SO YOU WANT TO BE AN AME!!!

[Horseman]

Ladies and Gents:

Just had to share this little bit of Aviation Maintenance humor with the world. Saw it on a chat room, enjoy!!

Horseman

So You Want to be an Aircraft Mechanic?

There are a host of reasons why year after year thousands of intelligent individuals attempt to break into the aviation maintenance career field. They will do anything and everything they can just to get their "Foot in the Door".

Where else are you required to accomplish many tasks with sheer brute force and brawn, exceeding the bodies normal capability? You also must weave your body into unimaginable locations filled with wire and sharp objects, and function with the precision of a surgeon. Our bodies are required to withstand the sun, wind, rain, cold, and the darkness of night. We often use our senses of smell, sound, sight, touch, and even taste to determine whether an item is capable of withstanding the required loads or meeting its objective. Our hands are burned, punctured, smashed, cut, and placed in areas and chemicals that have been deemed too dangerous and harmful for even laboratory animals.

Aviation mechanics must know the systems intimately, and be able to reason, calculate, and rationalize any defect imaginable. These functions must be performed with great speed and accuracy, as humiliation and/or unemployment await the incapable. The mechanic must know, interpret, and attempt to locate vital information in a vast array of books, publications, and bulletins. Then, upon successful accumulation of the data, we must use skills and techniques to produce a job that will sustain lives. Upon completion we must document our every move, and be prepared to enter federal prosecution, which could result in fines, loss of license, and/or sentencing.

Weekends, normal hours, and holidays are often talked about, but seldom enjoyed. Pagers have become as common as the Phillips head screwdriver. In addition, we are expected to be neat, clean, and have a delightful disposition. However, with any job of this caliber, a few frustrations and a little stress is to be expected.

What really keeps us in this career field is the "Are you done yet's", "Oh, you're just a mechanic", "Don't call me honey if you're not coming home. You've known for a week we've had these plans", "No you can't have a raise", "If you don't like it, hit the road. There's 10 people standing in line for your job". This is coupled with the fact that quality tools are cheap! We always have the parts and tools we need to get the job done. Our salaries are huge and last but not least, it's the degree of respect we receive from the pilots.

Sometimes it's so good I can hardly stand it myself. It's no wonder why so many individuals want to be just like me.

[J.P.WISER]

Couldn't have put it any better my self!!!! Good post!!!

[Pat Richard]

Horseman,

Maybe you could pin a few copies around the colleges


That post says it all,



Pat

[avtech11]

Love this post, just one thing....... Does it say MECHANIC on your license? Mine doesn't.

[Bell]

Awesome. Never heard a better description.

[Meecka]

that is getting pasted onto my toolbox!! Havn't seen anything else out there that says it as well.

[b1ngnx33]

absolutely true.

[billy ray valintine]

could you frame this and bring it to my big huge castle and hang it on a wall so i don't have to search the hallways anymore for ..............''the big picture'' !
great article!!! .....so true
brv

[rockerboss]

ha ha love it

[Invertago]

As a pilot there is nothing I appreciate more then a mechanic who when something is broke, will refuse to sign any paperwork till he is satisfied it is fixed properly, even when the boss tells him to take a short cut. Pilots have to learn to say no to an unsafe flight, AMEs gotta say no to maintainence shortcuts! I very much appreciate the mechanic we have right now and I've told him so.

[Brice]

Love this post, just one thing....... Does it say MECHANIC on your license? Mine doesn't.

Does your head fit through the doorway? Mine does.

Good topic though. Had a good larf.

[NeverBlue]

Does your head fit through the doorway? Mine does.

:

lol:

[bombardierfixer]

Where's Strega? I'm suprised he isn't chiming in know.