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Quote:

Originally Posted by flyn2001 (Post 986818)

Anyhow....ground eval was 2 hrs of straight shotgun questions out of every civilian reg and the POH.

Had a 6 our ground eval once. 2 hours was the norm on all my other civilian check rides. Sucked while it was going on but having that expectation made all my UPT ground evals a breeze!

Glad they at least offered the FE written for him being a d-bag! Thanks for the heads up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyn2001 (Post 986818)

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!

There's a lot of mil haters out there. That may have been the issue. Also, civilian guys like to eat their own. It happened to them when they were young, so they do it when they get older and more powerful.

My ATP ground eval was non existent. The guy asked me if I had read the book. I told him yes. And that was the last thing he asked during the ground eval except for the usual what did you fly/do in the military and personal information.

The flying portion was a different story. He was all business ... abort, VFR pattern, touch n gos, go around, holding, ILS, GPS, VOR full procedure turn single engine circling approach (even though allATP books said not to do it).

I had a similar event with All ATP. The guy went on a investigation about what I knew about props. The good think is I has some 1900 time, so I built the "clock." At the end he said I knew too much. There is no rhyme or reason with some of these guys.

I drove out to Accessable Aviation earlier this month. Overall a good experience. Carl is currently charging $2450 with an additional $100 fuel surcharge. This includes lodging (3 bedroom townhouse shared with other students/Carl's son (nice kid), and examiner's fees, so overall not a bad deal overall. I was a little concerned when I got there and there was a F-18/T-45 dude who had busted the checkride the week prior. FWIW, the guy was struggling with the crosscheck and the GNS430 and felt that the instruction provided was not adequate to his needs. I thought the instruction was fine, but you need to be prepared to ask questions about things you are unsure about and make sure you are comfortable with the answers. The check pilot Carl uses was friendly and understanding of the mil background but he did NOT give anything but a thorough and honest checkride. In the end, I was well prepared, but it was as uncomfortable as I've ever been stepping to a check. Overall, if you are within driving distance of Columbus, AA makes good sense and most will have a good experience there. Carl reads these forums occasionally so if you have questions, he may answer them here or you can email him directly (address is on their website). BTW, anyone around Columbus/GTR--how did you guys fare with this round of severe WX?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tanker-driver (Post 987427)

BTW, anyone around Columbus/GTR--how did you guys fare with this round of severe WX?

Here's a good visual of how lucky we were.

Tornado Outbreak April 27, 2011 - Google Maps

Thread revival: Anyone have any recent experiences with military friendly examiners for the ATP practical? Willing to travel. Thanks.

Harry says he has a new guy working through him and they are flying a lot of KPNE. Spoke w him the other day

Anyone have recs for an examiner in the SW region?

All, I am working a military friendly option for ATP at Valdosta Regional. There is a local guy who would like to instruct in in a twin Commanche and the examiner is an old AF vet who flew cargo and fixed. I am going to test them out this fall. I have stressed to them that they could have a good deal going if they become military friendly at a good price. If anyone is interested prior to my report PM me and I'll get you info. I know the exam is a flat 500, not sure on how much flying it would take but was told it could be done in a weekend.

John Trask in Presque Isle, ME - highly recommended!