Well..for me...(info for the newb)..I was in the Air Force, F-15 Crew Chief, and then got out and lived in Japan for 7.5 years, got married twice, had too many jobs....such as a bartender, a slut, a kareoke Bar assistant manager, a junkyard scrapper, a 2X4 Canadian House Builder, English Teacher, then came back to the states to get an education...went to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University for a few years and then screwed up my life with a damn DUI...been busting my nuts ever since to get something. Started working at small airports on small aircraft after I pushed myselft to get the FAA Airframe and Powerplant licence, and worked it up from job to job till I got hired at Sikorsky Aircraft building helicopters and getting them tested and out the door...I'm in the production hanger...which is at the top for a mechanic at the company...a few more years they'll prolly realize my real experiance level and make me a crew chief, and then I'll bank $30+ an hour. yeaa...I'm at $25.20 an hour right now.
And sadly...not too many people are doing what I do...so I have to work more...but make more money...when 9-11 happened...I was at $18 an hour...and in 4 years...up to $25....at this rate...maybe in another 2-5 years..I'll get more...just because my breed of a person is getting scarce. Everyone nowadays wants desk jobs or easy money jobs with no education. HVAC guys in the union will make more than me just installing simple ducting in new buildings....but they have to either freeze their ass of in a bare wallless building in the winter, or a sweltering hot building cuz they haven't got the AC system installed yet in the summer....
As for my job...I have no real worries...I'm fully insured...medical, dental, and even a group rate on car insurance are covered, company matched 401K, pension after five years, and a shitload of other sweet beni's.
I would suggest....go to your local airport...talk to the owner of the maintenance facility, and ask if you can watch and ask questions and hang around them while they work on planes....Just to see if your kinda interested in the aviational career feild. I was in the Civil Air Patrol since I was 12 years old...so I was always around the planes, and My dad also owned a Napa Store with a machine shop...so I grew up around parts and engines.....those two things formed my life....Plus my dad was also the regional Search and Rescue Cordinator, and also in the CAP, so thats where I also picked up the bad habit of always trying to help anyone that I can. I guess thats why I post too much about the things thats fucked up in my life or the shit that I've gone thru....just so others might read it, and learn from my damn mistakes......
And back on topic....Hondas Suck. (the money out of your wallet)
Old Datsun Z's are Cheaper and sexier to fix up.
