....cfm/go/document.information/documentid/99861

https://www.faa.gov/regulations_pol....cfm/go/document.information/documentID/74417

Here is some more info regarding A&P certification.

http://www.aviationschoolsonline.com/faqs/aviation-maintenance-technician-license.php

Thanks for the replies. I guess you both have it right in that what I am after is more the knowledge than the license so appreciate what you have shared from your experience, and links. Title of thread altered to better reflect this

Getting an A&P license is just a check in the block and means you can pass a test and have some basic knowledge. It is kinda like a student pilot getting a solo endorsement.

Aircraft maintenance and basic fabrication/repair skills must be learned, honed and perfected through experiance and repetition. Knoweledge of aircraft, regulations and best maintenance practices will be accuired through mentorship, technical data, and exposure to different tasks and scenarios. All of this can be obtained free of charge if you put in the effort and are lucky enough to make a good relationship with an experianced A&P or even an repeat builder.

Mike H said:

Getting an A&P license is just a check in the block and means you can pass a test and have some basic knowledge. It is kinda like a student pilot getting a solo endorsement.

Aircraft maintenance and basic fabrication/repair skills must be learned, honed and perfected through experiance and repetition. Knoweledge of aircraft, regulations and best maintenance practices will be accuired through mentorship, technical data, and exposure to different tasks and scenarios. All of this can be obtained free of charge if you put in the effort and are lucky enough to make a good relationship with an experianced A&P or even an repeat builder.

Click to expand...

Your first sentence contradicts the first. You must have significant practical experience before you are even allowed to test. Nobody walks off the street and takes the test. Even the "test prep" classes require 1800 hours of hands on instruction before one is even eligible to test.

Toobuilder said:

Your first sentence contradicts the first. You must have significant practical experience before you are even allowed to test. Nobody walks off the street and takes the test. Even the "test prep" classes require 1800 hours of hands on instruction before one is even eligible to test.

Click to expand...

The point I was trying to make was getting the license does not mean you truly have any real experiance. Many people get authorization to take the test every year that have very limited overall experiance.

yes

Hi Daniel,
A few friend of mine have go theirs at Solano community college in vacaville - studying in the evening. It is also a relatively inexpensive approach.
http://www.solano.edu/degrees/catalog_201213/aero.pdf

I got signed off to take my test by by IA - I have to study now for the written tests which I am finding very hard to do - let me know if you want to study over a few pints!!
Come fly soon,
Nigel

A&P

Building an airplane MAY meet the experience requirements for the A portion. You could then go to one of the quickee schools to prep for the tests. They usually have an examiner on staff so if every thing goes well you would come home with the A portion.

Not saying it always happens this way, but

If enrolled in A&P school, the curriculum at FAR 147 ( http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-id...b2f&node=pt14.3.147&rgn=div5#ap14.3.147_145.a ) is supposed to apply. There is a minimum period for the course work and I don't believe I've ever heard of a part time version of this. Individual schools would have to respond.

If doing in on experience, then the guidance at http://fsims.faa.gov/PICDetail.aspx?docId=8900.1,Vol.5,Ch5,Sec2 should be what is followed by the FSDO who signs you off for the written exam.

Dan

Most A&P schools that are just for this do the teaching in a year or a little bit more. This time covers mostly theory and very little hands-on. I know of one large school that won't even let students touch a drill in the school. As was already mentioned, getting an A&P this way is getting you a license, but then you need experience before you are ready to work on somebody's plane.

The other format is basically the old fashioned apprenticeship, which requires 18 months of experience in Airframe and 18 months in Powerplant, or 30 months if done concurrently. This gets the practical experience as well as enough theory along the road to know what you are doing. It is, of course, a lot longer road to the license, but you get the license and have a lot of hand-on experience to start with.

There is some debate whether experimental aircraft work qualifies, but it certainly should and often does (depends somewhat on the FAA person signing the paper and what they had for breakfast).

Edit: the 30 months or 36 months are based on a 40 hour work week, so doing the 5,000-6,000 hours over 50 years is fine in theory. The experience never expires, but needs to have some documentation in the form of either a logbook or a letter (or letters) from a rated mechanic(s) attesting to the experience. This latter format is how I got my A&P

Mike H said:

The point I was trying to make was getting the license does not mean you truly have any real experiance. Many people get authorization to take the test every year that have very limited overall experiance.

Click to expand...

On that, we agree completely.