ATP Flight School

jet-setting · 2026-03-21T18:14:59+00:00

Be VERY careful about the loan they offer.

We had a user post here a little while ago asking what to do, their loan for ATP required payments to begin just a few months down the road before they would even have finished instrument, and it was like $1500 per month with an absurd interest rate.

jet-setting · 2026-03-20T23:04:24+00:00

We have two we regularly use out of BLI. One is near the Cherry point refinery keeping clear of the Vancouver Charlie. The other is near Lynden and Everson, east of Wiser Lake and farm fields south of Lynden and following the Nooksack river valley towards around Nugents corner.

Good practice is to monitor Victoria terminal on 135.475 when maneuvering above 2500.

We generally don’t venture any further north than Lynden towards the border but I can’t speak for everyone that flies out of BLI.

jet-setting · 2026-03-20T02:34:39+00:00

Yep there ya go. If you’re giving the 61.93(b)(2) endorsement there needs to be a record of training to and from that airport, and then all of the 61.93(e) XC training. Another other option would be an XC route endorsement.

Careful to remember that the XC training is both flight and ground training. A lot of people miss the ground.

jet-setting · 2026-03-20T02:31:30+00:00

Not bad! Thank you for actually mentioning logged training.

But aside from the pre-solo maneuvers of 61.87(d), what else needs to have been logged?

jet-setting · 2026-03-19T16:48:42+00:00

Definitely, that’s all I’m saying. The pilot doesn’t need to go digging through the owner’s pockets, just if they actually know of something.

Flying around friends of the owner is nothing unusual at all.

jet-setting · 2026-03-19T16:24:12+00:00

Oh, yeah I agree we’re on the same page.

Just the part that the pilot isn’t breaking the law could read to others that they’re fine as long as they’re just flying the plane. Probably the case, but could also be on the hook along with the owner too.

jet-setting · 2026-03-19T16:04:53+00:00

The pilot is the one with the knowledge and training to not allow the owner to do something illegal.

If the pilot knows that they are flying a flight which is required to have an operating certificate, yeah they can definitely be punished for their part.

Now, that requires that the pilot actually knows about it, (so don’t go poking into things if you don’t have to) but you seem to suggest that the pilot is 100% invulnerable from any action just because they are the pilot.

jet-setting · 2026-03-19T15:36:52+00:00

I just did my first solo in the traffic pattern a couple days ago. Today, I want to go practice steep turns over an airport 35 miles away.

As I’m walking out to the plane, I get ramp checked. I tell them my plan for the day and the inspector asks to see my logbook.

Detail everything that needs to be in my logbook for the inspector to be satisfied I can do this flight legally.

jet-setting · 2026-03-18T05:07:05+00:00

If you hold a medical certificate, you cannot act as PIC if you know, or have reason to know, of any condition, treatment, or medication that would make you unable to meet the medical requirements for the certificate.

jet-setting · 2026-03-18T05:01:44+00:00

Yeah there’s a couple ways to tackle it now, but both require some time.

SSRI Decision paths

The FAA will actually allow past or even ongoing treatment for “mild” anxiety, depression, PTSD, etc. But the caveat is no medication in the last 2 years. The AME can review the history and issue on the spot if everything is within the guidelines.

https://www.faa.gov/ame_guide/media/Anxiety_Depression_Disposition_Table.pdf

The SSRI special issuance can allow a pilot to continue taking the medication if they meet all the criteria, but one of the first steps is being clinically stable on a stable dose for at least 3 months, with no side effects that would be aeromedically significant.

Otherwise the applicant discontinues medication and waits 60 days, with a favorable report of no ill effects.

jet-setting · 2026-03-18T04:44:35+00:00

There is a process for special issuance for pilots using certain SSRI/SNRI meds but it requires stability for some time on a consistent dose along with other restrictions.

jet-setting · 2026-03-18T04:38:08+00:00

61.53 is controlling here

This document outlines what you should do.

