I am an aspiring and new private pilot certificate holder (effective of April 2019). I have acquired around 50 flight hours passing my checkride at 41. I am looking to further my passion and love for aviation in the ways of acquiring MEL, Commercial, and furthermore my ATP as an objective, a goal I would consider is to be a lifelong pilot. Since I was in my younger days I can remember looking at my hometown airport wanting to get behind the yoke and fly, unfortunately, I couldn’t touch the pedals at 8 years old…major disappointment! They always say, it is never too late to start something new. I was 22 years old when I started my flight training, March 2018 to be exact, finishing one year and one month later. I am now looking to go one step further etc.
I have many choices and paths that I can take and I’m scared (I’ll admit it). I currently am 23, I have a College Degree in Business Marketing from Penn State, which I have loans out for still through a loan provider. I understand that life is a full of risks and options and this is why I am reaching out. I am currently working fulltime, but I want to fly, I want to soar through the clouds, chasing sunsets and racing the sunrise for the red eye flights. The fear I have is financially, I have already been on my ‘own’ in college where I would starve myself because I did not have an income and I don’t want to be again in that stage. Below are a short of questions which could help my fear of “getting up and moving towards my life goal.”
With my 50 hours already acquired in flight training, will these count towards ATP Flight Schools training program? Will I already have a ‘jump’ start in my training towards my lifelong goal? While at ATP ‘FS’, is a student able to work a job and still study? What is the studying like to getting the necessary ratings, etc.?
Nice job getting your PPL in min time. On to your questions.
In order to get credit for your PPL for the ATP program you’ll need at least 78hrs total time. The time is required to satisfy the Commercial license he requirement.
While no one can tell you what to do working while in the program is strongly discouraged. The program is highly accelerated taking what most schools take years to accomplish into months. You said it took you a year and a month to earn your PPL. With ATP you’ll add your ME, IR, CPL and all 3 CFIs in less than half that time. It requires a huge amount of focus and discipline to be successful. Some have tried to add a job to the equation but most have failed.
Studying is primarily done on your own. ATP has online study modules and cites the associated texts for further reading. This is how ATP has been able to condense their training in such a short amount of time. Although, most of the studying is done independently, there will be ground sessions with your instructor to enhance/reinforce what you’ve learned.
Thank you for the strong advice, I think my next course of action is to fly those hours remaining so that I can come in with a ‘step forward’. 28 hours is not a lot if I can get up 2 hours a week until next summer. I was looking at enrolling for late Summer/Fall next year. Does the schools offer an opportunity where you can visit, I was also interested in flying down to schools to view the airplanes, meet some instructors and see where I could fit in best.
I know studying by myself has been a struggle in the past, any idea on how to prepare for these knowledge tests? I am guessing avoid Sporty’s and Cessna’s courses for all the ratings because the school goes through Kings?
Correct me if I am wrong, my knowledge tests are good for one year prior to testing date, so my goal would be to (if I was looking to enroll late Summer/Fall) take them early Summer so I have plentiful time to ‘check-out’.
when I was originally enrolling I visited one of the schools close to me, and they basically took me on a tour of their facility and showed me their planes. You just have to call ATP and set it up because not every location offers a tour I believe.
So your suggestion from what you’re describing to me is if I am looking to enroll late Summer of 2020, to take my writtens’ in the Spring, starting maybe early February? By you saying 2-4 months, is that like every single one of them or as a whole?
Earlier there was a mention that there must be 78 hours of flight time logged for the Commercial License? Can you explain this a little more by chance, I thought a CML was around 200 hours.
Thanks for your response! That’s great to hear, you’re absolutely right, I should always call ahead before planning to ensure I can that I have an arrangement. I was looking at possibly attending multiple schools to see where I would fit in best and feel a connection between the staff and other students. Where are you currently out of Josh, how would you describe your experience as an ATP student?
