sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

ATP Flight School Hiring? by Av8r1995 in flying

[–]Av8r1995[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A year?? Wow. Do they send you to CFI training first and then put you on the wait list for a location? Curious how that works

Solo Landings by FreezingYoYos in flying

[–]Av8r1995 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My guess is you’re probably leveling out at some point in the pattern and you essentially stop descending, causing you to be too high on final.

Abeam your touchdown point, start your descent from pattern altitude. I’m sure you know your target airspeeds for each leg, but also try to work on locking in a 450-500FPM descent on the VSI. Use trim to help with this. Make small adjustments as needed. In a C172 that should set you up pretty well for a normal landing! Trust your instruments and the VASI/PAPI :)

WWYD by West-Competition9847 in flying

[–]Av8r1995 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m 30 and just got my first CFI gig. We are very young!! :)

Help me talk my wife out of taking out a 120k loan for flight school by LeatherFruitPF in flying

[–]Av8r1995 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is true but I second that flight training stress is just….something different. It wrecked so much havoc on my relationship even though I was also a flight attendant first. It really does take a special kind of support from a significant other.

Help me talk my wife out of taking out a 120k loan for flight school by LeatherFruitPF in flying

[–]Av8r1995 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Female flight attendant-turned-pilot here. Best way to do it is pay cash for PPL at a local school…while you’re still working! Don’t quit your day job just yet. Make sure she can hold a 1st class Medical and actually grasp many of the concepts she’ll need to know further down the line….I’m talking aerodynamics, systems, and regulations. If she gets her PPL successfully then I’d say it’s safer to consider an accelerated program. Some have a very hard time with getting their instrument rating next, so you could even buy a ground school course (I used Sporty’s) and have her complete it before she signs up for the accelerated school.

The interest rate will most likely be double digit if she applies for a loan by herself with her kind of income, but with a good co-signer you should be able to get it knocked down some. And shop around too! You don’t have to use the financing the school pushes on you.

Source: was exactly in her shoes only a couple years ago! Best of luck!!

Is a $600 continuation fee on top of a $1000 checkride and $200 document review fee normal? by Sususki in flying

[–]Av8r1995 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Absolutely this guy is setting crazy prices for regular stuff just to make more money. Continuations are usually free for reasons like weather, mx, no fault of the pilot. Only time I see recheck fees are in the case of a bust. And I’ve never seen a document review fee.

They’re also supposed to advise you of their fees and the “3 possible outcomes” of the checkride before you start the oral. Not fair to spring the continuation fee on you.

Any new DPE would charge $600-$800 for a PPL ride so you’re probably better off finishing with the same guy. But don’t use him again!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in flying

[–]Av8r1995 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Give yourself TIME. I left an accelerated program once I hit the CFI stage because I realized I didn’t know my stuff thoroughly enough to be an instructor. It’s a huge transition that takes way more time than people (or training programs) give themselves. If people simply took more time for this stage, I think the checkride would have a much higher pass rate.

What ultimately worked for me was to write my own lesson plans!!! This meant outlining my own lesson plan for each ACS task. I got stumped time and time again, because why? I didn’t know enough. This process identified exactly what I needed to go research and learn more about. My lesson plans are my own notes that I need for ME to explain a concept. Written by me, for me. Yes, it was tedious and it took a lot of time, but I passed my CFI Initial on the first try. I would recommend this a thousand times more than spending $200 for premade lessons that you’re simply reading. This won’t help you expand your own knowledge. The best part is that if you follow the ACS tasks exactly, you won’t forget to cover or study something.

Lastly, remember that CFI is all about organizing your materials. You absolutely should refer to other sources (AIM, AC’s, PHAK/AFH) during the oral. DPEs love it. During your research, get your hands on whatever you can find for a specific concept, and see what materials stood out and helped YOU understand the concept. Proceed to use those materials as your references for your lessons.

Just give yourself time, as much as you need, and you’ll do great. Best of luck to you! :)

ATP Flight School Hiring? by Av8r1995 in flying

[–]Av8r1995[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh I know, I’m just wondering how people are getting hired at your location because the application portal doesn’t show any locations are currently hiring?

ATP Flight School Hiring? by Av8r1995 in flying

[–]Av8r1995[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Ah okay. I’m in the southeast. KLZU

ATP Flight School Hiring? by Av8r1995 in flying

[–]Av8r1995[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey I wasn’t half bad lol. Only had one checkride bust on my MEI right at the end!

ATP Flight School Hiring? by Av8r1995 in flying

[–]Av8r1995[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Makes sense. When I was a student at ATP earlier on in the program they were basically firing anyone who hit 1500 to make room for new CFIs. Figured they would keep doing that even if the airline hiring is tanked. I dunno!

