My ATP Training Experience
I’m a little behind the ball compared to others since my “training†is pretty much done with ATP. But Ill go ahead and write my comments about how the summer of 2007 went….
I started the 90 day “Airline Career Pilot Program†on June 25th 2007 in Riverside, CA. I’m originally from Woodbridge, VA and I drove the 2500 miles from east coast to west coast. That was an adventure in itself. I’m going to break down the program into their separate sections for those reading…
I arrived June 23rd and picked up my keys from the ATP location. I was really scared when I first walked in, I had no idea what to expect. I stepped into the office and there where people sitting around obviously studying, and an instructor helping out a student on a cross country. I wasn’t sure who to talk to, and I didn’t want to bother anyone so I stood there for about 10 minutes before I was helped. At first I thought that it was pretty rude that no one said anything, but I later realized that about 5 people stop in every day just to ask about the program, so random people walking in is pretty normal.
An instructor finally walked up to me and asked what she could help me with, I let her know that I needed to pick up my key because I was starting the program on Monday. She helped me out with a key, and gave me all the info I needed for the apartment. As I was sitting at the desk a student walked in after just finishing his last checkride, he was to be my roommate for a few days before he moved out. I remember being extremely jealous that he was done with the program, and I couldn’t wait to be in his shoes.
So I head up to the apartment, which is actually pretty far from the airport in Riverside. I walk into the apartment and start getting situated since this was to be my home for the summer. My roommate came home a few hours later, since he had just finished the program he was in the mood for nothing but drinking, I wasn’t about to argue with that.
The rest of the weekend was pretty much a blur.
Private Pilot Multi –
The private pilot multi license is one of the easiest to get. For one its an add-on, meaning you only need to know about the aircraft and perform the maneuvers in the air. You don’t have to go over weather, or flight planning or any of that non-sense. You also have a huge help from ATP with the Piper Seminole Supplement, EVERYTHING you need to know for the checkride is inside of the supplement. Before you arrive ATP sends you a huge box of books, and included is the supplement. You should know it inside and out before even arriving. Some people take the PPAMEL checkride 4 or 5 days into beginning the program, knowing that supplement before arriving helps out a ton. I passed this checkride the first time.
Instrument Training –
This portion of the training is the second hardest portion. I don’t think its hard because its complicated, I think its hard because there is so much information to know. You cant possibly cover everything and know everything prior to your ride. During this portion you do many types of flights, to many different places. I suggest having your instrument written prior to even showing up to ATP. This will help in general understanding of instrument flying, including the rules, and just how things are done. It also takes away one less thing you need to have ready before your checkride. During this phase you also have 40 hours of sim time. The simulator SUCKS, the one in Riverside was extremely touchy. However being in the position of an instructor now, I don’t know how you would train an instrument pilot without a simulator, being able to do everything on the ground in a simulated, non-stressful environment helps. Pushing that freeze button when you’re confused and discussing with your instructor what your problem is, is great. You can’t do that in the air, obviously. 31 days into the program I took my instrument checkride and passed it! That was a great feeling, as I felt like I had really accomplished something. Not to mention that it had only taken me 31 days was awesome!
Cross Countries –
At the time of the cross countries I just wanted them to be over with so that I could finish the program. Now I wish I had enjoyed them more. There is absolutely no stress in this phase, it’s just you and another student flying the Seminole around the country. My first day of this phase I flew from Riverside to Sacramento to Salem, Oregon. The next day we flew back. I had a few days of Riverside – Sacramento – Riverside. One Phoenix round trip, and two Las Vegas round trips. After those my cross country partner and I began our trip to Jacksonville in the Seminole. We flew from Riverside – Phoenix – El Paso – San Angelo – Dallas – Monroe – Atlanta – Jacksonville. This took us 3 days and was great. We spent about 4 days in Florida, one day my partner had a day off and I flew down the Stuart, Florida and back. To head back west we flew from Jacksonville to Dallas for our jet ride, which was a lot of fun, but also kind of sucked because we had to get back into a Seminole after having the luxury of a private jet. After arriving into Dallas we stayed the night. My cross country partner and I where ready to be back in Riverside after being gone for so long. We decided to wake up as early as possible to try and make it all the way home in one day, and we did. We flew from Dallas – San Angelo – El Paso – Phoenix – Riverside. My logbook total for this day was about 9.5 hours total. This phase took me about 15 days and I logged around 70 hours multi-engine PIC.
Commercial –
Behind the private-multi add-on, this phase is the easiest. Because of the timing with CFI school I had about 2 ½ weeks for this phase, some people get 3 or 4 days. Every examiner is different on what they ask during a commercial initial checkride. The DE I used was big on pressurization, systems, and what a commercial pilot can do. The maneuvers are the same as a private-multi, but to a higher standard. I passed this checkride first time, and it felt great to have a commercial license.
CFI Phase –
This phase is the hardest. By the beginning of CFI School you must have your FOI and FIA writtens complete. It pretty much sucks that the hardest, most intense part of the program is supposed to be only 14 days long, for me it has been drug out to about 45 days, but Ill explain more in a minute.
I could probably write a book on this section. What I suggest to future students, is not to bother trying to study anything more than Fundamentals of Instructing before arriving, this section is fairly big, but is not covered that much during your ground school. My CFI School was in Las Vegas with the wonderful Frank Varselona as the “teacher.†Although I consider him to be more like a recorder, and they just press a “play†button on his back. He knows what he is talking about, he knows the Seminole inside and out, and has about 5000 hours in the plane. He is however, an asshole. But take in as much as he says as possible. He pretty much covers the PTS in a week, and it’s a ton to take in. He is an extremely negative person, he picks on students all the time, but you must know this going in and don’t take anything he says personally. During this phase you only get 5 hours of training in the right seat, and if you have never really flown in the right seat, it’s a big change. It feels strange controlling the yoke with your right hand, and controlling the throttle quadrant with your left hand. By the time I went for my flight on the checkride, I felt fairly comfortable however.
I did bust this checkride. I busted on the oral “Principles of Flight.†I made a bone-head mistake that I don’t want to discuss. I learned how the law of primacy can really affect a student, it messed with me and I busted. I studied the hell out of that section of the PTS in preparation for the re-check. I feel great for doing that, because I feel like I can teach that section extremely well now, but I didn’t need it for the checkride. At 5pm my examiner walked in for the re-check. At 510 we sat down in the closed room, he asked me the EXACT same questions I busted on, and of course I knew the answers. At 520 we walked out of the room to go fly! It was great. My actual flight I felt was crappy, but I talked my way through everything, which is what an instructor is supposed to do. We landed for the last time and he told me that as long as I didn’t hit a light on the way in, I was a new CFI. Those where the most awesome words I had heard during the whole program. I knew I could pass everything during the 90 days, but the CFI portion was up in the air, but I did it and it felt GREAT.
For those that don’t know, when you do your CFI Initial, what I just explained above, it’s for your Multi-Engine Instructor license. Meaning you can only teach students how to fly a multi-engine aircraft. You still need to get your single-engine add-on and instrument add-on. Add-ons however are considered to be fairly easy in comparison. They only ask you questions pertaining to that add-on. Orals are normally only about an hour long.
For my add-ons I drove back to Richmond, VA to finish up. A week after arriving back home I finished my single-engine add-ons. I am still waiting to get my instrument instructor add-on. The simulator in Richmond has been down for awhile now, and you only get 2 hours in the Seminole for this add-on, which means practicing in a simulator is a must.