General advice for starting out?

I’ve now passed the FAA physical, and I was able to get a cosigner for the loan. I am now very excited to start preparing, and will be contacting enrollment tomorrow to setup a start date. My hope is to start in October, but of course that is dependent on admissions. Aside from taking the FAA written exams before starting is there anything else I should study or prepare for?

Congrats on your progress, W. Aside from the written exams, there’s not much else you need to be doing right now. When you receive your official start date, you will be given access to the King School computer based training.

Tory

I would really just focus on the writtens. They will keep you plenty busy between now and your start date.

I now have an official start date of october 15th at the Denver location, and I’ll be going up there Saturday to check it out and do an intro flight.

Don I am also going to Wilmington DE hopefully september or October Class.

Nice to hear Mike. Are you coming with your private or starting from zero?

i will be starting from zero. I flew as a flight mechanic in the coast guard for 10 years and work part 91 and 135 for a while but zero pilot time.

Sounds good. If you start in October from zero and I start in February from private we’ll be working on the instrument about the same time.

Taken my PAR, IRA, and FII so far, and scored 90, 97, and 94. Though not a huge fan of the rote memorization approach of Sheppard air, it works very well.

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Those are great scores. Good work!

I’ve now finished all the required FAA written exams with a 87, 97, and 98 on the CAX, FIA, and FOI. Several of the instructors at the DEN location seemed surprised that I had completed all of the exams before my start date, I guess that most people don’t regardless of what ATP recommends on their website. I still have 1 1/2 months until my start date and have also completed all the private pilot modules on the extranet. What suggestions do you all have regarding what else I should study before I begin the program?

Well done! First, take a break and celebrate your accomplishments. Then, crack open the training supplement for the first airplane that you will be flying at the DEN training center.

Here’s some more guidance for you:
https://airlinepilot.life/t/what-does-an-atp-student-need-to-do-to-be-successful/10421/5

Tory

W,

Sounds like you have it all under control. You could also start in on the Private Pilot Oral Exam Guide book, it is one of my favorites.

Chris

Nice job! You’ll be well ahead of the game once you arrive, and I imagine whatever Instructor you end up with will feel like they’ve hit the jackpot, as their job will be made much easier by your effort.

I would definitely agree with Tory about reading through the training supplement for the Cessna. It’s got procedures and configurations specific to ATP, and you’ll be expected to learn and adhere to them.

Again, very nice job. Looking forward to meeting you when you arrive.

Thank you all for the responses and advice!

I just started my 4th week at the Denver location, and I feel like I am flying thru it(no pun intended). I had my take off and landing evaluation today and will be starting solo prep tomorrow. According to one of the more senior instructors who I flew with this past Sunday I may have my checkride in as little as 3-4 weeks at the rate I am going(flying 6 days a week). If that is the case it would put me a month ahead of the program outline. I am not sure if I will be able to keep up with this pace after that; I already had all the private modules done when I started the program, though I have barely started on the instrument ones. I want to thank everyone here for the advice they provided me before I started the program, I feel that is what allowed me to get to as far ahead as I am currently.

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Happy to hear our advice has contributed to your success. That’s what we’re here for. Hats off to you for putting in the work to get yourself so far ahead.

Tory

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W,

I am glad you are doing so well! Thanks for the update.

Chris

I have my instrument checkride on Tuesday, putting my about 1 1/2 months ahead in the program. I should be done in May, about 2 months ahead, according to my instructor. He is an amazing instructor and considering about 80% of students are behind at our location( according to the instructors), I don’t think our location has a better instructor than Nick S.

80% are behind? Congrats for being ahead though and good luck on instrument I just passed my instrument check ride yesterday (not at ATP though, just a mom and pop flight school but it still only took me 6.5 weeks :wink: (ATP was my first choice but I’m 17 and didn’t want to wait till I turned 18)