Aviation student makes history completing FAA certification

Some people are born to fly. Northeast State student Makenzie Estevan continues to follow her passion for flight as a student in the College’s Aviation Technology Program.

Estevan also became the first woman in the program to earn a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aviation Maintenance Technician Certification. In June, Estevan passed the FAA’s written, oral, and practical exams to achieve the Airframe Technical Certification.

“If you get bitten by the aviation bug, being around the aircraft and working on the aircraft is a lot of fun,” Estevan said.

The airframe knowledge base includes the primary structural components of an airplane or spacecraft, excluding its engine and flight instrumentation. The airframe components include the wings, fuselage, tail assembly, and landing gear. The airframe exam begins with oral and written examinations before going into a laboratory-setting to test a student’s practical capabilities. Estevan successfully completed 13 practical exam problems over a period of four hours with breaks as needed.

“The practical exam was easier than I expected,” said Estevan. “The experience helped me not worry about doing the orals and written exams for the powerplant section.”

The Airframe and Powerplant Certifications are generally called the “A&P” tests because most aviation technology students choose to complete both.  Aviation technicians must earn these required certifications at an FAA-certified institution to perform maintenance, repairs, or tests on an aircraft. A&P licensed mechanics perform aircraft maintenance and alteration tasks, including the engines, landing gear, avionics, structural issues, brakes, and air-conditioning system. The program’s aviation courses and the A&P certifications require 1,900 hours of training for students.

Students pursuing the A.A.S. degree program learn skills associated with repairing and installing aviation electronics and mechanical systems. Students also develop core skills in fuselage and sheet metal repair, electrical systems, and hydraulics.

Estevan said the program introduced her to mechanical skills she long desired to learn. A recent field trip to aviation maintenance facilities near Knoxville made the process real for Estevan and her classmates.

“Getting to step in and see what that work field looks like was really exciting because we are close to getting there,” she said. “We have bonded a lot, so we all want to see each other succeed.”

Aviation soars in her family. Estevan related how her grandfather got his private pilot’s license at Tri-Cities Airport during the 1960s. He later joined the United States Navy and then the United States Army, where he served as a helicopter pilot. He flew missions in the legendary Huey and Cobra helicopters during the Vietnam conflict.

“It is in her blood,” said Sandra Cooper, Estevan’s grandmother. “She would go anytime he took us flying.”

Cooper and Makenzie’s mom, Kendra Estevan, were on hand this week when the Aviation Technology program honored her for her accomplishment. In later years, he and her grandmother moved near Hensley Airpark located in the Chuckey community of Greene County.  He turned his skills to restoring airplanes and flying experimental aircraft. The aviation life left quite an impression on his granddaughter.

“We would go to my grandparents’ house, and he would take us flying,” said Estevan. “People would build aircraft, and he would put the first 40 hours of flight on those aircraft as the first person to fly them.”

Her father’s work for the government required Estevan’s family to relocate frequently. She opted to live with her grandmother and finish high school at David Crockett High School.

“That decision sparked a lot of things,” Estevan said. “Learning more about my grandfather and his life.”

After high school, Estevan enrolled at another institution to pursue a degree in nursing. She rethought that choice and sought a different path. She had long been interested in becoming a mechanic.  Her father did some research and discovered the aviation technology program at Northeast State. She enrolled at Northeast State in January 2022.

The program challenges students in the classroom and the laboratory.  Estevan cited the program’s path to the associate degree as a significant factor in her decision to head Northeast.

The decision was more straightforward for Estevan than most. Before she decided to master the mechanical technology of an aircraft, she was flying one. She spent 18 months of training to earn her pilot’s license at Moore-Murrell Airport in Morristown. She is licensed to pilot fixed-wing aircraft.

“Your first day of instruction, you are in the airplane learning how it flies, and two times per week we were in the air,” said Estevan of her pilot’s training. “During the ground school section, we studied the weight and balance of the plane and weather issues.”

Northeast State offers an associate of applied science degree (A.A.S.) in Aviation Technology and a technical certificate in Aviation Maintenance Technology.  The degree program requires students to complete 63 credit hours of core curriculum and aviation-specific courses.

As the only female in her course, Estevan sets a high standard for women considering the aviation technology field. She said her classmates bonded by working together over the course of the program.

“We kid each other quite a bit and do many things together on weekends,” she said. “They made me feel welcomed over there.”

The Aviation Technology program operates in the 13,000-square-foot Northeast State Aviation (NSA) Center at Tri-Cities Airport. The FAA awarded the airframe rating to the program in 2021.  The rating granted the aviation technology program the FAA’s Part 147 airframe certification required for aviation teaching schools. The program received the FAA’s powerplant rating in March 2022.

Aviation technology students must pass three FAA certifications: general, airframe, and powerplant. The oral exam section pushes students to answer rapid-fire questions from proctors.  The practical examination puts students to the hands-on test of completing maintenance project challenges on the aircraft to demonstrate technical ability and problem-solving.

Estevan and her classmates began the program’s powerplant curriculum this past spring semester. Those courses continue through the summer term concluding in late July. Estevan expects to take the powerplant section of the FAA certification test in early August. She plans to graduate with her A.A.S. degree by the end of the entire summer term.

She encouraged anyone interested in joining the burgeoning field of aviation technology to schedule a visit to the Northeast State Hangar. The program’s aircraft maintenance, drone technology, and avionics versatility provide students with many professional options.

“Check out the facility and research it,” she said. “Whether you want to learn for a career or just learn to do something new, the program gives you a great opportunity to go wherever you want.”