This unit's sources are the regulations themselves, not a handbook. FAA-H-8083-30B explains; 14 CFR governs. Where they differ, the regulation wins, and a candidate who has read only the handbook has read a summary of the thing rather than the thing.
Every citation below is linked. the project's working instructions requires it, and this is the unit where it matters most.
The regulations
| Elements | Source |
|---|---|
K1, K2, K23 — certificate privileges, recent experience, address change |
§ 65.81 general privileges and limitations, § 65.83 recent experience requirements, § 65.21 change of address |
K3, K4, K7, K15–K17, S1, S7, S15–S18 — records, major/minor, approved data |
14 CFR part 43, including appendix A — major alterations, major repairs and preventive maintenance, all three — and appendix D, scope and detail for annual and 100-hour inspections alike |
S4 — the recurring AD record entry |
§ 43.9 for what any maintenance record entry shall contain, and § 91.417(a)(2) for what makes a recurring AD different: the status record shall carry the method of compliance, the AD number and revision date, and the time and date when the next action is due. A one-off AD entry that omits the next-due figure is complete; the same entry against a recurring AD is not. The entry goes in the record of the product the AD applies to — the airframe, the engine, the propeller or the appliance — and identifies that product. § 91.417(a)(1) keeps records "for each aircraft (including the airframe) and each engine, propeller, rotor, and appliance", so an AD against the propeller belongs in the propeller's record, not only the airframe's |
K6 — maintenance terminology |
14 CFR § 1.1 — maintenance, preventive maintenance, major repair and major alteration are all defined there, and the definitions are what appendix A is measured against. Minor repair and minor alteration are defined only by exclusion: "a repair other than a major repair" and "an alteration other than a major alteration" |
K19, K20, S12 — inoperative equipment, placards, instrument markings |
§ 91.213 inoperative instruments and equipment, § 91.9 civil aircraft flight manual, marking, and placard requirements |
K8 — the regulatory framework |
The structure of 14 CFR itself. The parts a mechanic uses, by their official titles, with what each is for: part 1, Definitions and Abbreviations — the meaning of the words every other part uses; part 21, Certification Procedures for Products and Articles — type certificates, STCs, airworthiness certificates, parts manufacturer approvals; part 39, Airworthiness Directives; part 43, Maintenance, Preventive Maintenance, Rebuilding, and Alteration — how the work is done and recorded; part 65, Certification: Airmen Other Than Flight Crewmembers — the mechanic certificate and its privileges; part 91, General Operating and Flight Rules — the flight rules, and in subpart E the owner's duties, required inspections and maintenance records; part 145, Repair Stations; part 147, Aviation Maintenance Technician Schools. Titles read from the eCFR structure of title 14 on 26 September 2026. FAA-H-8083-30B Ch. 2 summarizes each part, under Overview — Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) |
The record entry, quoted
14 CFR § 43.9(a) requires each entry to contain:
"(1) A description (or reference to data acceptable to the Administrator) of work performed. (2) The date of completion of the work performed. (3) The name of the person performing the work if other than the person specified in paragraph (a)(4) of this section. (4) If the work performed on the aircraft, airframe, aircraft engine, propeller, appliance, or component part has been performed satisfactorily, the signature, certificate number, and kind of certificate held by the person approving the work. The signature constitutes the approval for return to service only for the work performed."
Four items. Learn them as four items, because S7 is exactly this and nothing more.
Two things in (4) are easy to read past. The signature is owed only if the work was performed
satisfactorily, and it approves for return to service only the work performed — not the
aircraft. S15 turns on the second of those.
The privilege, quoted
14 CFR § 65.81(a) — note the two limitations candidates do not expect:
"…(but excluding major repairs to, and major alterations of, propellers, and any repair to, or alteration of, instruments)… However, a certificated mechanic may not supervise the maintenance, preventive maintenance, or alteration of, or approve for return to service, any aircraft or appliance, or part thereof, for which that person is rated unless that person has satisfactorily performed the work concerned at an earlier date. If that person has not so performed that work at an earlier date, that person may show the ability to do it by performing it to the satisfaction of the Administrator or under the direct supervision of a certificated and appropriately rated mechanic, or a certificated repairman, who has had previous experience in the specific operation concerned."
It is a limitation with a route through it, not a bar. Read without the final sentence it looks absolute, and it is not: supervision by someone who has done the work, or a demonstration to the Administrator, opens it. GEN-I Concepts §2 has always said so.
§ 65.81(b) is the quiet third limitation. The privileges may not be exercised at all unless the mechanic understands the current manufacturer's instructions and the maintenance manuals for the specific operation concerned.
See GEN-I Concepts §2.
The publications
| Elements | Source |
|---|---|
K9, K12, S6, S11 |
FAA databases — type certificate data sheets, the AD database, the STC database. Live sources; the object of the skill. For what an advisory circular is — guidance showing one acceptable method, not binding unless a regulation incorporates it by reference — read FAA-H-8083-30B Ch. 2, Advisory Circulars (AC), and GEN-I Concepts §3 |
K10, S8 |
The AD itself, and the AMOC process |
K11, K13, K14, K21, K22, S10, S13 |
Manufacturer publications — maintenance manual, illustrated parts catalog, service bulletins, instructions for continued airworthiness |
K11 — the master minimum equipment list |
A master minimum equipment list (MMEL) is written for an aircraft make and model. The ACS files it with the manufacturer's publications, but FAA-H-8083-25C Ch. 9, Minimum Equipment Lists (MEL) and Operations With Inoperative Equipment, says "The FAA has developed" the MMELs. The MMEL is not flown. The operator develops its own operations and maintenance procedures from it, and "This MMEL with O&M procedures now becomes the operator’s MEL." The MEL is issued to that operator and that aircraft with a letter of authorization. § 91.213(a) then requires "An approved Minimum Equipment List" for that aircraft, and says "The Minimum Equipment List and the letter of authorization constitute a supplemental type certificate for the aircraft." |
K5, S1, S2 |
FAA Forms 337, 8010-4, 8100-2, 8130-3 and their instructions |
S5 |
The aircraft's equipment list, carried in the weight and balance record. Compare it against what is installed. Note that this is not the Minimum Equipment List of § 91.213: the MEL says what may be inoperative for despatch, the equipment list says what the aircraft is supposed to have. Reaching for the wrong one is the characteristic error |
S14 |
The type certificate data sheet, which states maximum weights for the type, read together with the aircraft's own weight and balance record for the effect of any approved alteration. The TCDS is the authority; the record is what makes it specific to the airplane in front of you |
R2 |
Safety data sheets for every product in use |
Every provision cited on this page was read against eCFR on 28 August 2026, and the two quoted passages were cross-checked against Cornell LII. Section and appendix titles are the official ones. Verification corrected two quotations and two appendix descriptions; our regulatory citation check checks that every citation here is linked, that each link matches the provision it claims, and that each one is in
regulatory-citations.jsonwith the date it was read.
License
CC BY-SA 4.0 (Licensing).