Hooray! It's about time they recognized the "education" component of homebuilding an EAB airplane.
As someone who just finished up 2.5 years of full time night school getting my Part 147 Airframe and Powerplant credentials, let me just say that building an RV will get you probably at most 10-20% of the knowledge you'll need to have to actually get the A&P rating.
Here is just a portion of the material I had to study.
Hooray! It's about time they recognized the "education" component of homebuilding an EAB airplane.
As someone who just finished up 2.5 years of full time night school getting my Part 147 Airframe and Powerplant credentials, let me just say that building an RV will get you probably at most 10-20% of the knowledge you'll need to have to actually get the A&P rating.
Here is just a portion of the material I had to study.
Hooray! It's about time they recognized the "education" component of homebuilding an EAB airplane.
As someone who just finished up 2.5 years of full time night school getting my Part 147 Airframe and Powerplant credentials, let me just say that building an RV will get you probably at most 10-20% of the knowledge you'll need to have to actually get the A&P rating.
Here is just a portion of the material I had to study.
If anyone has tips on how to properly record or receive "credit" for this, please post. I am not actively seeking an A&P cert at this very moment, but if that changes in the near future, it would be good for me to have proper documentation for my current build efforts that may apply retroactively.
The ACS catalog?
Yes, actually it was a part of our "reference" material for Miramar College. Lots of good information in the catalog on types of AN hardware, materials, wood, and costs for estimating overhauls and repairs.
Hooray! It's about time they recognized the "education" component of homebuilding an EAB airplane.
As someone who just finished up 2.5 years of full time night school getting my Part 147 Airframe and Powerplant credentials, let me just say that building an RV will get you probably at most 10-20% of the knowledge you'll need to have to actually get the A&P rating.
It’s not often that the FAA corrects itself and makes things easier for all of us, so I would encourage anyone who can, to take advantage of this and get your A&P. It’s a great thing to have and the “ mechanic shortage “ is for real.
I had been working on airplanes (experimental and certified - under the supervision of A&P’s) for about 45 years when I applied for my A&P, and my stack of commendation was not unlike that stack of books in the pictures about….OK, I’m exaggerating….but I had a pretty complete portfolio including build logs for E-AB’s, documented assists on routine maintenance and repairs on certified planes, and long write-ups describing what I had done over the years. Most importantly, I had letters from my former A&P (and IA) mentors that attested to the hours as well. Log everything that you do - what they want to see is a total number of hours as well as well-rounded experience. At least that is what my FSDO Inspector wanted.
Then it’s a simple (hah!) matter of studying for the writtens and prepping for the Oral and Practical…..
Hooray! It's about time they recognized the "education" component of homebuilding an EAB airplane.
As someone who just finished up 2.5 years of full time night school getting my Part 147 Airframe and Powerplant credentials, let me just say that building an RV will get you probably at most 10-20% of the knowledge you'll need to have to actually get the A&P rating.
Here is just a portion of the material I had to study.
I think this is good news, with some pros. and some cons. I personally don’t think building a Zenith is enough experience to work on a complex plane or a Fabric plane, and I don’t think building a Cub is enough experience TO WORK ON A RV. I agree the time should count, but it should not be your entire time.
I also think it makes more sense to add a category that gives someone specific authority to inspect OR DO A&P WORK – If you build an RV7 and can pass a knowledge and skill test specific to that type, you should be able to PERFORM A&P WORK ON them. Likewise, if you purchase an experiment that you maintain, you should be able to pass a knowledge and skills test that lets you inspect that plane.
Paul, your experience is definitely the exception and not the rule. While I suppose the hours will help someone, IMO kit builders, especially RV builders, should understand that the knowledge acquired from building is just the tip of the iceberg of what’s required to get the cert. kit building only exposes you to a small portion of both the airframe and power plant skill sets. YMMV…….
as others have stated, it will help, but there is still a lot of things that it will not cover. first, the A&P is two separate ratings. you need 1600hrs each or a total of 3000 for both. if you bought an engine and hung it on your aircraft you will get 0 hours toward the powerplant rating.
i have had mine for over 20 years, and it was a lot easier then to get approval for work credit then. now everything has to be documented as to time and areas covered.
bob burns
RV-4 N82RB