Hello. I own a Piper Cherokee in NJ.

I am very happy with my mechanic, his rates, my plane and how (knock on
wood) reliable it is. Overall my maintenance costs are acceptable and
well within my budget.

That being said, I want to learn how to maintain my plane and
eventually I want to work my way to an A&P license, not to save on
maintenance costs but just because I would love to do that.

The issue is that I have ZERO experience in maintaning anything
mechanical at all. I can build a computer from parts, troubleshoot all
sorts of software or network problems (I am an Electronics Engineer ...
computer science and IT stuff), but when it comes to mechanical stuff,
I am pretty much clueless.

To me an engine is something that makes a lot of noise, stinks up the
place, can chop your hands off and gets really hot if you run it for
more than 10 minutes.

Of course I know the theory behind engines ... but one thing is to know
what the mags are from a book, one completely different thing is to
lift the hood and actually look at one.

Obviously since I have such a great relationship with my mechanic, I
can ask him to make me work on my plane and then sign off on it. The
thing is, that since I don't know anything about mechanical stuff, he'd
have to baby-sit me through the first repairs and he doesn't have the
time to do that.

Does anyone know of any "introductory classes" on engine or airframe
maintenance? I am not talking about a full 2-years course. More of a 1
or 2 weeks classes to start you on basic tasks (beyond the oil change
and light bulb replacement owners are allowed to do that is, which I
already do).

Replacing fuel pumps, vacuum pumps, fuel drains and fixing flight
controls for example ... that's what I am interested in.

I totally understand that this means exactly zilch as far as the FAA is
concerned: the FAA still requires the 18 months or 30 months or 1500
hours or whatever other amount of experience in order to certify people
as A&Ps.

That's fine.

But at least, if I need to replace an electric fuel pump (which
happened this summer), by taking some class or something I would at
least know what a fuel pump looks like, where to find it and how to
remove it without breaking anything by myself and do more than just
hold the flashlight while my mechanic works on it.

If anybody knows if it's possible to take "A&P Introduction" classes
and where, that would be great.

Thank you!

Marco