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Chose the five year apprenticeship over the two year tech school and I still go back and forth on it
When I got out of high school in 2009 I had two choices sitting in front of me. The local community college had a two year aviation maintenance program that cost about $14k and would get me my A&P right away, or I could take the apprenticeship slot at a regional outfit near Wichita that paid $11 an hour and stretched out to five years before I could test. I went with the apprenticeship because my uncle worked there and swore the hands on time was worth more than any classroom. For the first 18 months I mostly did oil changes, tire swaps, and cleaning up after the real mechanics, and I'll be honest, there were nights I thought I had messed up bad watching my buddies from school get hired on at airlines before I even touched a turbine. But by year three I was rigging flight controls and doing engine runs with a guy named Dale who had 30 plus years in and never wrote anything down, he just knew. The stuff I learned from him about reading wear patterns and listening to a motor is not something a textbook ever gave me. Now I hire guys and I can tell in about a week who learned in a shop and who learned in a classroom. Curious if anyone else went the long route and whether you'd do it the same way again, or if the two year path was the right call for you.
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