Jolly Green...no experience there but i hear Sanders Aviation near Birmingham AL is pretty good... you a former helo driver?

Nope, just a very large man. Thanks for the Sanders recommendation, though. Just trying to get this done in as painless a manner possible.

Ditto looking to take my written and practical next year.

Nope. But if you're looking for something nearby in the Midwest, I highly recommend Cobra Kai in Wichita Falls. Ex-ENJJPT instructors and big picture examiners... Big-boy training tailored to military pilots.

Got mine in 4 days in a Beech Baron (E55). Day 1 ground school (to review packet they send you.) Days 2 and 3, fly a sortie and sandbag a sortie with another student each day. Check on the 4th day. Study the packet and chair fly the canned profile a couple of times and it'll be the easiest ground eval/check ride ever.

$2850 gets you 6.5 hours (2 sorties + check) plus 15 hours of ground instruction. Examiner fee was $550. They also have a Red Bird sim if you want to practice/chair fly but they charge an additional $125 for the week to use it. (Not really necessary though.)

They're booked out for a few months, though you might get lucky to pick up a cancelled slot earlier.

Does anyone have any feedback about Texas Aviation Academy or Prairie Air Service in Kansas?

I haven't been able to read all 37 pages here, but it seems everyone's looking for ATP location reviews. I completed mine at Sanders Aviation in Jasper, AL. My instructor, Sam, is a great guy and awesmome instructor. The DPE, Gordo, is a prior military fighter/recce pilot and current 777 captain. He sees the big picture for military pilots, but doesn't just hand you a certificate. Given the current rush of pilots that took their ATP written just before the Aug 01, 2014 deadline, he's recently added another aircraft to his fleet. If interested, check them out at sandersaviation.com. It's not as cheap as some of the other ones (~$3500), but the camaredie was great and the aircraft are top-notch.

Another plug for those that have completed the written, have the mins and just need to take the practical (check ride).

Do not wait until the last month or two (June/July 2016).

It's impossible to guess how many of the 20,000+ folks that took the written in 2014 that will end up taking the check ride. But, the ATP written prior to the rule change was 3-5,000 annually.

I worked at a flight school that had people calling from Hawaii trying to find open test time to take the written.

I guarantee the capacity to administer FAA written exams far exceeds the capacity of flight schools and DE's that can give the ATP check ride.

Don't procrastinate only to find folks booked up. That would be a very costly mistake if you all you needed was the check ride.

Anyone have any experiences with Blue Line Aviation at Raleigh-Durham for their ATP practical or the DPE there? Any issues? Thanks.

I looked at them and visited their facility but ended up not using them. They don't seem as familiar with the ATP process but instead are more focused on the lower certifications. Also, I'm assuming you're a mil guy since this is the military subforum, so I'll say they're not on par with all the other "military friendly" locations others have talked about. If you do end up wanting to go with them and live anywhere east of Raleigh they have a satellite office at Johnston County airport in Smithfield. You'll probably spend a less $ burning time on the ground since it's not such a big airport.

I do know a few guys who went to ATP Flight School at RDU, but most of the mil guys I know went down south to the more popular schools (Sanders, Higher Power, Accessible Aviation).

This school is not too far from RDU, and they specialize in doing ATP's for military folk.

Search for mil2atp in Goldsboro, NC. They have a very nice Seneca II.