Hire A&P Apprentices in Virginia Beach, Virginia

Virginia Beach is Navy-jet country — NAS Oceana is the East Coast master jet base, with Norfolk's carrier fleet and Norfolk International next door — and Hampton Roads' military maintenance economy produces a steady stream of transitioning military mechanics looking for the civilian hours an apprenticeship provides. The Grease Pilot directory lists 10 FAA-certificated repair stations and shops within 50 miles. 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 Virginia start near $58,150/year and certificated mechanics in the Virginia Beach–Norfolk metro earn a median of $80,450 (BLS, May 2025). An apprentice typically starts below the entry-level mechanic figure and grows into it as their signed-off hours build — and in Hampton Roads, transitioning military maintainers often bring real experience at apprentice wages while they log civilian hours.

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 Richmond FSDO — the office serving Virginia Beach, shown with its address and phone 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. Military experience alone often isn't documented the way the FAA wants — a Hampton Roads shop that structures those hours under 65.77 turns veteran maintainers into certificated A&Ps.

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.