Genghis,
There are very few people in this industry that can pi** me off but you can manage it quite easily. It just that you whole MIGHTYER THAN THOU can really grate on peoples Tits you know!
Not content with basically having a veiwpoint that anybody without letters after there name is a non-entity in this business(as far as you can see)you now like to type cast engineers into neat brackets.
Does this make the avaition industry easier for you to understand?
I never thought that it was all that difficult but then I work in it everyday.
Where would you place engineers who start off with :-
4 to 5 years apprenticeship both at college and practical training(thats hands on to you) just to be allowed to work supervised an live aircraft.
1 to 2 years self study following the apprentice stage whilst still working and learning every day to gain the fisrt licence.This is purely theoretical and gained by a series of (in my day) multi chioce questions ( I think 5 modules were about 250 or so questions in an hour and a half), essay type questions with a strict time limit of 22 1/2 mins each ( I think that was the time,not long anyway) x4 off. The pass mark being 75% on each module and 75% on each written question based on technical content and spelling/grammar and 1 question was a diagramatic explanation.You drew the diagram as well.
If passed (Good Enough) another hour or two oral examination by invite with your local CAA surveyor who can ask you what he likes on the day and doesn't tell you whether you have passed or failed so you have to wait another two weeks or so for the letter of the thud of a dropping licence through the letterbox.
Once completed for the first time you can do it all again,DITTO ABOVE.(for avionics its only 5 times)
By this time you are still working every day but you have a licence but are still a mechanic as such.
Suddenly the company takes notice when you have the required amount of basic licences 2/3 or 5 that is and they want you to go on type courses.
6/7 weeks sat in a classroom with phase exams every week that must be passed by over 80% and at the end a phase and a final exam which again must be passed and the course cert duly issued.Now pass that to the CAA for there inclusion to your basic licence as a type(at a cost)
Type licence returned,you then have to do a company procedures course ,another 2 weeks or so and gain 6 months experiance of working on the particular type of aircraft your course was on and account for it on your QA board application.
You can now go to the QA department for you approval board and this is another oral examination for another undetermined amount of time on company procedures and the aircraft systems that you hope to certify.( A QA engineer at BA GLA used to have people in for the morning and send them out to lunch to return after for round 2,But he wasn't licenced though although he did have letters after his name)
At long last (about 8/9 years after you first joined the industry) you are now able to supervise and certify not only yours but other peoples work but bear in mind you still learn everyday something NEW.
Engineers like myself are multi licenced and have a number of different types as are many of my collegues, on top of all this you have to keep your licences/types up to date ,continuation training,simulator runs,health and safety procs,changes in regulations such as airworthiness notices etc, OH i forgot you also have to supervise,organise and work to maintain the fleet of aircraft that the company decides to operate both here and abroad as required.
Every now and then the CAA decide to change the licencing system about for a laugh so on top of everything else you have to contend with this as well and EVERYDAY you are learning MORE AND MORE not only about the respective aircraft you are working on (remember many types) but also about yourself and your collegues.
To summerise I would say that from the day I joined the industry as a spotty faced teenager to the present day and the grand age of 40 I HAVE NOT STOPPED LEARNING and have learnt something EVERYDAY.
By the way if you haven't got licences it doesnt mean you don't learn as you learn just as much EVERYDAY you just haven't taken the exams yet but your knowledge and viewpoints are invaluble.
What type of person do I and people like me fit into in your neat little compartmentisation of our beloved business then because I'm sure a lot of people would like to know?
My guess is that the one lesson I have learnt recently is that people like you are know nothing To**ers full of your own self importance and deluded by your own grandure.
What my collegues think is anyones guess.
Have to go as my 9 year old daughter needs me to help her with her homework-STILL LEARNING YOU SEE .
Let Me Know
Back to the original question,
Our company does allow taxiing but you must hold full B1 CRS on the type you are driving including high power engine runs and have passed a course on airfield procedures,RT,a visit to the tower,a visit to ground ops and a set number of taxies with a training captain to prove you competance and keep up yourself current by usage.
Note To Genghis and co STILL LEARNING