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Career Colleges    » Virginia    » Trades and Careers     » Aircraft Maintenance

Virginia Aircraft Maintenance Degrees

Aircraft Maintenance Degrees: Virginia Colleges

Looking for accredited career colleges, technical schools, and universities in Virginia offering Aircraft Maintenance degrees. Aircraft Maintenance: Aircraft Powerplant Technician and airframe mechanics work on repair and maintenance of private and commercial airplanes.

Virginia is a great state in which to go to college. Virginia college students enjoy close proximity to Washington, D.C., but also the opportunity to live in a more rural or suburban setting. Virginia is home to many colleges and universities. Virginia is still a surprisingly rural state, with tobacco as the primary cash crop. It was the birthplace of our nation, as the very first European settlement in North America was established at Jamestown in 1607. Virginia is a state of contrasts: not only do you have historic Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg, you also find the home of the Pentagon and of Mae East, the major East Coast internet hub. Whether you enjoy hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains, wandering along its beaches, or enjoying a quiet dinner in its many fine restaurants, you are likely to find attending college in Virginia to be an excellent choice.

Virginia Colleges: Aircraft Maintenance Degrees

If you are thinking of retraining for a new career, why not consider the benefits of following a college training program to become an Aircraft Powerplant Technician? The Bureau of Labor predicts that opportunities should be excellent for Aircraft Technicians (also called Aircraft Powerplant Technologists). There are approximately 200 trade schools offering an educational program certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Your main role as a qualified Aircraft Powerplant Technician would be to inspect aircraft engines and carry out preventive maintenance. Inspections take place at regular intervals based on the number of flight hours the aircraft has traveled, calendar days since the last inspection or a combination of the two. These are strictly controlled and enforced by the FAA. To inspect an engine, you would need to work through specially designed openings while standing on ladders or scaffolds, or use hoists or lifts to remove the entire engine from the craft. After dismantling an engine, you would use precision instruments to measure parts for wear and use x-ray and magnetic inspection equipment to check for invisible cracks. Worn or defective parts are repaired or replaced. An aircraft which is grounded for maintenance is not earning the business any money; you may experience pressure to achieve airworthiness in the shortest possible time. You may find that the time pressure and the obvious need for high standards may lead to very stressful situations.

Professional certification by the FAA is required to work on aircraft engines. However, an equal amount of time spent learning on the job under the close supervision of a qualified Technician can be substituted for the certificate. The FAA requires at least 18 months of work hands-on experience for the equivalent in a Powerplant Technician's Certificate.

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