Flyboyxc91

Hey guys! Its been a little while since I have really exercised all my PPL skills on a regular basis! This of course is due to MONEY and Time constraints as I've been finishing college! Now that I'm done, its time to get back in the cockpit and begin sharpening back up so I can continue on with my training. I specifically am putting an emphasis on getting my full proficiency back to the levels of when I went to my DPE for my checkride! I want to do this because I plan on doing the 90 Day ATP program and I don't want to be behind the learning curve already on day one. Secondly, I will need the cross country hours to gain entrance as I believe there is a minimum time requirement before being allowed to begin.

Anyway! Since I don't have any GPS (Glass Panel) unit experience.. I am considering renting an Alarus CH2000 to get all my "resharpening" in... it is outfitted with a Garmin 430 and I can rent it from my local FBO for a wet rate of $104/hr..... what does anyone think about that scenario for me? Do you have any experience with the little Alarus? All of my training and PPL time has been almost exclusively in a C-150 but I have a little DA-20 experience as well.

Fly Safe!

Cubdriver

What's the AllATPs 90 day deal? Commercial? Do you have your instrument yet? Just call the school and ask them what would be best for you to do to get ready for whatever it is. Ask what aircraft you will use for your training, then if you want you can rent a few flights in one like it, and do some air work, pattern work, shorts and softs, or whatever seems most relevant to the ATP program you are pursuing. If it's instrument I am not sure I would rent an airplane. Fly a bunch of approaches using a desktop sim instead and get conversant with that type of flying.

Flyboyxc91

Hey Cubdriver! It is either the 90 Day or the 100 Day program I forget exactly but I am speaking of the same program at any rate to be clear.... Essentially this program is for aspiring airline/commercial pilots that already have flight experience up to the Private Pilot level. The perquisites for being able to enter this program is 100hrs TT, and 25hrs XC PIC. Upon entry I will be essentially flying and earning ratings in this actual progression:

1) Private pilot - Multi Engine
2) Instrument Rating
3) Commercial - multi & single engine
4) CFI - multi & single engine & Instrument

That is what the program entails and the associated prerequisites I am "resharpening" my skills for as I reach those minimum entry requirements.

Currently my logbook has 83hrs TT, and 18hrs XC PIC so I am just going to 13 more hours of XC PIC I think and the rest of the 4 hours up to 100hrs TT I am going to get some instruction on all the private pilot PTS maneuvers again so I am completely up to snuff before banging into this $50,000 program. That is the plan, hopefully I'm on the right track!

flylikesly

50k for the program?!? There is a sucker born every minute. Go to a local flight school and save half of your money getting the exact same training. How can you justify spending that kind of money when your return on investment is so low. Go save yourself and your parents a ton of money and be smart about what you do. I know a lot of flight departments in the charter/corporate world who will throw out resumes if they see places like ATP, Riddle etc on there because they seem to think you are lacking common sense. I am sure you will do what you want but 5 years from now you will wish you had done things differently. This career is not worth the investment you are looking to make.

Arizona Wingman

Have you researched the costs of training at a local school? I'm not sure where you live, but I know people who saved a substantial amount of money by going to local flight schools in the Tucson and Phoenix areas and they just rented a small apartment while training. You get the great flying weather doing it this way, and you get the mom and pop flight school attention and training your money deserves. Plus you can call ahead and have your training set up so you can move through as fast as you want. I can recommend some places for you if you would like.

I'm not trying to influence your decision, but it's just another option to consider. I toured an ATP location years back and wasn't impressed. I can PM you my experience, and a good friend of mine's experience who actually trained there, which wasn't good, he lost a lot of money.

You can pay $60 grand or more for accelerated training that "guarantees" you a CFI job at the end. What people fail to realize though, is when you pay this much for the training, you're pretty much overpaying for training by giving them the money that they are going to pay you to work for them.

You can take a loan out and train at a smaller school or FBO (at home or somewhere else), get all the training for half the cost, then instruct and not have a massive monthly loan repayment.

Just some things to consider. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Feel free to PM me with any more questions.

Engineer413

It will be cheaper doing part 61 believe me and you can also do what training you want when you want it instead of following a schedule.. like part 141.

Still though both are a huge investment and planes break, weather goes bad, and instructors switch jobs. Never began a career in something that you put a ton of money into and barely get a return