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Ok. 5 months after leaving my corporate job in the finance industry I am starting to finally have ideas regarding what I actually want to do. I have always enjoyed mechanics. Love repairing bikes and cars and was thinking about coupling this with my fascination of aircraft.
Just wondering whether at 43 I'm too old?
No harm in trying !
Probably require a degree in engineering to do this and then an in house training programme
Perhaps they take folk on directly but I would assume they are likely to be from other engineering backgrounds/the RAF
Good luck, you'll be pushing against the flow a a bit without some sort of time-served trade behind you.
Without an apprenticeship, you'll need to go back to college to do your JAR/EASA modules at a minimum, but it'll be a bit chicken and egg regards finding a job afterwards, as with a trade, someone might take you on (say BA at Cardiff) and let you do your modules on day release/night school.
Edit( i worked in aviation before going into other spinny bladed things)
It can be done, depends if you want to be a licensed engineer and work on commercial aircraft. Where I work they will take people on as untrained labourers and then you can progress up through the grades to engineer, unlicensed though! It may take 3-5 years but it is all rotary aircraft based and obviously pay is not great to begin with.
Bear in mind that bike shops and garages are all over the place; airports are not.
Unfortunately, airfields also have a habit of working on aircraft at night, weekends and bank holidays - do you like shift work in December or January?!
Good luck with whatever you decide.
I worked in aircraft engines for 16 years, and finally got fed up with the constant threat of redundancy last year, and left. Saw 5 big pay offs in that time, mainly due to work being moved to China/Brazil/Middle East.
There is still a strange romanticism about aviation, but it's just like any other engineering work in reality.
As I say, I was in engines, but I have no experience of the work in fuselage etc, apart from bae and spirit close by who have lost even more guys than we did.
Hi , i have been a aircraft mechanic for 20 odd years now , where i work we have taken on non aircraft people before but they had some sort of mechanical background cars hgv etc , i did an old fashioned apprenticeship but its more common these days for people to go to college and come out having passed their licence exams but then need to find a way to get experience for their log book which isn't always easy , a lot seem to do this contracting but that can be pretty cut throat if you don't know what you're doing .
I work in a hanger doing major checks , changing u/c and engines etc alot of the work can be quite repetitive , lots of taking panels off and putting them back on but when you're having a good day on a good job i still get a good satisfaction from it .Ramp work where your departing aircraft can be good work but fairly high pressure and would almost certainly involve night shifts and would be harder to get a start in.I do 4 on 4 off 12 hr days which is fairly common. i cant see age being a problem as long as your able to take the time to get quals and experience . email in profile if you have any questions and i will do my best to answer them