Aircraft Mechanic School
Training Skills Tested

Aircraft Mechanic School Skills Competition - Aviation Institute of Maintenance

A special program was recently conducted for students at the Aviation Institute of Maintenance in Manassas. An initial "Student Tool Olympics" competition was conducted among the company's 110 students to see who were the most outstanding in their aircraft mechanic training at the Manassas School. The competition included safety wiring, precision measuring, and sheet metal fabrication, weight and balance and turbine blade clearance check.

The projects are all part of the students learning to develop the necessary skills required for passing the Federal Aviation Agency aircraft mechanic A&P license. The students take and must pass an 18-month course, which includes shop and class work at the facility before applying for the FAA A&P exam. The instructors are certified aircraft mechanics with mainly airline experience.

The Manassas school has many international students and students need transcripts from their former schools as well a legal documentation for proper identification to enter the country. The school works with many airlines to place the students after graduation. Some of the students reside in the Manassas area while going to the school, while others commute from Northern Virginia, Washington D.C. or Maryland.

The winners of the aircraft mechanic school competition were:
• Safety Wiring
Benito Valenzuela of the Philippines and Steve Slander of Virginia
• Turbine Blade Clearance Check
Tamir Woldesellassie of Ethiopia and John Baker of Pennsylvania
• Sheet Metal
Steven Tangwa of Cameroon
• Precision Measurement
Jamison Roseberry of Maryland and Bobby Hickey of Virginia
• Weight and Balance
Shaun Smith of Maryland

The Manassas school has day and night students, so two competitions were held and there were two winners in three of the five categories. Proceeds from the competition were donated to Angel Flight which flies patients free with a special medical need to a distant specialist or medical facility.

Corporate sponsors were Southwest Airlines of Baltimore, Gemini Air Cargo of Dulles, Messier Services America, Inc. of Sterling, Independence Airlines of Dulles and Sharp Details Premier Aviation Appearance and Support Services of Fairfax.
Bennie Scarton Jr.,
Manassas Journal Messenger
Manassas, Virginia

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