I want to be successful and make it through the program. Any thoughts ? There is no feeling like going to the airport and I know this is the career I want .
James,
You’re instructor will guide you through everything you need to know/do,
but here are some things that I believe are important.
study. The students that were the most successful were the ones that didn’t
need to be told what to do during their free time. They wanted to
understand things on a deeper level and were always hungry for more. My
suggestion is to get the Self Study Lessons done first, since you will be
held accountable to get those done. Try not to rush through each lesson
without doing the assigned reading. You’ll be doing yourself a favor if you
take the time to read.
Read the ATP Supplement for your aircraft. Memorize the limitations of the
airplane and be able to answer the questions in the back. Also read the POH
(Pilot Operating Handbook) for your aircraft. You will have access to
digital copies on your iPad. Don’t just skim through it.
Become familiar with your checklists and memorize every emergency procedure
on the Emergency Checklist.
Use the ACS (or PTS depending on which rating you’re preparing for) as a
guide for what you’re expected to know for the check ride.
Tory
James,
Tory is 100% correct. It’s all about work ethic. Far too many people show up and say “I paid my money now make me a pilot”. Neither ATP nor the airlines will hold your hand or even push you to excel. If you TRULY want to be a pilot than you need to put in the time and effort. When I was a student at ATP there were guys who played X-Box till the early morning, didn’t study or complete the Writtens till they had to and spent their free time with their girlfriends or doing anything studying. I’m not going to tell you I had no down time but that only came after “I” was satisfied that I had done as much work as possible, NOT the bare minimum to get through. Well it’s many years later and from our group only me and Chris are flying for Majors. One is still at a Regional and the rest were never offered instructor positions due to checkride and written exam failures and haven’t flown since.
That’s ALOT of money to blow to play X-Box and tell your friends how you were “almost” an airline pilot. Oh yea they also occasionally post on other forums about how ATP is a scam 
Adam
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I plan to be 100 percent committed with no distractions , I’m that serious
You should be.
Adam