Was that with an "ATP" friendly examiner, or do they just schedule you with the FSDO? I was interested in that course as well..

BTW, if anyone is in the Georgia area, I recommend Bob Harless of Harless Aviation for any checkride! Cake walk..

Yes it was an ATP friendly guy. However, he was the biggest ********* I have ever flown with....EVER. I have a feeling he was just testing me because when we were done, he said "well, you passed. If you can put up with that for 2 hours you can do anything." I was seriously the most unprofessional BS I have ever put up with. It was so bad, I almost stopped the checkride myself.

My 2 hour oral was also ridiculous. I was literally told that I should not be an airline pilot because I didnt know the 3 types of oxygen masks, and the ranges of all the types of VORs. Whatever, that BS is over. At least I have a good story.

please PM me if you want to know his name. I want to keep the bros from having to go through that nonsense.

Pensacola
 

FWIW I had a good experience with ALL ATPs in Pensacola. For the record it was 1998 and things have probably changed since then. Mil friendly examiner and a very reasonable check ride. The "training" was definitely adequate to get you through the checkride.

we are our own worst enemy sometimes
 

I'm sure you meant that he gave you a thorough, fair examination conducted by the book and your superior aviation skills made it seem like a cake walk..... ;)

exactly! ;)

Higher Power
 

If you are looking to get a job at SWA, Higher Power is great for getting your type rating and ATP all in one shot. And you can use your GI Bill for it. I ended up at UPS, but that's how I got my ATP. I'll echo praises for Sheppard Air; used it for FE written and ATP.

We are very lucky here in the US. I spent yesterday working with an Italian KC767 pilot. After I told him I was an airline pilot/reservists, he talked for a few hours about all of the requirements for an ICAO ATPL and the hiring process for some of the airlines in Europe. I didn't have the nerve to tell him about Sheppard Air.

I take it you DID NOT take your checkride with Robert Riney? I did mine at the KADS location also (Mar 2011). The course itself is not too bad. They sent me a Seminole booklet to study before my class date. Memorized that thing from front to back. 2 sorties on Saturday, checkride on Sunday. Somewhat crazy because your taking a checkride in an a/c that you logged a whopping 4 hours in, the day prior.

Anyhow....ground eval was 2 hrs of straight shotgun questions out of every civilian reg and the POH. Flying w/ that guy was unlike anything I have ever encountered. I'm a T-6 EP w/ 1200 recent hours of true stick n' rudder time, and i'm telling you that this dude was HORRIBLE! Needless to say, as soon as I got home I wrote a 6 page email and launched it off to ALL ATPs. They responded, very quickly and professionally btw. They assured me that they would never use that guy again....AND they offered me an FE written on-the-house.

Oh...sent that email to all my bro's at the UPT bases also. I didn't want any other Mil guys getting their jewels kicked in by this guy.

I will say that the instructors were young...but energetic, knowledgeable and professional. I also hear that the other DPE (Norm Seward) is a good dude to check with.

If anyone is interested, I can post the email that I wrote to the company...it is actually a pretty good read. Makes you want to punch this guy in the face:) Seriously though, it is a great example of horrible ORM. My commander and some other friends loved it!