FAA A&P MECHANIC · WHAT PEOPLE GET WRONG
Common mistakes on the way to an FAA A&P
Half of these are wrong because a rule changed. Part 147 was rewritten in 2022, its curriculum appendices were deleted, and the Practical Test Standards stopped being the standard in 2023. The material describing the old rules is still the first thing a search returns. The other half are distinctions the FAA itself points out and almost nobody repeats. Each one below states the belief, corrects it, and says what believing it costs.
Checked against the current regulations on 19 August 2026.
Ten expensive A&P mistakes
“My time in technical school counts toward the experience requirement.”
It does not. The FAA says practical experience means actually performing maintenance, and that time spent in training does not count toward either the months or the experience itself. That applies to military technical school and civilian courses alike.
WHAT IT COSTS
Months. If you counted a year of training toward the 30 months, you arrive at the FSDO with a year less than you thought.FAA, Experience Requirements to Become an Aircraft Mechanic
“I can work more hours and get there faster.”
The FAA counts calendar months, not hours. It puts a month at roughly 160 hours, but that is a yardstick for whether a month counts. It has turned down an applicant offering 3,120 hours inside twelve months, because Part 65 does not provide for anything less than 18 months for one rating.
WHAT IT COSTS
The gap between what you planned and what the rule allows, which is usually a year or more.AC 65-30B ¶11.3 and the FAA mechanics FAQ
“I can book a knowledge test online and show up.”
Not on the experience route. You need an FAA Tracking Number from IACRA and one of exactly three authorizations: a Part 147 graduation document, a military certificate of eligibility, or an original Form 8610-2 with block V signed by an inspector at a FSDO.
WHAT IT COSTS
A wasted booking, and a FSDO appointment you had not scheduled.FAA Airman Knowledge Testing Matrix, page 6
“Part 147 requires 1,900 hours of curriculum.”
Not since 21 September 2022. The rewritten Part 147 has no set curriculum hours at all, and the FAA no longer approves school curricula. Instead, § 147.17 requires a curriculum designed to continually align with the ACS. Schools that still run programs of about that length do so by their own choice.
WHAT IT COSTS
Picking a school on a number the regulation no longer uses, instead of on its published pass rate.87 FR 31391, preamble to § 147.17
“The syllabus has Level 1, 2 and 3 subjects.”
It used to. Those levels lived in the Part 147 appendices, and the 2022 rewrite deleted the appendices outright. Current Part 147 runs § 147.1 to § 147.31 with no appendices at all. What replaced them is the ACS element types: Knowledge, Risk Management and Skill.
WHAT IT COSTS
Studying from material old enough to still grade topics that way. If it is that old, it is wrong in other places too.eCFR, 14 CFR Part 147 (current)
“The Practical Test Standards tell me what is on the oral.”
The mechanic PTS stopped being the testing standard after 31 July 2023. FAA-S-ACS-1 replaced it, and the regulation incorporates the ACS by reference. That makes it stronger than the PTS ever was: the PTS was guidance, the ACS is part of the rule.
WHAT IT COSTS
Studying to a retired standard. Even the FAA handbook most people study from still names the PTS.FAA-G-ACS-1 introduction; 14 CFR § 65.23
“A 70% is a pass, so a 70% is fine.”
Every ACS code you miss is printed on your test report. The examiner reads it before your oral, and each code adds a question. A clean written gets you the minimum of 4 oral questions per section. A bare pass can get you 34.
WHAT IT COSTS
Hours in a room with somebody who can fail you, on exactly the subjects you were weakest in.FAA Mechanic Test Generator FAQs
“My written passes are good for two years, so I have plenty of time.”
The report expires 24 calendar months after the MONTH you tested. And § 65.71(a)(3) applies the same 24 months to every required test, oral and practical included. The clock runs on the whole A&P, not just the writtens.
WHAT IT COSTS
$175 and a retest, at the worst possible moment: after you have already booked an examiner.14 CFR § 65.71(a)(3); FAA-G-ACS-1 chapter 5
“An A&P lets me sign off anything I am competent to do.”
It does not. § 65.81 excludes major repairs to, and major alterations of, propellers, and any repair to, or alteration of, instruments. That is instruments entirely, not just major work. Approving for return to service after a major repair or alteration, and performing an annual inspection, need an IA on top. You may DO the work. Approving it is a different privilege.
