Wanted to reattack on AZ Flight Training in Glendale. I have several friends who've gone through there since I did a couple years ago and I think it has gotten worse, which I didn't think was possible. Yes, it is (or was) a relatively easy ATP, but things have and are changing. Apparently their go to examiner was decerted by the FAA last year. The guy who replaced him was a lot harder I hear. 2 buds said the ground eval was over 4 hours and the guy nearly hooked them both. I also have a very good friend who just went through there and the POS Seminole broke before his check ride. Then the next day the "new" FAA examiner quit. Add to this the fact that AZFT's owner doesn't hide the fact that the FAA is pestering him about his course and standards and I think their days are numbered, especially with the new ATP standards 1 Aug 14.

BL: although the program was relatively painless and geared toward the single seat mil guy I wouldn't recommend them any more. It's bush league stuff.

Cheers...

ALCON:

Day 1 at Downtown Aviation in the books -- weather rolled thru to keep me from my check ride. That will be done tomorrow.

** Want to stress that if you want a "show up with a bottle" type ATP, this isn't the place. Everything is fair commensurate with your experience.

1. 1 hr ground instruction with the IP. Very laid back, big picture. Briefed everything EXACTLY from my gouge packet plus some additional information. i thought it was spot on for what I needed to know to fly.

2. Flight (w/ IP) -- the BE-76 is a bit old and a few items didn't work which made the crosscheck extremely challenging. In the end, flew the check ride profile -- 95% of it under the hood.

3. Ground Eval (w/ IP) -- pretty thorough -- younger CFI kid but was well prepared and very eager to teach.

4. Ground Exam with Examiner (Dr. Ray) -- very "big boy" program - lasted about 45 minutes then we just B.S.'d the rest of the time -- very laid back. He asked me about my ATP written score -- if I went thru Sheppard Air -- and if I had any current topic/discussion to talk about. Covered everything my IP went over then basically played stump the dummy….he won. This was very low key and very laid back. I thought it was more than ample….

Flight is tomorrow -- for those who are considering this place, I would sign up TODAY then cancel if you find something better. From what they told me, the plane is booked thru the beginning of April with 80% military guys.

I'd use a little discretion if you had a ground eval where you had a significant portion of BS-time or a flight where the examiner went easy on you. No idea what FAA narcs read these forums, but the entire reason AZFTC's examiner was decerted was word got out that his check rides were too easy. Posting your examiner's name here and bragging how easy he is could lead to them losing that cert and making all the rest even harder. Sharing info is great, but if you found that gem of an examiner I'd recommend taking it to PMs.

sounds fair to me..they sent you a prep packet?

Laughlin by the sea for me

Geez. The owner will tell you himself. Can we not be honest with known data?

You lost me. I never said don't be honest with known data.

In regards to this, pretty accurate. Not 100% positive we're talking about the same pair of guys (2 Luke IPs), but if so I spoke to one of them 1st hand and he freely admits he did zero studying and did not pay any attention in class with the expectation they'd get Duncan and just be given their ATP in return for their fee. The replacement examiner was actually pretty cool to let them off the hook and not bust them. The plane is pretty rough and the owner told me that he was pretty sure his ATP course was not going to survive the 1 August '14 transition.

Different guys I think but same experience. Agreed with all else.

Cheers.

MikeF16,

I could not agree with you more. I am not advocating that this guy isn't a legit examiner, but what I am saying that everything I've done up to this point is exactly what I thought an FAA examiner should be -- FAIR.

I also never said nor eluded to the fact that this company is a "show up and get your ticket" kind of place. What I have said and will continue to say that there is no discomfort, anxiety, or stress on the whole situation. Both the "intro" flight with the IP and the ground eval were done in a great setting.

I have never said that this was a show up and get your ticket. The examiner covered all the required bases and actually taught me more about multi-engine aspects that I thought I would know.

Our B.S. session was aviation related, AFTER our ground eval, while it was pouring down rain. Human nature I guess...