Hire A&P Apprentices in Ames, Iowa

Ames is a college town with its own airfield — Iowa State University's traffic and central Iowa's general aviation keep Ames Municipal busy — and Des Moines International, with its airline service and the Iowa Air National Guard's 132d Wing, is a half hour south. Iowa's certificated-mechanic bench is one of the thinnest in the country at roughly 330 statewide, and the Grease Pilot directory lists 9 FAA-certificated repair stations and shops within 50 miles of Ames. Demand for certificated mechanics is strong — training an apprentice under 14 CFR 65.77 lets your shop grow its own A&Ps instead of competing for them.

You set the wage — there's no mandated apprentice rate. For context, entry-level aircraft mechanics in Iowa start near $33,740/year — among the lowest entry wages in the country — while certificated mechanics statewide earn a median of $69,890 (BLS, May 2025). An apprentice starts below the entry-level figure and grows into it as their signed-off hours build — the investment is modest while Iowa's mechanic shortage is real.

You do — but there's less than people expect. You document the supervised training as it happens (Grease Pilot's records system does the tracking and signatures); nothing is filed with the FAA until your apprentice is ready to test. At that point FAA Form 8610-2 goes to the Des Moines FSDO — the office in Ankeny, just down I-35 from Ames, serving all of Iowa; its address and phone are in the section above — which verifies the supervised experience and authorizes the mechanic exams.

Yes — repair stations are exactly where this works. Your apprentice performs work under the supervision of your certificated mechanics (14 CFR 43.3(d) covers supervised work), and every logged hour counts toward the experience requirement — 18 months for airframe or powerplant, 30 months for both, under 14 CFR 65.77. With 9 certificated shops within 50 miles and only about 330 mechanics in the whole state, central Iowa's bench is thin — training your own is the pipeline you can count on.

Check the relocation line on their profile — apprentices state whether they're willing to relocate, and many will move for the right training opportunity. To maximize the quality of apprentice recruits, fill out your supervisor listing inside your account — once published, it shows to apprentices across the Grease Pilot network.