They’re on Top of Props : Aviation: Orange Coast College program gives women entree into the field of airplane mechanics.

Mitzi Farber is entering a field where women have not participated in numbers since Rosie the Riveter during World War II.

And just as Rosie was handy with a riveter on the aircraft assembly line, Farber feels she can fix planes as adroitly as a man can and sometimes better.

“Women are more subtle,” said the 34-year-old single mother from Costa Mesa. “When men get frustrated they pull out a hammer and say, ‘This will fix it,’ and try to pound their way in instead of searching for a better way.”

Farber is one of seven women being trained in aviation mechanics through a special two-year training program at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.

“It’s a great atmosphere and everybody is real friendly,” Farber said. “I just finished the first portion of the training and I love it.”

The training program began in January as an occupation alternative for women. The school hopes to enlist at least eight more women, said Robert V. Clinton, chairman of the technology department at the college.

Single parents, pregnant women and unemployed single women living in housing projects are eligible to enroll, Clinton said. “Men are also eligible but the program is aimed at women,” he said.

“We pay their tuition, tools, books and child care but they can make their own arrangements,” he said. The school receives $25,000 from the Willow Brown grant administered by the state Department of Education to broaden job possibilities for women.

“The women’s work force are all crowded into a few traditional job occupations,” Clinton said. He added that only nine women are enrolled for the Federal Aviation Administration-approved training and the school is having difficulty finding women who meet economic qualifications. Aviation training is currently out of session but will resume Aug. 16 with a projected class of 15 students.

“We are looking for women who live in housing projects who need a break to get back into the work force,” he said, “women who have been out of work for a while and need technical training to get a job.”

Jim Testerman, who began teaching aviation mechanics last March, said one problem facing recruiters is the preconception that working with large airplane or jet engines requires brute strength. This is a myth, he said.

“Occasionally, strength comes into play but you simply use more leverage or get help if you need it,” Testerman said. “But aircraft mechanics is not real heavy-duty as in diesel mechanics.”

However, one student did drop out because of a strength problem, he said.

Farber also feared she would not have the necessary strength to perform the tasks of a mechanic and was hesitant about enrolling when her welfare counselor told her about the class.

She was not sure she could handle the big engines and was intimidated by the technology. The only technically oriented job she had before involved work as an assistant for her dentist father but she was “bored to death.”

“I always had a boyfriend who worked on cars so when I heard about the training through (the welfare department) I thought that might be interesting,” Farber said. “But when we first started learning, I thought I’m not going to be able to learn this stuff.”

Now she races to class and can hardly wait for the next session to begin.

“They call me ‘Turbo’ because I’m so anxious about the training,” said Farber, who has two sisters--one an interior decorator and the other a graphic artist.

Another student, Trishia Neuenschwander, a 29-year-old single mother of three, said she signed up for the course after her counselor persuaded her to give it a try.

“I didn’t think I would like it,” she said. “I wanted to be in the medical field doing ultrasound exams or doing counseling.”

And after a few weeks in the course, Neuenschwander was not sure she was prepared for a life in aviation mechanics.

“But when we started doing hands-on things, I really started enjoying it,” she said. “Once we began working on the Cessna engine, I knew it was for me.”

Before long, Neuenschwander was getting A’s on her tests.

“I got a 100% in my last test,” she said excitedly.

Neuenschwander says her family is proud of her and often brag about her experiences and knowledge. Her father, an ex-flier, enjoys being able to “talk shop” with his daughter.

Even better, she said, her 10-year-old son enjoys telling his friends she is an aviation mechanic.

“Every time he hears a plane in the sky, he says: ‘Mom fixes that,’ ” Neuenschwander said.