Top 5 Myths About Becoming an Aircraft Mechanic

"How do I become an aircraft mechanic?" is a very common question. In fact, you'll probably hear that question at least a few times a week if you decide to become one yourself.

The problem is, there are multiple answers for this question, and sometimes even mechanics who have been working in the career for years don't know all of different ways someone can become an aircraft mechanic. There are a few reasons for this, but the main reason is because most mechanics go to college, or receive their training in the military.

One of the biggest problems in this industry is the fact that there are numerous colleges and technical schools that want everyone to believe the only way to become a mechanic is by paying for the courses they offer. These schools are businesses, and they make their money by charging tuition. On some of the websites ran by these institutions, they even flat-out state that you cannot become an aircraft mechanic without attending their course. This isn't true at all.

There is a lot of confusion about how people become aircraft mechanics because of various myths floating around. In this article I'm going to discuss and debunk some of this false information.

Myth #1: You have to go to college to become an aircraft mechanic.

This is, without a doubt, the biggest myth floating around, and it’s also completely untrue. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve heard “Don’t you have to have a degree to be an aircraft mechanic?” or “What kind of degree do I need?”

The truth is there are thousands of people working as aircraft mechanics right now that have never even attended college, much less graduated from one with an aviation degree. Most of these mechanics learned through on-the-job training, which might also be an option for you if you’re interested in this career.

Because so many careers require some type of college degree these days, and also because so many people automatically go to college after high school, I think people just immediately assume that you can’t work on aircraft without some type of degree. Some mechanics that I’ve met over the years even said they regretted paying a lot of money to go to college because they later found out they didn’t have to.

Myth #2: You have to have an A&P license or some other certification.

Although thinking that a college degree is absolutely necessary is probably the biggest myth, trailing not far behind is the myth that every aircraft mechanic has some type of official certification from the FAA or some other aviation authority. Again, I can’t tell you how many times every week I’m asked “Don’t I need an A&P license?” or “I need the license ASAP, so what’s the fastest way to get it?”

In case you don’t know, an A&P license, or Airframe and Powerplant license, is a type of certification that is issued by the FAA once a person is qualified. Since the FAA regulates these licenses, many mechanics in the United States have them. Different aviation authorities in other countries issue different certifications, and many of the mechanics in those countries also have some type of license.

But just because many mechanics have them doesn’t mean you absolutely have to have a license! To be fair, it’s easy to see where this myth comes from. After all, who would ever think that you could work on multi-million dollar machines that carry thousands of people through the sky without having some type of license? Well, you don’t, and many aircraft mechanics only have a high school diploma or GED.

Myth #3: The only way to enter this career is by joining the military.

For some strange reason, many people I’ve talked to over the years think that you can only become an aircraft mechanic by joining the military. I don’t know why so many people believe this myth, or how it even made it’s way into their minds, but it’s simply not true.

The military offers several different fields related to aviation maintenance, and I’ve known many awesome mechanics who were trained while working on military aircraft. Military aircraft have many of the same components as commercial aircraft, and maintaining them requires the same types of trained personnel.

Many mechanics in many different countries receive their initial training in the military, and I suppose some people hear this and don’t realize there are other ways to become a mechanic. Many of the mechanics I’ve worked with over the years, as well as many of the mechanics I work with right now, got much of their initial training when they went to the military. However, that doesn’t mean you have to join the military to get your training.

Myth #4: You can only work on helicopters if you are trained in the military.

I have absolutely no idea why or where this myth got started, but this is something else I hear all the time. A lot of people I talk to who are thinking about this career want to work on helicopters instead of airplanes. That’s great—being a helicopter mechanic can be a wonderful career—but you can train to become a helicopter mechanic in many different places.

If I had to guess, I’d say that many people believe this myth because they associate helicopters with the military. However, I really don’t know why that is, because helicopters are obviously used in many different places for many different purposes. It isn’t like the world’s armed forces are the only groups that use helicopters.

If you want to join the military because you want to join the military, that’s great and you should go for it. But if you want to join the military because you think that’s the only way you can become a helicopter mechanic, you first need to look at all of the different options available. Joining the military is a big commitment, and it’s something you might not need to do.

Myth #5: You can't be a "real" mechanic unless you go to college or get your training in the military.

Being a mechanic who never went to college and was never in the armed forces, I quickly learned that some older mechanics thought that I wasn’t a “real” mechanic. As the years went on, I also learned that this mentality is widespread in the industry, and that some people who are thinking about this career have also been bitten by this myth.

If you go to an online search engine and begin researching how to become an aircraft mechanic, you’ll no doubt find yourself on various forums about the career. Many of these forums are moderated by older mechanics. I’ve seen numerous posts telling people that if they want to be taken seriously in the industry they should go to college or get their training in the military. I’ve even seen these two different groups divided, with one group saying you can’t be a “real” mechanic without going to college, and the other group saying you can’t be a “real” mechanic without training in the military.

As with all of the myths in this article, this simply isn’t true. Whether they like it or not, and whether or not they want to believe it, older mechanics can’t deny that there are thousands of mechanics working in the industry right now without a college degree and without military training. And these people are not just “mechanics,” but great mechanics, whose responsibilities are usually no less important that the responsibilities of mechanics who did attend college or join the military.

If you want to be a “real” aircraft mechanic, it doesn’t really matter if you receive your training at a college, in the military, or through hands-on work. What matters the most is that you make sure you do the work properly, that you always try to limit your mistakes as much as possible, and that you immediately correct any mistakes that you do make.


If you’re thinking about becoming a mechanic, don’t let any of these myths fool you. There are many different ways you can enter the career, and you don’t have to take the same path that someone else took. However, there is a lot you need to know before you jump into this career.

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