WHAT IT COSTS
A signature you had no right to make. The FAA treats that as a certificate action, not a slip.14 CFR §§ 65.81, 65.85, 65.87, 65.95
“I hold an EASA Part-66 license, so most of this will be waived.”
None of it. The FAA says a certificate or license from another country, even a similar one, does not exempt you from its eligibility requirements or from passing the required tests. There is no conversion route and no credit.
WHAT IT COSTS
A plan that is off by about three years.FAA, Become a Mechanic FAQ
Where to go instead of taking our word
Every fact on this site was read from one of the following on 19 August 2026. If we and one of these disagree, they are right and we want to know. And if a term in the ten above is new, the FAA A&P glossary takes them one at a time: ACS, PTS, IA, FSDO and the rest.
The regulation. 14 CFR Part 65, Subpart D on eCFR: eligibility, tests, privileges, the Inspection Authorization. eCFR blocks automated fetching and redirects to an unblock page, but a normal browser is fine.
The standard. FAA-S-ACS-1, and its Companion Guide FAA-G-ACS-1. The first says what is tested. The second explains the process around it, and it is the source of most of what is on the oral and practical page.
The numbers. The FAA Airman Knowledge Testing Matrix, revised 22 October 2025, for question counts, times, passing scores, ID requirements and authorization to test. It replaces the January 2025 edition, and the editions differ.
The fees. PSI Services, LLC for the knowledge tests. Note that the $175 they publish is a voucher price, and they list no separate price for paying without a voucher. For the oral and practical, ask the examiner: the FAA publishes nothing and sets nothing.
Questions people actually ask
Q.01What is the most common reason people fail the A&P written tests?
The FAA does not publish failure reasons, so anybody who gives you a single cause made it up. What IS published, and worth planning around: Airframe and Powerplant carry 100 questions in the same 2 hours General gets for 60. That is about 72 seconds a question against 120. Running out of time on those two is a risk built into the format, not a knowledge problem.
Q.02Is the FAA handbook enough on its own for the A&P?
It is the source, but it is not the standard. The handbooks teach the content. FAA-S-ACS-1 says what is tested and how deep, and the two are different documents. One thing worth knowing: the General handbook still names the Practical Test Standards as the document describing the oral and practical, and that has not been true since 31 July 2023.
Q.03Does the A&P certificate need renewing?
No. Under § 65.15 it is effective until surrendered, suspended or revoked. No renewal, no expiry, no fee. What can lapse is your right to use it: § 65.83 wants 6 months of relevant work in the preceding 24. Nothing is filed with anybody. You certify it yourself. That is a real difference from the European license, which does expire.
Q.04Is the Inspection Authorization changing?
It is proposed to. On 1 July 2026 the FAA published a notice of proposed rulemaking (91 FR 39906 (1 July 2026), Docket No. FAA-2026-6671) proposing to replace the IA with an "inspection rating" printed on the A&P certificate. That would mean no renewal, no expiry, and a rolling 12 month recent experience requirement instead of the current cycle, where it expires on 31 March of odd years. It is PROPOSED. Nothing has changed yet, and anyone describing it as current is ahead of the rule.
Q.05How do I know if an A&P study source is out of date?
Three quick checks. If it grades topics "Level 1/2/3", it is from before September 2022. If it names the Practical Test Standards as the current standard, it is from before August 2023. If it quotes a 1,900 hour Part 147 curriculum, it is from before the 2022 rewrite. Every fact on this site was read from a primary source on 19 August 2026, and the ones we could not verify are flagged as unverified instead of quietly stated as fact.
Read next in the FAA A&P guide
This page covers one part of the route to your FAA A&P. The other pages cover the rest.
- How to get your FAA A&P mechanic certificateThe whole route on one page
- The FAA A&P oral and practicalWhat happens at the FAA A&P oral and practical test?
Or look one thing up
The reference pages under the guide each answer one question, for when what you want is the number rather than the explanation.
- What the FAA A&P costsHow much do the A&P mechanic tests cost, and what does the FAA itself charge?
- FAA A&P pass ratesHow hard are the A&P mechanic written tests, in the FAA's own pass rate figures?
- FAA A&P facts and figuresEvery load-bearing FAA A&P number on one page, with the regulation that sets it.
- FAA A&P glossaryWhat the FAA A&P terms mean: AMG, AMA, AMP, ACS, AKTR, DME, IA, FTN and the rest.
Read the documents, not us
Every fact on this page was read from these on 19 August 2026. They are the authority and we are the summary. If we and one of them disagree, they are right.
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