Location: Behind a dusty academic desk, and in some really hot, dusty, wet and cold places subject to who is paying the bill. But mostly the south coast.
Posts: 232
There is some good information a few threads down ... "The job of an engineer" and has some good advice, it may be worth joining there.
I think this type of topic should be made a sticky as there are lots and lots on here about this. If it was stuck to the top and contibuted to by people in the know, it would be a good place to start and read all about going from nothing to engineer.
I am a second generation Aircraft Engineer - FAA and EASA licenced - my father started in aviation in the late 1930s.It used to be a wonderful career and it was fun until the accountants and penpushers took over and tried to regulate the business and reduce everything to the lowest common denominator.The current theory being if you can read the book you can maintain aircraft.More emphasis is placed on the paperwork being filled in than the work being accomplished well. I have two sons and did nothing to encourage them to follow me into aviation as it no longer gives me or a large percentage of my colleagues the satisfaction that it used to. Companies are trying to de-skill the job so they dont have to have a large training budget and can pay lower salaries - they dont realise how much a well trained and enthusiastic engineer can save them in minimising ground time.
bcgallacher......I've been in this industry over 30 years so have witnessed the many changes that have occurred.
I too feel strongly about the general "dumbing down" of both the licensing system and type training....However the future of the industry is in the hands of the youngsters that are attracted to this profession today. I will always give a balanced view of this career to anyone considering embarking on the long and demanding road to becoming an LAE.
Despite the many challenges, I feel it is still a very worthwhile career. There has to be some form of acceptance that the industry has changed massively from the "good old days" when airlines had cartels and Governments protecting fare structures etc.
