In order to reach your goal of converting your aviation experience into an A&P certification you will need to jump over 5 hurdles. But before we talk about that there are 4 items to consider.

1. The first thing to know is that the FAA only takes into consideration your experience and not your training.

2. You only need to show experience in 51% of the 44 topics the FAA tests on. So you don't need to have experience in Dope and Fabric, wood aircraft or Welding in order to qualify to test. See my website Crossfireaviation.com for this list.

3. According to the FAA, all the topics are not specific to aircraft or engine styles. (i.e. rigging a rotor system or rigging an elevator is still rigging. or installing a magneto or installing an ignitor unit are both considered ignition systems.)

4. All the testing is entry level basic!! Your Military experience probably surpasses this level.

Okay, Now the Hurdles.

1. You need to gather your work history to show 30 months of aviation maintenance. This is probably a cake walk for you and you probably have this on your DD214 or CG-G-EAE-3.

2. Put together your history and fill out the FAA form 8610-2 (you can get this form and fill out instructions from my website or at FAA.gov.)

3. You need to get permission to test from the FAA. This will require you interview with an FAA inspector. (This is not as scary as it sounds and I can walk you through this process).

4. You will need to pass 3 written exams: General, Airframe, and Powerplant. A passing score is 70%. This is done online with either CATS or LASERGRADE.

5. You will need to take a verbal and practical exam (called the O & P) this is done with a guy like me a Designated Mechanic Examiner (DME) also known as Technical Personnel Examiner (TPE).

Once this is complete you are now a certified A&P tech and will be issued a temporary cert with the word PENDING as your cert number. You can now go to work as you wait for your permanent card to arrive in the mail. It will have a randomized number on it and should arrive in your mailbox in about 6 weeks.

There you have it. Not too scary. You can do this, I did. So let's get busy.

I hope this answers you questions. For more information go to my website Crossfireaviation.com or call me on my cell at 541-890-1819.

Train Harder Aim Higher

Larry Licato
Owner and founder
Crossfire Aviation Training and Testing

"Knowledge is the antidote for Fear" Ralph Waldo Emerson