I’m at the PAE location in Washington. It’s honestly been an amazing experience. I started my PPL 4 years ago at a local flight school and ATP is by far more structured. Also, Better planes. More on top of flying. Not to mention all the other students and instructors I have met have been awesome. Not to mention the facility has spots where you can just study in your down time, and if you are like me, and a procrastinator, it’s not to be able to just come in and study instead of being at home.
That is awesome, I am thrilled to hear that. I know personally I was not strong in my knowledge test for my PPL, but I understood I made the dumb errors (the questions I thought were hard were easy, vice versa). How did you prepare for all your knowledge tests? You said about studying and things on downtime, what all are you currently studying while there if Tory above said about doing the knowledge tests ahead of time into ATP Flight School.
So for the Private written, you’d use the Kong’s schools site, then for the others, each person has there own way of doing things but most seem to use Sheppard air strictly for all the others. Honestly I suck a written tests. Always have. Hence I majored in English where I had no tests and only did paper so I didn’t do well on my PAR test but I smashed my checkride. I guess some examiners make ur checkride a bit harder if you miss a lot on the written but I didn’t experience that personally. Also by the time you take your checkride you would be able to answer all you missed anyway.
That’s quite comical, I will probably be in the same shoes. I totally got those easy questions wrong on the PAR, such as what is the red line on that air speed indicator, I totally blanked and said the stalling point (LOL)! I totally told my instructor I got that wrong that to expect that one…my DPE looked at me concerned until I told him my story, lol. I had a ton of wind shear at 2,000 feet where my DPE decided to keep me for all my maneuvers and left me with tough conditions…that’s what I guess for trying to joke around to fly the Citation XLS+ that he flies professionally for a company in the hangar office where we were (thankfully I knew him personally for many many years).
I have been looking around both Sheppard’s and King’s Air Flight school and confused all what materials and tests I would have to get. If I can get the books ahead of time I can start studying, but I got this “Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge” from my PPL, is this a good reference to fully read? I’ve skimmed through sections I struggled with on my mock knowledge test. Does ATP Flight School have an ‘open book’ policy, my DPE looked at me concerned when I didn’t have any materials in front of me to reference (such as the FAR AIM) to help guide with answers…I started using it which calmed my nerves down. I am looking towards Sheppard’s training that Tory suggested above.
2-4 months for ALL of them. Someone recently posted that they got them all done in less time. Really just depends on your study habits.
The 78 hour requirement applies if you are starting the program with a private pilot certificate. If so, you need a PPL plus 78+ hours. This ensures that you will meet the commercial requirements when the time comes. If you’re starting the program from zero, then this caveat does not apply.
Once you register for a start date, ATP will ship out all the books needed. That being said, the sheppard air which you’d probably use to study for your IRA and FII are online and training support, as part of the email they send you once you register, will have the notes on how to get the sheppard air program! Also yes, every checkride is open book! That being said you dont want to have to solely rely on being able to look things up. A general rule of thumb, is if the information is of immediate importance you should know it off the top of your head.
Thanks for the quick update, I will ensure to have acquired my 78+ hours that I would be sufficient with to acquire a standing with ATP as a PPL. I would be looking at a year tops to start enrollment, late summer/fall so I should have plentiful time.
Thanks for the update Josh! So when I begin and put my ‘deposit down’ into ATP Flight Schools they will ship all knowledge books? What you’re also saying and I think I possibly may be confusing this is, the IRA/FII testing is online once you’re in the school and started your training for the ME/IR/CML? I am just trying to get all my knowledge ahead of schedule to know what to prepare for, would love to come in fully ready and goal oriented!
What I mean is the study material for those tests is online.ATP just sends you info on how to acquire them to begin studying so you don’t actually have to wait for the care package they send
Hi I’m going on vacation for about month and a half and I was wondering which sportys should I buy from their website and what other materials do you recommend to help me pass all the written tests
so I didn’t do well on my PAR test but I smashed my checkride. I guess some examiners make ur checkride a bit harder if you miss a lot on the written but I didn’t experience that personally. Also by the time you take your checkride you would be able to answer all you missed anyway.