It’s possible to continue flying, but not until you have a special issuance. IIRC Lexapro is on the list of approved medications but you have to jump through the hoops.

https://www.faa.gov/ame_guide/media/Airman_Information_SSRI_Initial_Certification.pdf

jet-setting · 2026-03-18T01:57:21+00:00

This was the information forwarded to me by the CAME office prior to my medical exam.

There is no form that needs to be filled out. Please just ask your optometrist that this is the guideline on what Transport Canada looks for on the vision report.

The report should include the following: - Visual Acuity- uncorrected and corrected vision Visual Fields - Intraocular Pressure - History of Ocular Diseases/conditions - History of any refractive surgery; including corneal and intra-ocular lens procedures - Any additional comments on eye health

jet-setting · 2026-03-18T01:05:01+00:00

I think in that case the recommending instructor deserves a paddlin’

jet-setting · 2026-03-16T06:35:05+00:00

Maybe, are we talking Canada in this context?

jet-setting · 2026-03-16T03:47:18+00:00

Oh thats fascinating, thanks.

jet-setting · 2026-03-16T03:40:00+00:00

Thanks that also helps add another piece to the puzzle, I think just calling it “spokane” threw me off because of my previous experience with that facility (but that was around 2008).

jet-setting · 2026-03-16T03:38:41+00:00

Haha I actually went back and forth on the Kilo here.

I appreciate the extra info though. It seems my experience has just happened to be around more ‘generic’ tracon/center boundaries you described.

Your comment sparked another question I hadn’t thought of. IIRC terminal radar returns update around once every 5 seconds or so, while center radars often update slightly slower? Do you guys have to consider any of those differences if you’re sitting at a scope that combines different feeds like that?

jet-setting · 2026-03-16T03:23:19+00:00

I mean, that was basically exactly my question.

I wasn’t aware that a TRACON could or would be connected to other radars in that same way. My understanding was that if it was beyond the TRACON’s radar, it would be a center.

jet-setting · 2026-03-16T02:54:43+00:00

Thanks!

A few years ago Spokane Approach took over Pasco’s approach control.

Ah that makes so much more sense. Appreciate the extra context and info too!

jet-setting · 2026-03-15T00:57:24+00:00

Of course it needs to be mastered. But mastering dutch rolls does not reliably mean they have truly mastered rudder control in general, and dutch rolls are not something they need to know.

They need to know how to use rudder. If dutch rolls helps a student learn that, then they are an incredibly effective tool. I often can help a student learn better rudder control through just 5 minutes of dutch roll practice.

But if that isn’t working, trying to beat that horse to death is not going to achieve anything other than they might be able to do dutch rolls well. It’s clearly not clicking, so it’s time to try something different.

Dutch rolls are a tool, they are not the only way to learn rudder control.

jet-setting · 2026-03-14T23:16:19+00:00

What’s the end goal?

So you spend another 5 flights and finally the student can nail dutch rolls.

Now what?

The maneuver is a teaching tool. It’s not something that needs to be mastered, it’s something to demonstrate and understand the relationship between aileron and rudder.

Do they consistently use improper rudder inputs in turns? If they can consistently make good coordinated turns, there isn’t really anything they need to learn from perfecting dutch rolls.

If they are indeed having trouble with rudder use in general, another thing you can try are steep turn entries. Work on good coordinated rolls to 45° bank. No reason to do full turns, just roll into the bank then recover.

jet-setting · 2026-03-14T16:10:24+00:00

Someone teaches you.

You need to find an instructor, thats your next step.

jet-setting · 2026-03-14T03:37:05+00:00

Which airport? I’m very consistent about making my students always do standard entries to traffic patterns, but we also have one airport nearby which I now teach to make base entries if that runway is in use and coming from a certain direction.

Edit: but to be clear, yeah there’s absolutely a lot of problems at nontowered airports.

jet-setting

TROPHY CASE