Apprentice Aircraft technician Review

Aircraft Technician Apprentice. My daily tasks involve opening the tool Kit on the slot and doing a 100% tool check on this tool kit. I Also do a husbandry checked on the slot, this involves looking for old paperwork and that the condition of the aircraft. This is done at both the start and the end of the shift. During the day I have to interact with other teams in the hangar and the staff in other departments. Throughout the day I will do many tasks that vary wildly, this can be from doing a Box change, to doing an engine ground run.

The company gives many opportunities for extra learning via courses such as the Q-course and doing training relevant to get extra authorisations. During my time on base I have learnt how many of the avionic systems work and interact with each other. All of this is expanding on the knowledge gained in the classroom work that was done in the first year of the apprenticeship

I really enjoy doing the job, the working on the aircraft is very interesting. I like being able to work on any aspect of the jet and to be able to work with a variety of different people. However the NVQ side of the apprenticeship can be frustrating, I don’t enjoy that side of the apprenticeship. The people that I work with on my team are very good, they are always happy to answer any questions that I have.

My direct managers will often show appreciation for my hard work and it does make me want to work hard to feel good. There is a system for rewarding people who do exceptional things for the company. I am always involved in the tasks carried out, it allows me to build confidence in myself and lets me learn about the aircraft.

It is often that I will get 3 different explanations of what I need to be doing from the same person. This just shows that not everybody knows what is going on. The NVQ itself is not completely suited for working in an military environment, it is tailored more to a civilian airline. This has been present throughout the apprenticeship.

They try their best but they are often in the same boat as the apprentices, they are learning this new system at the same time as we are. It can make it hard if we have any issues as they just don't have the answers and sometimes the answers they do have are relevant to the old style apprenticeship.

There is much support from the guys on the shop floor. They are always happy to come and help you if you have any issues for the task in hand. if you do have a problem with anything they will often know someone who was in the same situation that could offer guidance.

The money is not bad, if you are able to house share and lift share, or live at home with parents it makes it easier. Where we are located most people have to drive about an hour each way to get into work. I live fairly close at just under 20 minutes away. But with all this it doesn't leave much money for socialising.

There are very few if no opportunities to do work related things outside of work. The only thing is we have access to the GYM on base for a fee. When I'm not working I do things Like clean and tidy my house and hang out with my house mate.

Yes

I really enjoy doing the work and can't wait for the apprenticeship is over so I can just get on with doing my dream job. If you want to work on military fast jets this is a really good apprenticeship to be a part of

Make sure you have a good engineering project that you can talk about in your interview. One thing to remember that when you are in the leaving phase you are not there just to make friends, you are here to learn how to do a job. I know of a few people who have taken this as more of a social exercise and are now struggling because of it.