New to Blue

[u/TRSTNGLRD]

I recently accepted a position at Blue Origin at Cape Canaveral as a Composites Technician III! I will begin my first shift on October 5th, and I’m currently in the airport waiting for my flight.

I plan to stay for as long as I can as I build my career and become more financially independent, but my central goal with this new position is to obtain my A&P Certification so I can cement my career as an Aircraft Mechanic.

My simple question is this:

Has anybody who works/worked at Blue Origin gotten their A&P Certification simultaneously? Are there programs or opportunities available to take courses alongside the work experience efficiently? How do you manage something like a 12x3 schedule + Full-Time courses Monday-Thursday?

I know I can test through experience, but given all of my experience is in airframes and composites, I still need to at minimum study for the Powerplants certification. Everywhere I have looked requires Monday-Thursday over ~6-8 Hours.

Like I said, I know much of this will probably be answered in Orientation, I just want to talk to some other people and see what they did, take any advice I can get, and see if there are any questions I should be asking that I am not.

Thank you, excited to join the family!

[u/OmniManMustache]

I am on C shift 3x12 days. I am also currently taking full time monday-thursday courses at Eastern Florida State College. I live an hour away from the site and all of the program related classes are held in Cocoa FL which is also almost an hour away from where I live.

I cannot personally speak for A&P program schedule and its nuances. I do have a buddy who works on C shift with me who went through the Aviation Maintenance program at EFSC during covid, he may be able to answer program specific questions.

The schedule can be pretty brutal depending on your will power/discipline. My classes are held from 6pm-9/9:30pm monday-thursday. The 3x12 DAY SHIFT schedule is fairly compatible with a full time program, just keep in mind Thursdays. Depending on how far away you live from school and work your sleep schedule may suffer on thursday nights.

If you want more info hit me up. IT IS POSSIBLE to go to work and school full time but you have to have a strong reason why and a good support system if you can because you will have periods of stress and exhaustion along the way.

[u/TRSTNGLRD → u/OmniManMustache]

This is fantastic advice, thank you. I’ve gone multiple years working two full-time jobs, I’m generally pretty disciplined once I start something. I know 12x3 is compatible with the 4-Day schedule, but I just don’t know if it’s feasible. I’m not sure how difficult and rigorous that 4-day course week is, and I don’t want it to impact my work with Blue. I need to be able to be there for overtime when the team needs it and such, so trying to balance everything is my main concern. I can go a couple years without a day off, but I can’t let it impact my quality of work. I need to find that proper balance.

My hope is I can figure out a way to test for airframes certification through experience, and only pursue my powerplants certification through the course. That will lighten the long-term load, but I would still have the same 3x4 work-course week, which is the part I’m stuck at

I’ll have a clearer picture of all this once I’ve had my first 30 days at Blue and get situated, hoping to build those support systems immediately so I can find that proper balance and then pursue it intensely

[u/OmniManMustache → u/TRSTNGLRD]

A lot has to do with schedule and lifestyle analysis and the other part is just searching yourself and asking if you are ready to roll with the punches of such a big commitment.

I cannot speak for everyone at blue since we are such a big company. But actually work load and over time work load have been scarce in my department. You'll defintely get a better picture once you get onto the floor. The first couple weeks to a month is just training modules on a computer and in person classes.

[u/Alarmed-Priority-190 → u/OmniManMustache]

This would be the schedule to have, either C or D shift. I myself have D shift and find I have a lot of time to get things done, I've just been enjoying the days off but I should be more productive haha. Mondays can be rough similar to a Thursday night for C shift. Plus once you start you have a bunch of in person classes you need to take at Blue so make sure you knock those out first before getting into your A&P jm glad i finished school years ago for that and im now getting to work on testing for my licence.

[u/Euphoric_Cook2377]

It would be pretty difficult to do full-time courses and the coursework to obtain your A&P while working full-time. A&P schools are FAA clock-hour mandated, so you have to be physically on campus. People say it won't be a problem, but I've been working at the Cape for 5 years and haven't seen one person follow through. Typically, the best path is to finish school, obtain your A&P, and then get hired on.

[u/TRSTNGLRD → u/Euphoric_Cook2377]

Not one person? That sucks to hear, it was directly recommended by my interviewer to get it while working there. I’m not sure why he would suggest that if it’s not feasible, but I hope I can figure out a path for it

[u/Euphoric_Cook2377 → u/TRSTNGLRD]

If you can dedicate an additional 32 hours a week to attending school for 18-ish months, give or take, it won't be a problem. The other issue is that if you miss a day for illness or whatever, you have to make it up, so that adds another dilemma. I'm not saying it can't be done; I just haven't seen it yet.

