Aircraft technical jobs ?

[J4CKO]

My eldest would like to work in a technical capacity on planes, there is a Btec course in Aeronautic Engineering at the local College, is that a good route in ?

Any pointers ? is it a good line to be in, what kind of salary could he expect. I think it would suit him as he is patient, dilligent and has good attention to detail which I would imagine are pretty much essential.

[EC225Eng]

I work up in Aberdeen as a B1.3 Licensed Engineer and all three companies (CHC, Bristows and Bond) are actively looking for apprentices. Look up the LRTT website and it should have details. To be honest the BTec would only serve as an extra qualification to get onto the apprenticeships, it has very little meaning in the industry. In Aberdeen unlicensed mechs can earn about 35k, A licence holders about 40k but B licence holders start on about 55k and rise substantially with type ratings. A word of warning though Aberdeen does skew the figures as it is mainly rotary and it's oil and gas.

PM me if you have any other questions.

Edited by EC225Eng on Thursday 14th August 23:14

Edited by EC225Eng on Thursday 14th August 23:17

Edited by EC225Eng on Thursday 14th August 23:17

[J4CKO]

Cheers, will have a word with him, have a bit of a connection with Aberdeen through work, see all the Choppers at the airport when I go through.

[EC225Eng]

Well if you need any more info, particularly rotary, just give me a shout. I'm not really in the loop regarding fixed wing rates of pay etc. LRTT and Perth AST are better places to train rather than the local college, get your son to google them.

[EC225Eng]

Well if you need any more info, particularly rotary, just give me a shout. I'm not really in the loop regarding fixed wing rates of pay etc. LRTT and Perth AST are better places to train rather than the local college, get your son to google them.

[J4CKO]

That is awesome, thanks, am just doing some reading about the licenses, interesting that they are seeking apprentices, is that typical, i.e. there arent enough qualified people about, or youngsters wanting to get into it ?

[EC225Eng]

The industry is really suffering from an ageing workforce, the average age a few years ago at one of the big 3 operators was mid 50's. The licence is really the be all and end all if he wants to work on aircraft as it's a legal requirement that a type rated engineer must sign the CRS (certificate of release to service) before it can go commercial. You can get a C licence with a relevant degree but most B licence guys get that after 5 years anyway.


This is the advert for the CHC apprenticeship scheme and competition is very fierce, the scheme last year had 3 rounds of interviews and tests to whittle down 900+ applicants who made it to interview down to 10.


http://www.lrtt.co.uk/lrtt-aviation-maintenance-ap...

Edited by EC225Eng on Thursday 14th August 23:40

[J4CKO]

Could you explain the license thing, I understand that a B is higher than and A and an A higher than unlicensed, but what does that mean in practical terms ?

What would an unlicensed tech do ? is it a case of they do the work and it gets checked and signed off by a licensed guy ?

[EC225Eng]

In Aberdeen most rotary guys are B licenced so they can do line and base maintenance and we are the guys who sign off the jobs and release the aircraft, we're the ones with the legal responsibility. An A licence holder mainly deals with line maintenance tasks that are less complex, they cannot release aircraft after maintenance. Unlicensed mechs work under the supervision of the licensed engineer and cannot sign off a job either. I'm not sure what the ratios are in fixed wing between A, B and unlicensed mechs or how the work their teams. Rotary is very different to fixed wing, an engineer with a B1.3 (rotary, jet) cannot sign for a B1.2 (fixed wing, piston engine) without taking the relevant exams and experience. To complicate it more you also have B2 licence holders the avionics guys. You can, if you're a glutton for punishment, become a B1.1, B1.2, B1.3, B1.4 and B2 qualified if you have the time and inclination. B licence holders automatically hold an A as well.

Edited by EC225Eng on Thursday 14th August 23:53

[J4CKO]

Cheers, will explain that to him and get him doing some research, also really interesting for me being a bit of an aviation fan.

[stain]

Back in my day rates of pay varied hugely from region to region, airline to airline. Can be quite a surprise how little mechs earn given the responsibility they have.

[Andy RV]

He NEED's to find an apprenticeship if this is what he serious wants to do!
Without the hands on training through a recognized apprenticeship I can't see anyone letting him loose on the tools, regardless of what academic course he may have completed..

