Im thinking about becoming an ATP and have a few questions

[ibanez737 2]

Well I see that lots of other people have replied to your post, but I guess I'll throw in my two cents. I'm going to Central Washington University to get a Flight Officer degree, which is closely tied in with a local flight school to provide you with every license and rating necessary to get in the airlines, except your ATP certificate, by the time you graduate. There are also many aviation management classes available, and if you want you can even major in it although flight training is not part of that major. I've decided to minor in Business Administration as well to keep my options open, which I believe is what you are looking for too. Funny thing, while I was searching for colleges in high school I was pretty intent on becoming an engineer too, but at the last minute I met a few guys with careers in aviation who made me realize that if flying is what you're all about, why spend 4 years of your life studying something you don't care about as much? Majoring in aviation will not only allow you to take classes in things you would not normally learn much about in a regular flight school, it can also help you meet many great people who can help you get your foot in the door of the airline industry, a place where contacts are more or less vital. And whatever you do, don't go to Embry Riddle, I hear the girl-to-guy ratio there is pretty shabby ;) Hope this helps,-Scott

[Guest thegut97]

Hi Scott,Interesting aviation program that CWU has. How much multi engine time do you end up with in the end? I noticed the price tag is quite high for the ratings: 53,470. Make sure it includes a lot of multi-engine time, because that is basically all the regionals care about.Also check out: www.atpflightschool.comhttp://www.aribenaviator.com/I went to ari ben and ended up with 220 ME hours. I also went from zero time to a MEI, CFI, and CFII in 6 months. Not trying to sway you or anything (the place does have its problems) just warning you about multi engine time. Plus all my ratings were 20,000 dollars cheaper. ATP is also a good flight school that is extremely fast paced. Also good call on Riddle, that place is a sausage fest that costs as much as an ivy league school.Just my two cents,David

[ibanez737 2]

Hi David,Both of those schools seem like pretty good ones. Because of your post I'm actually now considering switching to a Commercial Pilot specialization at CWU, getting my instructor ratings at ATP, and taking the 100 hour multi-time building program at Ari Ben. So thanks a lot for making me rethink my well-placed plans :) I'm curious to know more about these programs, if you wouldnt mind sharing some info. Have you ever taken any of the ATP courses, and do you know how they can be so fast-paced while still giving you proper training? What were the bad sides to Ari Ben that you mentioned, how are their aircraft, and is there anything else I should know about? For the record, CWU is a great school and I believe that with it's longer, more in-depth program you graduate with a better knowledge of flying and the aviation industry than with other fast paced programs. However, CWU's instructor course is quite a bit overpriced and takes way longer than necessary, so maybe an ATP style program would be better. I know I want to get my Multi at CWU though, as we just got a brand new glass-panel Seminole, and from what I understand the multi training at CWU is better than most places. Most students here get their multi after 20-25 hours and a lot of mock engine failures on takeoff.-Scott

[Cessnaflyer 56]

How many failures have you had with your glass panels? I was just flying into Ellensburg yesterday over V25 and I lost my air data computer. So far I think the glass panels were the stupidest use of high technology yet.

[ibanez737 2]

As far as I know we haven't had any failures, but then again I haven't started training in the seminole yet and neither have most of my buddies, so I might not have heard. But yeah, having most of your info on one or two big screens always seemed a little sketch to me. Even when flying our warriors I try to rely on our GNS430s as little as possible just so I wouldn't become completely disoriented if it failed on me.What time were you flying yesterday? I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and did a commercial flight over MWH, down to Pasco, then over to YKM and back to the burg. One of your JAL 747s was doing touch and goes just as I passed over the airport, about scared the pants off me haha. I got a pretty sweet picture of him passing underneath me though.And btw, I'm in the process of making 2m photoreal scenery for all of Grant County right now :)-Scotthttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/167374.jpg

[Cessnaflyer 56]

I flew a different warrior last night to Nez Pierce and it didn't go out on me so I've had maybe two failure free flights with the avidyne system.I was over in Ellensburg around noon. It felt like a 5 hour flight doing the DP to get out of the valley from Wenatchee then over a 1000' layer of clouds over the mountains.Those JAL guys are so funny to listen to on the radio because you will hear an american voice come on when they screw up a clearance badly enough. What is also amazing is that they come into the 747 with around 20 hours of previous time in a light twin. That would be a nice upgrade in aircraft.

[Guest thegut97]

Hi Scott,Sorry for taking so long to reply I have been away from my house for a while. Ari Ben is a good school overall, but the planes go down for maintenance a lot. The school flies their airplanes 24 hours a day. During the day the planes are used for flight training and at night they are used for time building. Since you are more interested in the time building program I will talk more about that. Basically you will start flying around 6:00 pm and will keep flying until you or your flying partner is tired. Once you get used to night flying it gets a lot easier. The time building is done with two pilots with one pilot logging safety pilot time (don't worry it is legal and regionals do not care what time you have in multi's just that you have the mins). You fly from Fort Pierce, FL to any place in Florida and return to Fort Pierce to refuel and do the same thing again. There are some cool places to fly down there like Orlando, Miami, Key West, Jacksonville, ect. The problems with the school is associated with airplanes that are kind of beat up (not unsafe, just ugly). Plus they have G430's in several airplanes. Sometimes scheduling sucks when they bump you out of an airplane for no good reason. The days that you aren't flying are spent partying with other students and European pilots. I have flown a couple of hours at ATP in their Seminoles and diamond star. ATP's airplanes are in good to fantastic condition. With several Seminoles and all of the diamond stars being less than two years old. Overall ATP is much more structured then Ari Ben. ATP is ran like an Airline at an incredible pace. The pace is the problem with ATP if you do not come well prepared you will be overwhelmed. I think that two weeks is almost too short to get your instructor ratings for pilots in general, if you know your stuff and willing to put out full effort for two weeks it can be done without many problems (just stress). ATP and Ari Ben are places where you only get what you put in. Both are pretty much self study courses that require someone very motivated. ATP's environment is much more stressful, however they do as advertised and get you your ratings at a fast paced. Ari Ben is more laid back and with time building are completely hands off. After your five hour check out, you are free to fly where ever you want.You will probably have more in depth knowledge at an university if you do not study a lot on your own. Once again it is completely up to you what feels best. I always enjoyed studying aviation in my free time before I ever took my first flight and I never had a problem keeping up with the work load. Like my first post I was just trying to show you more possibilities, like people did for me. I you want more info just drop me a line, because a lot of what I wrote was very general.Also go here:www.jetcareers.comTheir forum has a place for ATP and Ari Ben.Good luck!David