Oral and Practical at the mercy of the weather

Dwight is an FAA Designated Mechanic Examiner (DME). In addition to mechanics who complete the MMS Aviation training program, he administers oral and practical exams to mechanic certificate applicants from the general public. It was a special privilege for Dwight to test Ron, a retired U.S. Air Force mechanic, last week.

It seemed the weather was against them completing Ron's exams (general, airframe and powerplant). The complete oral and practical takes about 11 hours of testing so must be done over two days. Testing on Tuesday went well, but just before Ron arrived Wednesday to complete his tests, the electricity failed. There was no testing Wednesday due to the power outage and Dwight's schedule was full Thursday, so Ron had to come back Friday to finish.

There are 176 oral questions covering 44 subject areas. Practical projects must cover all 44 areas as well. Ron finished well, passing all elements of the exams and went home a newly FAA certificated aircraft mechanic.