How To Become A Flight Test Mechanic: What It Is and Career Path

What is a flight test mechanic and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a flight test mechanic. For example, did you know that they make an average of $28.83 an hour? That's $59,974 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 9,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreFlight Test MechanicUS Average

Salary

4.7

Avg. Salary $59,974

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.8

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.63%

Asian 5.76%

Black or African American 10.10%

Hispanic or Latino 21.59%

Unknown 5.14%

White 56.78%

Gender

female 4.20%

male 95.80%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

7.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.2

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a flight test mechanic

Explore flight test mechanic education requirements

Most common flight test mechanic degrees

Associate

36.6 %

Bachelor's

34.7 %

High School Diploma

19.8 %

Start to develop specific flight test mechanic skills

Skills	Percentages
Electrical Systems	18.06%
Ground Support Equipment	16.95%
Aircraft Structures	7.20%
Hydraulic Systems	5.21%
Aircraft Systems	3.94%

Complete relevant flight test mechanic training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New flight test mechanics learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a flight test mechanic based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real flight test mechanic resumes.

Research flight test mechanic duties and responsibilities

Work with FAA personnel inspecting aircraft upon arrival to airfield.
Inspect complete work to certify that maintenance meets FAA standards and that aircraft are ready for operation.
Work in there fleet department repairing and diagnosis on all emergency apparatuses and ambulances and police vehicles also include maintenance schedules.
Receive and implement combat orders and direct deployment of personnel in offensive, defensive operations.

Get flight test mechanic experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a flight test mechanic. The most common roles before becoming a flight test mechanic include mechanic, aircraft mechanic team lead and crew chief.

Prepare your flight test mechanic resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your flight test mechanic resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a flight test mechanic resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable flight test mechanic resume templates

Build a professional flight test mechanic resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your flight test mechanic resume.