Pilot Factories

[The_Russian]

Go to the most expensive fancy school you can find. When you get out and your take home pay is $1200 a month and your school payments are $800 a month, declare bankruptcy. I always get a kick out of dumb*sses who have $80 grand of debt and a job at a regional.

Some don't have the luxury of a mentor when they show the desire to become a pilot. 80K is not uncommon due to this, and the current cost of flight training. When I started, a DA-20 was 60-80 dollars an hour to rent. Now they are going for as high as 150-160 dollars an hour.

 

[The_Russian]

Answer: United States Air Force Academy.

Pilot training cost = $0
Starting pay (after graduation) = a lot more than a CFI or regional job
Fringe benefit = Chicks dig fighter pilots

Some of us don't have the vision.

 

[STREAKS]

Answer: United States Air Force Academy.

Pilot training cost = $0
Starting pay (after graduation) = a lot more than a CFI or regional job
Fringe benefit = Chicks dig fighter pilots

He's 40.

I don't know about USAFA. Would you send your kids. The grad label will only take you so far, and I hear ROTC kids are better off sometimes.

Besides, with most traditions washed away by lawsuits, it's becoming yet another factory. A moment of silence please...

 

[Ridgeback]

Tell your friend to get experience, and that usually does not come from a pilot factory. I for one got tired of training my UND, ATP, RIDDLE, ect. fo's how to enter a hold, intercept a vor rad, and loose the super pilot attitude that these schools produce. I have and will take all of them to the office, they all get sent back to the sim for a little recheck...WOW they really like that on their record.

If you must know the BEST new hire's I have ever flow with came out of ATCA and ATTI in Arizona. Flight Safety in Vero B. FL is a close second...

 

[STREAKS]

Tell your friend to get experience, and that usually does not come from a pilot factory. I for one got tired of training my UND, ATP, RIDDLE, ect. fo's how to enter a hold, intercept a vor rad, and loose the super pilot attitude that these schools produce. I have and will take all of them to the office, they all get sent back to the sim for a little recheck...WOW they really like that on their record.

If you must know the BEST new hire's I have ever flow with came out of ATCA and ATTI in Arizona. Flight Safety in Vero B. FL is a close second...

I second that...The last thing I would do is feed someone to the Production Line. I went through the entire thing 91, instructed for 3 years, then got a job paying 12k per year and had 0 unsats, marginals or repeats in ground/sim, and not one complaint from any of the captains. No, I don't have DSL.
...the pay is my problem, should have waited around for something better.

This guy is 40 and wants to do this now and fast, with a "guaranteed interview", what ever that means.

 

[Remington]

Got ATP at RIC. I was an airline FO. Great experience. The instructor had low time, but did a nice job. I would have done it again. Went by there a year later, and that instructor had gone to CoEx.

 

[time builder]

* They teach you not to worry about the radios as you can learn that at the regionals when you get there (what my instructor actually said).

Funny, I don't remember them giving any remedial training on radio calls.

Oh, wait a minute, I take that back. The Grand Canyon tour operator I flew for spent an hour of ground school going over the radio calls on the tour, each one, word for word. Of course, that's all VFR, you'll learn the IFR stuff once you get to Mesa.

 

[n32jk]

five characters

 

[Leroy Smith]

I know of some CFI's who interviewed at FBO's who initially did their training at ATP. One story that sticks is of a CFI who got up in the air with the Chief Pilot, and couldn't handle radios and flying at the same time in basic ops during the interview flight. Reason behind this? Apparently, ATP trains their guys "airline style"..... and they're not taught to talk on the radios and fly the plane at the same time. I don't give a sh*t what kind of training course you go through, or what you're trained for -- a CFI should be able to fly a 172.... AND talk to controllers at the same time. A Cessna doesn't require two pilots, and nor do your Seminoles.

I interviewed CFI's for my FBO. Had a couple of ATP 90-day guys come out. I was left VERY unimpressed. I did my Multi-Comm add on with them. It was ok. Not anything better than what I could have done at home. In retrospect, I would have preffered to give my FBO the business. If you have your sh!t together, they are ok for the add-ons (adding multi to your Comm or CFI). Going there to get a rating that means something (esp. Inst or CFI) is a travesty.

If you are coming out of the military (FE, Nav, etc or looking for a civ transition) then I might recommend them. You can get all the boxes checked off and get your piece of paper with minimum effort and time. You probably have the good sense to know what you dont know and take care of it yourself.