[Simpo Two]

stain said:

given the responsibility they have.

I was thinking this. If there's an accident and the cause is traced to a particular mechanic's work, is the liability corporate or individual?

[G600]

Simpo Two said:

stain said:

given the responsibility they have.

I was thinking this. If there's an accident and the cause is traced to a particular mechanic's work, is the liability corporate or individual?

Both, although the mech's conviction was later overturned I think http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/12/06/fra...

[G600]

Andy RV said:

He NEED's to find an apprenticeship if this is what he serious wants to do!
Without the hands on training through a recognized apprenticeship I can't see anyone letting him loose on the tools, regardless of what academic course he may have completed..

Absolutely this. I was asked to do some training with a guy who was studying for his license at uni and he was hopeless on the tools.

[Dr Jekyll]

There is an article in the August Pilot magazine which is relevant. It's mainly about an impending shortage of aviation techies and is focused on the GA side but does mention the various qualifications.

[EC225Eng]

G600 said:

Andy RV said:

He NEED's to find an apprenticeship if this is what he serious wants to do!
Without the hands on training through a recognized apprenticeship I can't see anyone letting him loose on the tools, regardless of what academic course he may have completed..

Absolutely this. I was asked to do some training with a guy who was studying for his license at uni and he was hopeless on the tools.

Exactly, we've got guys in here with all manner of degrees etc but the first thing they want to know is what licence you have and what type ratings. The other thing newcomers to the industry don't realise or like is that it takes a minimum of 5 years before you can apply for your B licence.

[eccles]

Andy RV said:

He NEED's to find an apprenticeship if this is what he serious wants to do!
Without the hands on training through a recognized apprenticeship I can't see anyone letting him loose on the tools, regardless of what academic course he may have completed..

Although not applicable in this case, a company I used to work for takes adult trainees as well as apprentices. After 6 weeks in the training centre they are let loose on aircraft and have day release to college.

I'm an unlicensed mech and my route was via the forces (many years ago). The job can vary immensely from company to company depending on the work the company does. I've done everything from the quick, relatively simple 'A' checks (lube job and a few filters), to 'D' checks which are far more in depth. I've also done major structural repairs and modifications and my current day job involves repairing and fabricating parts for Army helicopters.
One thing is certain, you'll never get rich being an unlicensed mech (unless you go the self employed contractor route), you can expect to earn around the £25-£30k mark.

[EC225Eng]

For a young guy with no military experience like the OP's son then an apprenticeship is necessary and certainly up here in Aberdeen then it's the only route to a newcomer to the rotary world. We don't do day release up here but time off is generally allowed to attend B licence modules and exams. Once someone completes their apprenticeship here they end up with an A licence and help to get their B. We have unlicensed mechs here but the management want people to go for their licence as it means they can sign off the jobs from filters to G-checks instead of just helping on the job. A young unlicenced mech with no military experience or apprenticeship is a very rare thing up here. If anyone has a B1.3 and types on EC225 or S92 and looking for a change of scenery PM me as we're looking for qualified guys.

[S3_Graham]

EC225Eng said:

G600 said:

Andy RV said:

He NEED's to find an apprenticeship if this is what he serious wants to do!
Without the hands on training through a recognized apprenticeship I can't see anyone letting him loose on the tools, regardless of what academic course he may have completed..

Absolutely this. I was asked to do some training with a guy who was studying for his license at uni and he was hopeless on the tools.

Exactly, we've got guys in here with all manner of degrees etc but the first thing they want to know is what licence you have and what type ratings. The other thing newcomers to the industry don't realise or like is that it takes a minimum of 5 years before you can apply for your B licence.

The apprenticeship must be through a company though, the college ones are crap! If he can get in anywhere just for experience then do it. The industry as a whole is massively incestuous and i've found its all who you know and rarely what you know.

Where abouts are you based? There is obviously a fair amount of stuff in the south but wages vary massively. I'm B1.1 and work in Private aviation (learjet/hawker/challengers/gulfstream/BBJ). The goal for everyone in my field is to find an aircraft owner and work directly for them, answerable to the lead pilot normally. Wages can top £100k!! though more normally £60-70k.

I did my college stuff via brooklands, then my license through LRTT.