Aircraft
Maintenance
Engineer and Pilot

How do you think you will cope with work and family responsibilities?

No goal you set for yourself is too high - even the sky is not the limit. Doris Penner knows! She's a pilot. Being a pilot was something Doris Penner always wanted to be.

It wasn't until she was once stranded for eight hours because her plane had a loose wire, that she decided then and there that flying the aircraft was not enough, she would learn how to repair it as well.

So, four years after obtaining her pilots' license and ground school training, she enrolled in a training program for Aircraft Maintenance Engineering. The course lasts twelve months full time with classes in the mornings and practical work in the afternoons. After that, you do a one-year apprenticeship. “As an aircraft mechanic, you can expect to repair aircraft engines, wheels, wings, tin work, fabric work, electrical, structural and mechanical systems. You have to be responsible for your work because people's lives depend on it.”

Since the Aircraft Maintenance Engineer training you receive in Canada is recognized worldwide, and the international language of flying happens to be English, this type of work could take you anywhere in the world. As Doris was interested in travelling, the choice of working outside Canada was something that appealed to her.

“You don't have to be mechanically-minded. When I first went to school, I didn't know the difference between a Robertson and Phillips screwdriver. And I got laughed at sometimes. But women make very good mechanics and pilots because we have good intuitive instincts. So if anyone says you can't do it because you're a woman, don't argue. Just go and do it.”