I’ve chatted back and forth with a few of the mentors here and I thought it was time to start documenting my journey.
Where I am:
Background- 9 years as a full time firefighter and paramedic
Medical- 1st class
Training- I started at a local part 61 school at the beginning of April. I’m able to schedule 3-4 flights/week and I am making steady progress. Unfortunately the spring weather in central Texas is hit or miss, so I’ve had several flights canceled for weather but I’ve still managed to accrue about 10 hours. I just turned in my solo checkout written test and my instructor is going to have me do my solo check flight in a couple of weeks. I’m fortunate that my instructor is a former military officer, a West Point graduate, and has about 900 hours of flight time so he’s consistent and squared away. He’s kind of at the perfect sweet spot of having enough experience to be a highly effective instructor but not enough hours that he’s likely to move on before I finish training with him.
Education- I don’t have a degree but I know I need one to be competitive. I do have about 100 college hours through my career certifications, but not enough in the right pathway to make a degree. I started working on my actual degree about a year and a half ago, and I need to CLEP two classes over the summer and I’ll have my associate’s, then I’ll pause to finish flight training, and jump back in to finish my bachelor’s as soon as flight training is complete. What can I say, some of us find our real motivation and goals a little later than others.
What’s next?-
At my current pace I think I’ll finish my PPL around the end of July. My goal is to attend ATP with either credit for solo or credit for PPL. Last year when I applied ATP Admissions told me to get my PPL and reapply. I contacted them today to update them on my progress and ask whether they would recommend applying to the new credit for solo track or if they are going to want me to finish my PPL and go that route.
I’ll keep this thread updated with any notable developments/milestones.
I think the 3-4 times a week is good, at ATP you could expect to see 4-5 flight events during your Private Pilot as you build on the foundation and fundamentals of flying.
Once you get the Private Pilot, then reapply to ATP.
Progress continues-
I’m sitting around 15-16 hours and will be doing my solo check after another couple of flights. My instructor is off next week to get his multi-engine, so he’s putting me with another set of eyes for a couple of days before my check out.
I finished all my ground school (twice actually, because I did Sporty’s on my own but my part 61 school uses the King Cessna program) and those concepts are really clicking. From my personal experience, if you do your written before starting actual flying, the tests are certainly passable before you sit in a plane, but you probably won’t have any real understanding of the material. I know it’s highly recommended to take all of your written tests before starting at ATP and I’m sure there’s a reason for that. People who were successful at ATP are the ones who recommend that strategy, and I would listen to them. HOWEVER, if your like me and you were told to get your PPL before reapplying to ATP, my recommendation is to do the ground school lessons before you fly, but wait to take your test until you’ve got some hours in your logbook. It will be a lot easier for you.
Last thing I have to say for this update:
Listen to the mentors on this forum. They know what it takes to be successful because they’ve done it themselves. I see so many people who are just starting out come on here to ask a question, and then argue with the mentors because they don’t like the answer. Not every part of this process is going to be fun, or interesting, or exactly what you want to do, but you’re going to have a much better time if you take the advice of the people who have been there before you.
