Just wondering if that is realistic? its being offered and I’m wondering if there is not enough ground included in the package.
Seth,
I am having a hard time understanding your question. What is being offered?
Who is offering it? What package?
Tory
Seth,
Maybe? 5 days a week x 9mos = 45 so you’re talking less than 2hrs of ground a day. Is that enough? If you’re doing a fair amount of self study and have good comprehension, sure. If you’re not than it’s not. What if you need more? Is it available? We need more info.
Adam
Wow you guys are really fast to respond on here. Thanks very much for the help. So the situation is I already have 50 hours in helicopters coming into the fixed wing world. There is a program out of VNY with a school that offers all rating single and multi instrument commercial private. The package includes 80 hours ground so I figured an hour ground each session and hour -2 hour flight each session that’d be 20 hours ground per month so if I did ground every session then we’d be looking at only 4 months of ground and it’s a 9 month program. Is this because ground is not really needed everyday? I plan to do a lot of self study as well.
Seth,
We would love to help you, but you are asking us to comment on the specifics of a program that none of us are familiar with. Heck, we don’t even know the name of the flight school. We have no way of knowing how they teach their ground schools or their flying lessons, so we really can’t comment.
Check out his list of questions that I came up with, it will help you when talking to various flight schools.
Seth,
Thank you for clarifying. It depends on the student. Some need more ground
than others. In my opinion it depends mostly on how much private pilot
knowledge a student “dumped.” The more private knowledge a student has
forgotten, the harder commercial multi will be.
If this program that you are referring to is from Private through
commercial, I think 80 hours is light. To give you an idea, I gave my
private students an average of 60 hours of ground. If the program did not
include the private license then I think 80 hours would be enough.
Tory
Seth,
I see no mention of any CFI certs? How do you intend to build time after you get your CPL? Just curious?
Adam
CFI CFII are included as well with the program. Thank you both for the information I will be back here again I’m sure soon. 
That’s good but as the CFI checkride is the most extensive (and requires ALOT of prep) I can tell you the 80hrs sounds VERY light.
Adam
How much ground ground does the Long Beach atp program offer for the whole program then ? It’s 45 minutes away compared to the school I’m looking at in van nuys being 10 mins away from me. Also would they honor my 50 hours in rotorcraft that I have?
Thanks
Seth,
As with all flight time, your 50 hours will be honored towards total time.
Even though some of your helicopter training might fulfill some private
pilot airplane requirements, you will still need to complete ATP’s full
private pilot course.
The amount of ground a student will receive is not fixed. It is as needed.
Which is a good thing, in my opinion. Everyone is different. Some students
may require more attention than others. As long as students are on track
and passing their check rides, everyone is happy. That said, a lot of ATP’s
ground is done independently. Do not expect to be spoon fed. Students are
provided with every resource needed to become a competent pilot and pass
the check rides, but it is imperative for students to put in the effort,
use those resources and learn the information.
Tory
Seth,
You can obviously go to any flight school you choose. We’re not salesman for ATP and we’re not here to pick other schools apart as there are many fine schools out there. We all did our training with ATP and all had very positive experiences which helped us to achieve our goal and we’re simply “spreading the gospel”. While the other school may be closer and possibly less expensive this is not lunch we’re not talking McD’s vs BK. This is YOUR career and YOUR money. ATP has over 300 airplanes, over 40 locations and has placed over 300 pilots at airlines in the last year alone. This is a Major investment of time and money on your part and the decision is an important one. You’re doing your research which you definitely should be. Just remember there are possibly more important factors than distance and price.
Adam