Hot take: I think that new composite repair course was a total waste of $1200

Everyone at my shop was talking about how you need this cert to stay ahead, so I signed up last fall. It was three days of mostly theory and videos, with maybe two hours of actual hands-on work. The instructor kept pushing a specific brand of epoxy that costs three times what we normally use. I came back thinking I'd be ready for anything, but the first real repair I tried on a Cessna cowling failed inspection because their method skipped a key step. Has anyone found a better way to learn this stuff without dropping a grand on a class?

3 comments

3 Comments

robert_scott5724d ago

Yeah, those courses can be a real racket. Dropped a similar amount on a sheet metal class that was mostly outdated slides. The old guy in the hangar next door showed me more in twenty minutes.

uma_williams24d ago

That "old guy in the hangar" part is so true. I've learned way more from watching people actually do the job than any formal class. It's frustrating when the expensive option doesn't deliver.

nguyen.lily24d ago

Hold on, "old guy in the hangar" is a huge gamble. That guy might teach you bad habits or skip safety steps he's gotten lazy about. A proper class gives you a full plan, not just random tricks. You need the foundation first. Then the hands-on stuff makes sense. Skipping the book learning is how people mess up big jobs later.