After a some months of research and hard decision making by my family and I, a start date at ATP has been set! June 6th at the Arlington, TX location. Super excited for this new adventure and already rolling throw study material for my writtens. I have stumbled upon some questions already, being someone who is at the very beginning stages of school and would like to see what other students have used.and have done.
1.) I went back and forth on the ipad size and what I needed. Ended up with the new gen 9 ipad and opted up to the 256GB version. 10.2 screen (hopefully that’s not to big) not sure what other students have found to be the most user friendly size and model but I wanted something I could use to study on as well with a screen size that didn’t feel like I was on my phone all day.
2.) Just ordered a David Clark H10-13X headset. I feel that this had great reviews and saved me some money compared to the A20’s (hoping to upgrade to these in the future when I have an income from flying) Hoping I’m happy with these.
3.) Kneepad & Flashlight, hoping I can’t mess this up. Just got a basic one.
4.) Travel bag, I have not purchased one of these yet because I’m not sure what I’m looking for in one? is this separate from the backpack that comes with our bundle? Any recommendations or suggestions on this item would be appreciated.
5.) How do I go about getting an IACRA? I don’t know how far in advance I need to schedule my writtens but I’m about 80% through my King School stuff and I’m trying to have a good plan for the month of May and when I should be taking certain writtens by to complete them all by my start date. I need that FAA tracking number apparently to view testing sites, dates, and times.Also, I think I took out extra money on my loan for “examiner and knowledge test fees” does this include the writtens?
Congrats on your start date! This literally is the single biggest step in your way to a career as an airline pilot. Make sure and keep up the enthusiasm. I’ll let others comment on the gear as it’s been quite a while since I did my training (we didn’t even have iPads!) and I’m sure there’s some new sexy stuff out there.
I think you will be pleased with your iPad selection. 256GB is well beyond what you’ll need and that screen size is generous but also conservative.
Kneepads are pretty simple. Whatever you selected I am sure is fine. While there are some kneepads out there that someone has really put some thought into, as long as your kneepad keeps your iPad where it’s supposed to be, that’s the most important part.
I actually remember one of my students converted his iPad case into a kneeboard with some Velcro, elastic and paper clips. That’s really all they are.
Congrats on your upcoming start date! I agree, great choices. Can’t really go wrong, it’s just all personal preference. I like that you went with a standard size iPad because you’ll find it compatible for flying, preflight planning and even working on ground studies or watching elevate seminars. It can do it all.
Please keep us updated as you begin and as always let us know if there is anything else we can do to help prepare you for your upcoming class date!
I just enrolled in ATP and have a start date of March 20 at Ogden, Utah! I’m super excited, but of course have lots of questions!!
I saw in your post that you decided to get the iPad 9 generation. After reading countless posts I understand it’s totally personal preference, but I’m on the fence between the mini 6 and the air 5 (slightly wider than the iPad 9 gen).
Having been a good chunk of the way through the program, if not finished, how was your experience with the bigger size of the iPad 9 gen? If you could do it over again would you have gotten the mini, or did it work out just fine for you?
I enjoyed having the larger iPad but if you have a laptop you can easily carry around then the mini with the larger GB storage would be ideal. I found it harder to find good knee boards for the bigger IPad. With that being said you can’t go wrong. Really is preference.