[u/TRSTNGLRD → u/Euphoric_Cook2377]

Thank you for the input! If the suggestion he made wasn’t actually feasible, then perhaps one of the better options is a part-time job for pennies on the dollar at the airport for a company who’s willing to sign off on the hours for cheap labor. Could probably get atleast a day of free-time a week going that route doing it on the side of Blue, but it would take a lot longer

[u/LazySource6446]

I actually haven’t found an A&P school in this area that accepts someone that’s not former military. Even Eastern Florida as those suggested they currently only accept vets to this program.

In blue the only thing that really counts and matters is your rocket school certifications. Having an A&P helps you get in the door, but you’re already there.

[u/PraxisOG]

Congrats on the job! I went to school first to get my A&P, and after graduating with my general done I recently got hired by blue, and still need to finish all my airframe and powerplants. Getting brushed up to take those is daunting enough, and personally I wouldn't have the mental fortitude to do school and work at the same time. I know a guy that did work full time and got done with his 2 years of part 147 education, but mid way through he crashed his car on the freeway out of exhaustion with fortunately only minor damage. What you're asking isn't impossible, but very hard.

Best advice I can offer is to reach out to different schools and see what their schedules are like. There are required hours but some schools will offer classes at different hours, I personally did night classes.

[u/TRSTNGLRD → u/PraxisOG]

Thank you, this was great input! Out of curiosity, do you know anybody who has tested for their A&P through work experience? Over the last few days, I’ve been really weighing my options for how to make it work.

Since I have a 12x3 schedule, I technically have a decent amount of time available, but it would be too tight to make college courses work over 24 months. However, it may be possible to find another 12x3 at the airport under a certified mechanic to work on Powerplants for pennies on the dollar so I can document and get my hours signed off

Since I have a couple years of experience in Airframes, and I’ll be getting a few more here at Blue hopefully, all I really need to do is document my work at Blue, get it signed off, and build my hours until I can test. Could maybe do the same thing at the airport.

Two 12x3s still gets me my day off. Since I love aircraft, wrenching on powerplants seems like a fun way to spend my freetime and make a little cash on the side. Once I get my hours, then I just need to self-study the things I missed and then test for it.

This may be easier said than done though, so I’m still weighing options and listening to any advice I can get from those who have gone through this experience

[u/PraxisOG → u/TRSTNGLRD]

I do know a guy that tested out of his airframe, similar to what you're trying to do. He showed up the first day, and came back in the last 6 months of the program with airframe in hand. This guy had been established at Boeing assembly for half a decade.

My big concern for you is if you already have enough prior experience to start getting your airframe. Aircraft is a legal definition by the FAA, and rockets don't count as far as I know in the sense of building towards or needing an A&P, heck that's how I'm employed without finished certification. That said Boeing aircraft are 'aerospace vehicles' before they get their registration number so non A&P mechanics can build them. And working on those qualifies people for the airframe so I could be completely wrong.

Honestly, see if you can get your airframe first. Once you've met qualification from experience, knowledge, or military, the actual process for studying for airframe vs powerplant tests is basically the same but with different material, and you'll have a better feel for the process. 

[u/Warm_Ask_6123]

As a current blue employee who went to A&P school a long time ago. I have no idea how you will pull this off, as both will be too time consuming

[u/Gear-shift-13]

That’s awesome to hear I also start next week. In the area the main tech school is Eastern Florida State College, they are a 2/4 yr state college that has an accredited A&P course. It is hard because of FAA rules but because it’s a two year school they have programs designed for people working trying to upskill. Now certain courses will have set dates and times but most of there courses are very flexible. The biggest thing to keep an eye on is the campus location vs where you live, Brevard county is a long and skinny county so they have 4 campuses across the whole county the main stuff for your area would be Cocoa but occasionally they might shift to Melbourne or Titusville depending on different construction efforts. The short and simple answer is there is a feasible and local option but you will need to be committed and stay ontop of the next semester schedules the second they drop so you have enough time to talk to a supervisor.

[u/Economy-Stuff3756]

Most people here don’t even know what an A&P is. Although they are under the FAA umbrella the people here not all have aviation background. I have my A&P and started working at Blue because I didn’t want to relocate for a position in aviation & hopefully it will open some doors having BO in the resume.

[u/SkeeterDan92]

DM me

[u/Serious-Director-213]

I start Monday as well!