Helicopter Maintenance - How Much Training Needed?

[zamber]

I noticed that it seems to be easier and more fruitful to get a job in helicopter repair.

How much does someone need to know for an entry level helicopter maintenance position, as in oil changes, cleaning, checking fluids, filling with gas, etc.?

 

For cars, a job like this only needs a few weeks training and pays over $10 and hour. But what about for helicopters?

[Spike]

I noticed that it seems to be easier and more fruitful to get a job in helicopter repair.

How much does someone need to know for an entry level helicopter maintenance position, as in oil changes, cleaning, checking fluids, filling with gas, etc.?

 

For cars, a job like this only needs a few weeks training and pays over $10 and hour. But what about for helicopters?

 

To be minimally legit, you’d need an Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) certificate. The most expeditious way of gaining certification is going to school to meet the approximately 2000 hours of education requirement. It took me 2.5 years of full time night school. And yes, good qualified helicopter mechanics are in demand….. And, those guys are roughly making $30-$40 an hour…. As you can see, car mechanics isn’t comparable in any sense of the word….

[adam32]

Pretty easy...just know how to use a crescent wrench, a hammer, duct tape and safety wire...you'll be good to go

[avbug]

I noticed that it seems to be easier and more fruitful to get a job in helicopter repair.

How much does someone need to know for an entry level helicopter maintenance position, as in oil changes, cleaning, checking fluids, filling with gas, etc.?

 

For cars, a job like this only needs a few weeks training and pays over $10 and hour. But what about for helicopters?

 

 

Easier and more fruitful than what?

 

To work on aircraft without supervision, and to perform more than preventative maintenance and sign it off in aircraft logbooks, you'll need a FAA mechanic certificate. Two ratings are available on that certificate: Airframe, and Powerplant. Most employers will want to see them both. You'll also need your own tools. In most cases, you'll need aircraft type specific training.

 

As Spike noted, you can go to school in programs that last 13 months through 24 months of full time training. You can also obtain your mechanic certificate based on experience working in an aircraft maintenance shop or repair station. The FAA requires that the experience be full time (defined as 40 hours a week), and you must show 18 months of experience for either the Airframe or Powerplant rating, or a combined 30 months experience full time working on aircraft to do both ratings on the mechanic certificate.

 

I did mine based on practical experience. I spent a year documenting some past experience, and put together about five years of maintenance background, with letters from former employers, evidence of work, listings of work done and aircraft maintained, letters from mechanics with whom I'd worked, etc. I put it in a binder with a table of contents and breakdown sheet, and presented it to the FAA, who issued authorization to take the written tests. I spent a year preparing for the writtens, and after that, a year preparing for the practical. I went to an examiner at a college that had an aviation maintenance program, and took the practical test over two days; one day was an 8 hour oral exam, and the other was a full day of practical exercises. I had to time magnetos, inspect an aircraft, perform AD searches, balance a propeller, do some riveting and metal repairs, and a few other representative tasks. Upon completion, I received my mechanic certificate, and started work in a repair station a few days later...which is when the real learning began.

 

You'll need your own tools, as well. Don't go cheap.

[superstallion6113]

With no current aircraft maintenance experience you options are practical/on job experience, military experience, or by attending a part 147 certified aviation maintenance technician school.

 

I've been working as a helicopter for 15 years or so. I got my experience in the military, and obtained my A&P based on that experience, and it's worked out well for me. I used my GI Bill to get my private and instrument helicopter ratings, then life happened. I found out I had a baby on the way, so the hole broke college student/CFI thing wasn't going to work out.

 

I enjoy turning wrenches on helicopters. I've only worked on various medium and heavy helicopters from Sikorsky and Boeing, and currently work on Bell 212 and Sikorsky S-61 aircraft. It's a great job, pays well, is usually fun, has good benefits, and depending on where you work you can be home every night or be gone 270 days per year like I am. You can make $15/hr as a new mechanic and make $150k plus per year at a few (literally just a few) jobs with the right experience. As previously mentioned, a good median wage for experienced mechanics can be $30-35/per hour, depending on what part of the country you are in. As mentioned, tools are not cheap. I've probably got nearly $10k in tools that I've accumulated over the years, and that's with a 50/50 mix on Craftsman and Snap-On.

 

I still plan to finish my helicopter pilot CPL and CFI ratings, but currently I'm happy where I'm at making the money that I currently am. I currently work on in the Middle East as a helo mech, and hope to eventually find a job as an working helos that fight fires or do some other kind of utility work, when I decide to call it quits over here.

[zamber]

 

 

Easier and more fruitful than what?

I meant it seems like there are more job opportunities in helicopter repair than being a pilot. In other words, it seems easier to find a job. I see pilots all over complaining they can't find a job, but people with the mechanics certificate always say they have a job.

 

What does someone need to get an entry level preventative maintenance job, please?

 

What exactly do preventative maintenance workers do?

[avbug]

There's really no such thing as a "preventative maintenance" job.

 

Preventative maintenance is covered in the federal aviation regulations, 14 CFR 43, Appendix A. It covers what constitutes preventative maintenance, some of which an owner with a recreational pilot certificate (or higher) can do. Sport pilots can do preventative maintenance on certain aircraft, as well. Preventative maintenance cannot involve complex assembly or disassembly procedures.

 

The job you may be looking for is that of mechanic's assistant. These jobs don't pay well; typically eight or ten dollars an hour, up to about fifteen dollars an hour on the high end. The best way to find them is to visit shops in your area and ask. Don't restrict yourself to helicopters.

