This is my first time posting here but I have been reading your posts/comments for awhile now. Can I just start by saying thank you everyone that has been kind enough to help us aspiring pilots. A lot of my questions have been answered on here and I would not have been confident signing up had it not been for your help.
Im a late starter. I turn 29 next year and start with the ATP in Arizona in July. I put my deposit down today and during the phone call I was so nervous. It seems like a lot of people can relate. This is definitely one of the biggest life changing decisions. I’ve come to accept the long sleeves bc of my tattoo, naked face bc of the “oxygen mask” and large financial burden from training. But there are 2 things that are still eating at me.
It always makes me smile when I hear people are concerned about the accelerated program. If you’re concerned about keeping up, what makes you think you can be an airline pilot? Newhire airline training makes ATP seem like HS. With that in mind the best thing you can do is complete all your written exams to lighten the load and more important commit 100% to the program. Honestly I didn’t find the program that challenging and it was considerably shorter when I went through it. The people who struggled were unwilling to make the sacrifice and put in the work. They spent time with their families and friends, watched sports and played video games. I studied, trained, ate and slept. Know why? Because I was committed to success. Do that you’ll be fine. Don’t and you won’t.
There are a few old jokes in the industry. The first is offensive and I’ll apologize first but pilots would say the most common disease in our industry is AIDS (Airline Induced Divorce Syndrome) and you’re not a real pilot till you have at least 2 alimony payments. Pilots fly away from home. It’s what we do. Yes as you gain seniority you’ll have more days off and more control over your schedule but you can count on being gone half the month for a while. Factor in overnights in nice hotels with a sprinkle of alcohol and you have a recipe for bad behavior. It’s critical you have a VERY understanding partner and you stay out of trouble.
I appreciate that you are concerned about the pace of the program, it is good that you realize that this will not just be a walk in the park. The best thing you can do to prepare is to complete all of your FAA written exams in advance.
I will be honest, if you have a partner that expects you to be home every night, this career will be problematic. In the begins you should count on being gone eighteen days per month, with it really only going down to about fourteen days per month with seniority. If your partner cannot handle the time apart, this will cause trouble for you. I would have a real, sit down talk with her and make sure this is something she can truly agree to. If not, you will need to choose either her, or the career.
Being a new airline pilot starting out I can tell you that it is hard on family and you have to have an understanding of the time you will be gone. The way my wife and I look at it is, yes I am not home every night, but in the future I will have more days off than working a regular job. That is just me trying to look at the bright side. However, starting out it is a big time commitment. For example, when I got hired by Skywest earlier this year that was at the end of May. From the end of May to the time I got my type rating at the beginning of August I only was able to see my family 4 days out of that whole time.
Another thing you have to prepare for is starting out you are going to be on reserve and most likely it wont be where you live. I am a commuter which means I have to use my days off to travel home, sometimes that works out and sometimes it does not. So I am away from my family a lot right now but that is something my wife came in knowing I was going to be a pilot. Hope this helps.
I was lucky enough to download the sportys app before it was off the iOS store. Should that still be fine for the PAR? Also, when it comes to questions about VOR , weight balance, sectionals etc. would you recommend YouTube videos to learn those? I find the GIS videos dry and fast so it’s hard to learn .
I’ll be in Mesa but I pushed out my start date until September so you should already be a private pilot by then! I’m sure we’ll see each other around. How’s your preparation going?
Sporty’s should be fine provided they’re still updating it. As for the rest there are tons of online resources but we honestly recommend straight rote memorization as the best route in the beginning.
As the others mentioned, Sporty’s and rote memorization will help you succeed through the PAR, after that exam, we recommend Sheppard Air. While it may seem like a “check in the box” to complete a written exam, it’s recommended to get the best score possible because the results will surface back come checkride time.
Srdjan,
Preparations are moving along…passed my PAR and working on my IRA now - it’s a whole different animal ha! Just following the study strategy - I definitely plan on having all the written tests done before I start. The Elevate courses for Private and Instrument were pretty great but I’ll most likely take the Instrument course again once I get to the instrument phase, there was just SO much information there. Best of luck with your program - I believe we Tucson students will head up to Mesa for MEI and I think for crew as well so I wouldn’t be surprised to run into you!
Good luck!
-Steve