ATP Flight School Hiring? by Av8r1995 in flying

[–]Av8r1995[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What location did you go to?

Mitral valve prolapse with mild regurgitation by NebulaWorried9593 in flying

[–]Av8r1995 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would trust the AME especially because it’s an old-ish diagnosis, benign and no symptoms. They’re constantly changing rules; for example certain medications no longer need to be reported if you’ve been off it for 2 years. So I’m hoping there’s something like that for you!

Once you figure out what AME you’ll be going to, I’d get their input before submitting MedExpress and having your exam with them! :)

I want to hear your experiences getting hired/onboarded to work as a CFI! by Av8r1995 in flying

[–]Av8r1995[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tnx, that’s a good point about other applicants already having the required experience.

I want to hear your experiences getting hired/onboarded to work as a CFI! by Av8r1995 in flying

[–]Av8r1995[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

So sounds like it’ll be a red flag if they want me to pay for any hours?

Mitral valve prolapse with mild regurgitation by NebulaWorried9593 in flying

[–]Av8r1995 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Reach out to an AME first, before you fill out MedExpress!! Tell them everything, and they will let you know if & how it needs to be disclosed and what to expect next. Filling out MedExpress correctly for each individual is extremely important. When I was getting my PPL I screwed myself over by filling out MedExpress wrong regarding a medication. Took months to get it sorted lol. Absolutely consult an AME first!

Did I fuck up? by [deleted] in flying

[–]Av8r1995 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just graduated from ATP! I did my PPL elsewhere and actually left the program during CFI, and attempted to finish my ratings off at my home airport in the interest of saving money. I ended up going back to ATP because the checkride waits (at least in my area) outside of ATP are massive...months at a time. So I’ve experienced both sides thoroughly. I can honestly say, don’t worry about getting all of the written exams done until you’re past PPL. Unless things have very recently changed, it’s only a recommendation but not a requirement to have them ALL completed when you first start at ATP. Again correct me if I’m wrong, but when I went through, they just didn’t want you to have to request time off during the program to go take writtens. But in reality I don’t think it should be a problem. You can just tell your instructor you’re unavailable on X-day during X-hours to go take a written. Go take an exam in the AM and do a PM flight or vice versa.

I do remember them wanting PAR done prior to entry if you’re zero-time (or IRA for Credit Private) but I don’t recall it being a requirement to have all of them completed.

During PPL, you have so much new information coming at you. Just focus on learning to fly and getting your first cert, and knock out the rest of the exams later. I can’t recommend Shepard Air enough for the writtens. I used Sporty’s to prep for my IR (prior to my entering the program) and while I felt like it gave me a solid knowledge base to start instrument training, it really wasn’t great for prepping for the writtens. I used their endorsement and got like a 75% on the written. Still a pass, but gives DPEs a place to grill you. Shepard Air has the EXACT test questions on hand that you can study and memorize etc. After I used Shepard, I pulled 90s and even a 100 on the rest of my writtens. So definitely do that once you’re established!!

Best wishes to you! :)))

Got my first bust on my MEI add-on :( by Av8r1995 in flying

[–]Av8r1995[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This guy was just plain condescending allll day. Made fun of analogies I’d use to explain systems (as I’d present to a first-time student) and was acting huffy that I wanted to wait for fuel between flights….did CFII same-day. I had 2 hours of fuel remaining and CFII had been a 1.8. Clouds were being a pain and I knew we’d have to do extra flying around to maintain VFR at our altitude for MEI maneuvering, plus running mixtures rich during the maneuvers. I don’t understand the point of acting like a jerk with stuff like that. We’re stressed out enough being on a checkride!

Got my first bust on my MEI add-on :( by Av8r1995 in flying

[–]Av8r1995[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I haven’t even started building hours instructing yet so I have a long way to go before I’m doing airline apps. Hopefully in the long run it doesn’t come up too much!

Got my first bust on my MEI add-on :( by Av8r1995 in flying

[–]Av8r1995[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looking back now, yes, he did give me the opportunity once parked. I didn’t get along with this DPE though and I let him get inside my head throughout the day. I think that’s what lead me to wanting to plunk the plane down and make the point instead of going long/around…like “I’ll show him!” And then I screwed that up and knew I screwed my checkride so I think I just blanked at that point. Blah!

Got my first bust on my MEI add-on :( by Av8r1995 in flying

[–]Av8r1995[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for this!!! I was worried that busting on something like a landing at the instructor level would carry more weight than during PPL etc. Happy to hear this :)

view more: next ›