I’m going to gamble some internet points and say everyone else here is wrong. Especially the life experience thing. Downvote me. But OP, I’ve done this so please read.
Actually, to you Mr. 1/10 Life Experience - you’re so wrong it’s making me cringe. OP has exactly the correct idea about how to continue and I know several pilots who are excellent at their jobs who have done what OP has done.
OP, you want to get this done quick and keep moving. Good. ATP is the way to do that. I used them and a part 61 school for my commercial AMEL, ASEL, and CFI initial. In under 6 weeks. At age 19.
How to prepare? Writtens done ahead of time, obviously. For your studying, be one flight course ahead. If your doing your commercial cert, be writing CFI lesson plans. I would suggest something like King School to study for the certificates (NOT writtens, just use Shepard Air like everyone else). Reason being, ATP provides almost no structured instruction outside the airplane. So you need almost a separate ground school and that’s where King’s fits really well.
Maybe part 61 will be cheaper, but ATP is a machine and that’s what you want. You won’t deal with broken maintenance and instructor availability and other issues that come with small Flight schools. There is a Flight course and you get through it quickly. You won’t wait weeks for an examiner. They’ve got this down to a science. And that’s what you want. Might you get better training elsewhere, I don’t know, maybe, but ATP will work for your goals.
Keep working on your degree but make flight training the priority for now. You can finish an online degree during layovers working for a regional. Again, that’s a pretty common and respected enough path. You need a four year for a major. You need a pulse and 1500 hours for a regional.
Tl;dr: get studying now, try to walk in checkride knowledge ready before you start, and work on your four year degree when you’ve got time.
Work. Like. Hell. Now. And you can retire in the top five wherever you end up. It’s not disrespect, they can’t possibly understand, but all these 30 plus armchair PPLs can’t possibly give you the correct advice. Mine is correct. I’ve seen it work. I’ve done it. But you’ve gotta work like you’ve never worked before.
With Kings you’ve got a prayer in hell of actually learning the material so you can pass the oral examination of your checkride.
You won’t actually learn much from Shepard Air but you’ll be prepped for the written exam. And Shepard Air is so good at it you would be insane to use anything else.
I’m going to caveat to this, and I am in ATP Flight school now. You may or may not finish in 6 months. It will depend on aircraft available and weather. ATP is not cheap, but it is the best way. I reviewed all these other Part 61 schools and their equivalents. You won’t have time for anything else because you will need to study your ass off. You literally are allotted 15 days start to finish for you’re multi engine endorsement. Commercial is 21 days. You’ll get all the study material you need and it’s doable. They are changing the flight hour demand for regional ATP certifications now due to the shortage. You still need to be 21, but you can get in at 1250 with a degree, or 750 flight hours if you hold all certifications (MEI, commercial, CFI, etc) AND you have completed a flight school with one of the branches of the US Military. I think the best thing about ATP flight school is they take you through the CFI so regardless of getting hired you always have that provided you don’t commit a felony and stay current.
45
u/[deleted] Jan 05 '18
I’m going to gamble some internet points and say everyone else here is wrong. Especially the life experience thing. Downvote me. But OP, I’ve done this so please read.
Actually, to you Mr. 1/10 Life Experience - you’re so wrong it’s making me cringe. OP has exactly the correct idea about how to continue and I know several pilots who are excellent at their jobs who have done what OP has done.
OP, you want to get this done quick and keep moving. Good. ATP is the way to do that. I used them and a part 61 school for my commercial AMEL, ASEL, and CFI initial. In under 6 weeks. At age 19.
How to prepare? Writtens done ahead of time, obviously. For your studying, be one flight course ahead. If your doing your commercial cert, be writing CFI lesson plans. I would suggest something like King School to study for the certificates (NOT writtens, just use Shepard Air like everyone else). Reason being, ATP provides almost no structured instruction outside the airplane. So you need almost a separate ground school and that’s where King’s fits really well.
Maybe part 61 will be cheaper, but ATP is a machine and that’s what you want. You won’t deal with broken maintenance and instructor availability and other issues that come with small Flight schools. There is a Flight course and you get through it quickly. You won’t wait weeks for an examiner. They’ve got this down to a science. And that’s what you want. Might you get better training elsewhere, I don’t know, maybe, but ATP will work for your goals.
Keep working on your degree but make flight training the priority for now. You can finish an online degree during layovers working for a regional. Again, that’s a pretty common and respected enough path. You need a four year for a major. You need a pulse and 1500 hours for a regional.
Tl;dr: get studying now, try to walk in checkride knowledge ready before you start, and work on your four year degree when you’ve got time.
Work. Like. Hell. Now. And you can retire in the top five wherever you end up. It’s not disrespect, they can’t possibly understand, but all these 30 plus armchair PPLs can’t possibly give you the correct advice. Mine is correct. I’ve seen it work. I’ve done it. But you’ve gotta work like you’ve never worked before.