Alot of those guys and girls had been working on planes for 15 or 20 years
and took their A&P at the Sanford location because he was cheaper than
anyone else. If you think you know more than a mech that has worked on the
line for 15 or 20 years who doesn't yet have his A&P just because you went
to school....you have alot to learn.
At one time I even thought about trying to make it to that guys place
and taking it...because it was cheap. I have 20 plus years experience on
numerous types of aircraft ( fixed and rotor) and I have never needed an A&P
license to work. But always having a family to support it is difficult to
take off for a week of work and spend 1000 bucks doing it as well. So money
is a key factor to most people in the real world. I agree that those mechs
should have no problem with the retaking of the test..but everyone has to
admit it sux to have to do it again when you have already paid for it. I
doubt very much if they will get any money back from the place.
And I am sure their are some who took it there because it was a "gimme".
I had heard that through the grapevine as well in the industry...so I never
took it there for that reason. Usually if something seems funny....you can
count on it.
But to sum it up I have known thousands of A&P's through the years. Most
of them, especially the ones out of school know how to read a manual and set
a torque..a monkey can do that. Very few A&P's actually know how to do very
little to the "A" part of that license. I can tell you from years of
experience that A&P is a piece of paper , the real knowledge is what's in
his/her head and the ability to use one's hands in a talented way. I can
shoot the entire lap seam on the fuselage of a Gulfstream-V in an 8 hour
shift, I have also repaired a tailboom of a Cobra helo on the side of Mount
Etna in Sicily ( pilot landed on the remains of a tree stump!), WOW how did
I ever do that , I don't have that piece of paper!!!! Not to mention I
helped engineers write the Assembly Outline to build the spars of the C-17.
try to remember their are absolute idiots out there with A&P's just like
there are idots without them. A piece of paper does not a mech make!

Patrick
"Cy Galley" wrote in message
news:IVbad.215910$MQ5.62609@attbi_s52...
They could be A&P that went thru school just like you. Just the wrong
examiner that the FAA decided to bust for poor record keeping of the like.


...sniped

As one who recently went through 2 years of school full time and a
good deal of personal expense to obtain my A&P certificate, please
excuse me if I fail to feel any sympathy for those mechanics. They
tried to skirt the system and get by on the cheap, and ended up
getting exactly what they paid for.

Well, maybe...but...
I think it would be unfair and a mistake to assume all 3000 were
trying to "...skirt the system and get by on the cheap.." Many could
have been just as competant and prepared as you say you were but
simply got that particular DE by luck-of-the-draw.

Regards,
Sid Knox