 

There's really no comparison to finding pilot jobs vs. maintenance jobs. They are two entirely different things. There are some jobs that combine both, but the numbers of mechanic-certificated pilots are few. Those who are actually qualified to do the work are even fewer. Many utility type flying jobs value a pilot with a mechanic certificate.

 

There is a large disparity between what one makes as a mechanic vs. a pilot. It's not uncommon for mechanic qualified pilots to find themselves doing more maintenance than flying. Sometimes it opens doors, too. To suggest that mechanic jobs are more plentiful and easier to get than pilot jobs is an improper comparison; jobs at McDonalds are easier to get than one's practicing law or medicine, but so what?

 

There's actually a lot more one needs to know as a mechanic than as a pilot. It's a job skill/wage inversion. More skills and more things to know, more investment, far less pay.

 

Getting mechanic jobs isn't necessarily easier than getting pilot jobs, but one needs to remember that new pilots have very little to offer; they've got no experience, they're a dime a dozen, and getting the experience necessary to progress and to be worth anything to an employer is going to take some time. Once the pilot has it, however, his or her wages are going to far surpass what the mechanic is making.

 

I've been a mechanic in Part 91 and 135 operations, in Part 145 repair stations, an inspector, a director of maintenance a couple of times, and I continue to be fairly active as a mechanic, as well as very active as a pilot. I got my first jet job thanks to my mechanic certification, and I got into heavy air tankers as a mechanic. It's kept me working when furloughed, and it's been a foot in the door at a number of different places. I've used it a lot and continue to use it. The bulk of my income, however, comes from flying, rather than turning wrenches.

 

If you decide to go the mechanic's assistant route, bear in mind that you've got a lot of self-education to do, and you're going to miss a lot initially that others will have learned at a dedicated maintenance school.

[Jaybee]

 

To be minimally legit, you’d need an Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) certificate. The most expeditious way of gaining certification is going to school to meet the approximately 2000 hours of education requirement. It took me 2.5 years of full time night school. And yes, good qualified helicopter mechanics are in demand….. And, those guys are roughly making $30-$40 an hour…. As you can see, car mechanics isn’t comparable in any sense of the word….

 

ehh... I retired from auto mechanics at $40 per hour. The labor rate at the Mercedes dealer was $128 which is higher than every avionics shop I've been too as well as a lot higher than standard A&P rates. So if you meant they weren't comparable in the sense that the rates in the automotive world (depending on locale of course) are higher, than I concur Anyhow, I'll only exercise my A&P when working direct for the owner these days, I don't need a middle man muddying up the waters.

 

To the OP -

Ideally for your situation you would probably want to find a full time assistant job while attending a night time A&P school like Spike mentioned. Kind of best of both worlds thing. Though you may see a lot more A&P jobs advertised, 99% of helicopter owners/businesses do not want an inexperienced tech.

[avbug]

Auto mechanics tend to make considerably more than aircraft mechanics, though the liability and the oversight for aviation mechanics is considerably greater than for automotive mechanics.

[Spike]

For me, the OP appeared to be rationalizing about the possible ease of wrenching on helicopters when he mentioned; “For cars, a job like this only needs a few weeks training and pays over $10 and hour.” To wrench on helicopters, not so. Maybe, just maybe, sweeping the hangar floor.....

Again, to be legit (marketable would’ve been a better word) you’d need the A&P. No, you don’t have to have one but when you apply to you’re local helicopter maintenance company, you’ll need to get in line if you don’t have one…. Specifically, you wouldn’t be the only one attempting to do the same…. for less than $10 an hour…. to get the hours….. to get the credit towards the certificate….

To wrench at your local auto repair business, you don’t need squat…. Not even mechanical skills….. Sure work in the auto repair business for some time and get some OEM schools under your belt and you can make some coin…. However, the OP came to this site asking about maintaining helicopters…. Not cars…..

Edited June 22, 2016 by Spike

[avbug]

My comments were directed to experienced and qualified mechanics. Automotive mechanics make consistently more than aircraft mechanics, by a large margin.

 

One may or may not be able to quickly find work as a mechanic, but that's no comparison to finding work as a pilot. Two different jobs.

[zamber]

Below is a typical ad for an airplane line service technician. The airplane line service jobs usually do not ask for prior experience. But what about helicopter line service jobs? It seems helicopter jobs always require more experience.

 

Before going out and spending money on aviation school, someone might want to work a month or two in line service working at an airport around mechanics and pilots. What are your opinions?

 

Line Service Technician

Responsibilities:

• Greeting, parking, towing, moving, fueling and marshaling arriving and departing aircraft
• Perform fueling in safe and efficient manner.
• De-icing the aircraft
• Providing shuttle service for passengers and crew and assisting with baggage and cargo
• Ensure the correct loading and balancing of fuel.

Qualifications:

• High School diploma or General Education Degree (GED).
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills.
• Must possess a valid state Driver's License.
• Must be able to pass a pre-employment drug screen and 10 year FBI background check.

 

 

 

[r22butters]

 

Before going out and spending money on aviation school, someone might want to work a month or two in line service working at an airport around mechanics and pilots. What are your opinions?

 

Yes, that's a good idea!

[Jaybee]

Zamber a little back ground on you may be in order, such as - how old are you, what are your goals, what is your background.

 

For example I might say - just throwing a wild guess out there you sound younger and not prior service. The absolute best way for you to check out maintenance and see what it is like would be for you to join the military as a mechanic. If you don't like it, when your contract is up you have the GI Bill and while you're in the pay and benefits aren't too bad. Not to mention when you get out the VA home loan program is worth all the BS.