I wanted to come on here and introduce myself after reading this forum since 2019! (Extreme aviation geek). My name is Jay and I will be starting my ATP flight training at KPNE in just two short weeks on Feb 5! I am 20 years old, and was a collegiate athlete at the University of Delaware (ice hockey) before making the ultimate decision to come to ATP and pursue a career in aviation!
ATP hooked me up with an early start date (signed up Dec, start date Feb), finished and took notes on all 63 orientation modules and took the PAR and passed with an 80%. (Not too happy with that score). Taking the IRA and FII before my start date on Jan 31 as well to get a total of 3 writtens out of the way before I start doing the fun stuff.
Wanted to hop on here to document my time with ATP for both the readers who also are interested in attending/ attending ATP, and for myself to come back to in the future to ask questions.
You shouldnât be and hopefully youâll realize this isnât simply about checking boxes before you get to the âfun stuffâ. An 80 is closer to failing than to 100 the DPEs know this well. They also no the writtens are the easiest part of the process and will judge you accordingly.
Thank you so much for the responses, and wonderful insight about the writtens.
Adam, you are absolutely correct about the written exams and donât worry, I have learned my lesson from the PAR and have been grinding for the IRA and FII exams with Sheppard Air and am confident in taking them on the 31st. I will make it one of my main goals that the PPL is the last time DPEs will have to really test me because of my written score. These responses have also given me even more motivation to continue, so thank you to both pilot mentors!
This forum was one of many reasons I chose ATP as my flight school to do my training at. There is SO much valuable information through thousands of threads, which are all stored on this domain. Itâs nice to hear that the recommendations and experiences from others here assisted in your doing.
Like the others, aim to get a much higher score, Sheppard Air (IMO) is easier to study and prep for every written here on, the first one can be a bit challenging as youâre unsure of what to expect.
I look forward to seeing your updates as you get a chance to post! Solo pictures are welcomed.
I definitely agree that Sheppard Air is an easier tool to study. For the PAR I used ASAâs Private Prepware app off ATPâs recommendation since Sportyâs no longer has an iOS app; I realized while taking the PAR that there were a good amount of questions I had never seen before. However, I really do put the blame on myself knowing I probably could have and should have studied harder, maybe utilizing more softwares like Kings; so I am really going to get after the rest of the exams. Will definitely update on the IRA and FII exams and although far away, will definitely keep solo pics in mind!
The unfortunate reality of those free apps, they donât get updated nearly as often so itâs not a surprise there were some questions that were new. Sheppard Air is incredible at what they do. Also, you get what you pay for. Read all the directions and follow the protocol EXACTLY. If you do, youâll get a great score.
Thanks for the advice! Sheppard Airâs study strategy seems unmatched from my research, and yes⊠anyone who is reading this I think it is recommended not to use the free applications for the PAR unless you are absolutely sure it would help, I failed to look at some of the comments that stated that the questions are outdated and fixated on comments from 3 years ago saying it was a perfect PAR study tool.
Youâll learn real fast when it comes time to studying the IRA and onward why Sheppard Air is the leader of all test prep material for the writtens. I have flashbacks in my sleep of some question and answers that I studied OVER and OVER.
Pushed me to study harder for these exams and glad it paid off!
Would it be recommended to look into/ start studying for the CAX while I do my private or just put all my focus on acing the checkride?
If you have time before your start date and completed REQUIRED Day 1 material, I would ABSOLUTELY try and knock it off your âto-doâ list before starting.
While the program is designed to study for the writtens within the timeline, any head start you can get done will only help you in the long run. Fun fact, you will see a lot of SIMILAR questions from your PAR on the CAX; the CAX is more designated to âfor hireâ operations, so they utilize a âsimilarâ test bank and reword some questions.
Great job! Thatâs a nice improvement from your PPL. The hard work paid off.
From your previous posts, it look slick you start tomorrow! Congratulations, Iâm sure youâre getting excited. At this point, I would just make sure youâve completed all the day one modules and checklist items. Get a good nightâs rest and try and relax. Itâs the last night of life before the journey of a lifetime!
A little update 3 days into the program. Took my first flight behind the controls! It was the most exhilarating moment of my life, we worked on the basic fundamentals. Second flight we did maneuvers like power on/off stalls, steep turns, and I did my TOL sim today and start flying in the pattern doing TOLs tomorrow!
The program is definitely a faster pace than I thought, if you arenât spending your time at the training center and going home directly after your instruction Iâd think it would be really hard to succeed in it. Iâm very thankful that the simulator is free as I spend a few more hours behind the sim controls every day after a flight, and then going in the classroom and working on ground, my Read View Doâs, or independent study.
Chair flying is also one of the most helpful things so far, beginning this program and never flying a plane I had no clue what a âflowâ was, and flows are the thing I work on the most to become proficient inside the airplane.
Every time we take off and get in the air I feel so thrilled, I hope that feeling doesnât go away as I fly more and more!
Yes, for prospective students reading this, I knew it was going to be a fast program, but not anywhere as fast as it actually is. It is going to be my 4th day tomorrow, and already have had a flight canceled due to weather and I am already starting my TOLs. My TOL eval is in 1.5 weeks to see if my takeoffs and landings are satisfactory for the program. I believe after that we go straight into the solo prep and solo stages. The days at the training center go by really quick too. Itâs FAST, but not fast in the way that it will go in one ear and out the other⊠I can tell ATP designed this program to where if the student puts in the work, they will succeed! An important lesson Iâve already learned from some of my peers who are in the instrument stage is when âATP tells you to read some pages or procedures in the supplements or textbooks, donât just skim through it, actually study and understand the material⊠it will help a ton in the long run.â
Will update the forum on the outcome of the TOL eval.
