AFS-12-516-E 

October 12, 2012 

 Exemption No. 10640 

 Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2012-0915 

Mr. David L. Jones 

Corporate Aviation Education Director 

Aviation Institute of Maintenance 

4455 South Boulevard 

Virginia Beach, VA 23452 

Dear Mr. Jones: 

This letter is to inform you that we have granted your request for exemption. It transmits our 

decision, explains its basis, and gives you the conditions and limitations of the exemption, 

including the date it ends. 

The Basis for Our Decision 

By letter dated August 22, 2012, you petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 

on behalf of Technical Educational Services Inc., d.b.a. Aviation Institute of Maintenance 

(AIM) for an exemption from § 65.75(a) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) to 

the extent necessary to allow AIM to administer the aviation mechanic general written test to 

students immediately following their successful completion of the general curriculum but 

before they meet the experience requirements of § 65.77. 

The FAA has determined that good cause exists for not publishing a summary of the petition 

in the Federal Register because the requested exemption would not set a precedent, and any 

delay in acting on this petition would be detrimental to AIM. 

The FAA has issued grants of exemption in circumstances similar in all material respects to 

those presented in your petition. In Partial Grant of Exemption No. 7926 (copy enclosed), the 

FAA noted that § 65.80 allows students to take equivalency tests for the aviation maintenance 

airframe and aviation maintenance powerplant. In Grant of Exemption No. 7926, copy 

enclosed, the FAA agreed with the petitioner that testing immediately after learning is a 

universally accepted instructional principal that reinforces learning and that such testing is 

academically sound. Therefore, the FAA allowed the petitioner to test students immediately 
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after they successfully complete the general curriculum but before they meet the experience 

requirements of § 65.77. 

Having reviewed your reasons for requesting an exemption, I find that— 

 they are similar in all material respects to relief previously requested in the enclosed Grant 

of Exemption No. 7926; 

 the reasons stated by the FAA for granting the enclosed Grant of Exemption No. 7926 

also apply to the situation you present; and 

 for the reasons stated in Grant of Exemption No. 7926, a grant of exemption is in the 

public interest. 

Our Decision 

Under the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. §§ 40113 and 44701, which the FAA 

Administrator has delegated to me, I hereby grant Aviation Institute of Maintenance (Air 

Agency Certificate 1QAT602K), an exemption from 14 CFR § 65.75(a). This exemption 

would allow AIM to administer the aviation mechanic general (AMG) written test to students 

immediately following their successful completion of the general curriculum but before they 

meet the experience requirements of § 65.77, subject to the conditions and limitations 

described below. 

Conditions and Limitations 

1. Before exercising the privileges of this exemption, AIM must provide its operations 

manual to its certificate holding district office and receive approval. 

2. AIM’s operations manual must contain the manner in which oral and practical tests 

are to be administered, and the times and places at which AIM intends to administer 

tests under this exemption. 

3. AIM’s operations manual must contain procedures for retesting after failure of the oral 

or practical test for an instructional unit. 

4. Before retesting after failure, AIM must require a student to repeat the entire 

instructional unit associated with the failed test and receive authorization from AIM to 

retake the test. 
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5. AIM’s operations manual must contain procedures for documenting and tracking 

compliance with all retesting procedures. 

This exemption terminates on October 31, 2014, unless sooner superseded or rescinded. 

Sincerely, 

/s/ 

Raymond Towles 

Acting Director, Flight Standards 

 Service 

Enclosure