Aviater: I agree and also believe that, with a bit of tweaking and polishing, the CAR 30/SOE system would have worked perfectly fine. Sadly we're stuck with this Part 66
for the foreseeable future, so I've just got to deal with it now.
Despite working in the airlines, I'm not currently planning to pursue a type-rated license at this stage, as it's difficult enough for guys in heavy or base maintenance. For someone like me who works in a line station on foreign carriers, it's all but impossible. I'm actually aiming to get out of the airlines and into GA or something similar but that is extremely difficult, it seems, without a license. I've spoken to a number of operators so far and all of them say the same thing: "We'd like to take you on but what we really need is a LAME." So the "walk up start" thing seems to be a thing of the past. Either that of I've got to start looking in rural NSW or QLD. If you know of any shops that are after a young AME, please PM me to let me know who to call.
As for getting licensed in GA, I'm sure it is easy especially compared to the airlines. I'd be more than happy to do the work, if someone would give me somewhere to do the work!
Cheers,
John