ATP@Trenton

C

Cerelis

Well-Known Member
Hello everyone. I'm anticipating a career change to follow my dream of becoming a professional pilot and I'm investigating ATP @ Trenton NJ. Does anyone have any information regarding this location and/or instruction there? What about places to stay/crashpad's? I'm going to continue to be working full time, so i'm thinking about the 10 month curriculum. Since i live in Upstate NY i'll have to commute back and forth, so i'm wanting to have a good portion of information before i make my choice.

Thanks,

Cerelis
 
Sorry to double post, but i was wondering if there were any ATP instructors at Trenton (TTN)?

Thanks,

Cerelis
 
You going to be a self paced student then? Thats what the Trenton location offers. Im from NJ myself and doing the fast pace in Richmond. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Nick
 
TTN is a great location. I did the Career program there, as well as instructed there for about 5 months.

ATC is great, the examiners are great and in the winter you'll get a lot of IFR experience dealing with ice/snow etc. Not sure who is instructing there now.

As far as an apartment, when I left they had one. I don't think 10 month guys were allowed to use it, but you're best bet is to call the ATP main number and ask questions. I've been done with ATP for quite awhile now, so things change fast.
 
As Airdale said your best bet is to give them a call. Just from my experience, you may need to ask a chief instructor or chief pilot for the correct housing information. An instructor may not know whether they can rent out rooms to self-paced students.

I would also highly recommend taking a tour of the school. It will answer a lot of questions and I am sure raise a few others.

P.S. I didn't know Jersey was so well represented here.
 
Airdale (or anyone that might know really),

Quick question somewhat on topic. How many hours did you train per month when you were instructing in Trenton? I'm going down to Daytona to do the PPL and ACPP. I would love to come back closer to home to train, but I heard certain locations (Trenton in particular) might have less training time to offer.

Was this your experience?
 
tobaknight said:
Airdale (or anyone that might know really),

Quick question somewhat on topic. How many hours did you train per month when you were instructing in Trenton? I'm going down to Daytona to do the PPL and ACPP. I would love to come back closer to home to train, but I heard certain locations (Trenton in particular) might have less training time to offer.

Was this your experience?
Click to expand...

TTN location = S L O W

Not all of the time, but compared to the other 90 day locations, its slower. The career pilots tend to be more lazy, only train a few times a week. We had a few students that just disappeared for a few months. Add-ons are hit and miss, sometimes you'll get slammed with two weeks full of add-ons, then you'll go two weeks with nothing but writtens. Thats one thing I can guarantee, is that you'll be up to your elbows proctoring writtens.

You can pretty much bank on averaging about 25-40hrs per month at TTN.
 
ok, i'm STILL on the fence here about the self-paced vs. the 90 day program, in spite of all the great advice on this board.

as i mentioned, i live in nyc wtih a wife and kids so i was leaning toward the self-paced program in trenton in order to stay somewhat available to them during training. even though i intended to devote 4+ days a week to training, i figured i would have weekends at home to fix leaky faucets, change light bulbs, and other honeydo's.

i did my interview in trenton and eric told me i can start any time but i still have some concerns/questions:

1. trenton is small (i think one instructor and 2 planes). and my concern is they will not be able to accommodate me if i try to expedite my training. after all, they only guarantee i'll finish in 10 months . . . unless they staff up, i don't know how they could fit more than a couple students in.

2. would it be better (i.e. better training, better instructors, better focus) if i bit the bullet and did a 90-day somewhere?

3. if so, where? richmond is closest, and i got some great posts on jc about it, but is there any consensus on which is the best place to be along the east coast and florida?

4. in a 90 day program, is there ANY time off to fly home for a couple days, or do i basically tell everyone 'see you in three months'? if i were in RIC, for instance, i could always drive/train/fly home.

my wife is supportive of the 90 program, god bless her, and our thinking here is that 3 mos of absence might be more bearable than 6 mos of mostly-absence coupled with daily 3 hour commutes, etc.

thanks for all the priceless advice so far and sorry to keep wringing my hands about this decision . . .
 
asta i just PM'd you a bunch so I won't say it all again, but this right here would be the decision maker for me:
Asta said:
...our thinking here is that 3 mos of absence might be more bearable than 6 mos of mostly-absence coupled with daily 3 hour commutes, etc..
Click to expand...
... makes a lot of sense to me!

i've been commuting to andover, NJ, from haledon/paterson area, and I've had a blast getting my tailwheel endorsement, but the hour drive was starting to get to me. that and I spread my 27 hours over a year, so I didn't learn quite as efficiently as I could have. i think that with the amount of information you'll be taking in, you're much better off with the 90-day.

and, so far, 1 instructor and 1 recently-finished RIC student have both told me that you will find a few days off here and there throughout the program. the student lives in north jersey and said he even drove home a couple times. that made me happy as well, cuz I'll be doing the 2 month private and 90-day acpp, so i'll definitely be looking for a mini break or two.

when are you thinking about starting? i'll be there january 7thish.
 
insidious -- i just pm'd you.

you're at aeroflex? you did the tailwheel checkout there? i heard that guy was good. i fly out of n40 sky manor. there's another good taildragger guy at vansant across the river.

yes, re ATP, i think you're right about the commute starting to get to me, and that i would probably get more out of the 90-day at RIC. even so, i'd do the trenton self-paced if i thought i could get 'er done in short order, but my concern is that TTN is so small that the instructor/plane might not be available all the time, and i'd get bumped. or, if there are no other acpp students, who would i do my xc's with?
 
yessir, Damian DelGaizo is the owner and operator of andover flight... everyone there is just awesome. i actually never had the privilege of flying with damian, but i've spent every hour so far with Cal Thomas, who in my opinion, will be very hard to top as far as instructors go. i started in the Piper L-4 Cub (signature pic) and I soloed after 17 hours, even though those hours took 6 months to acquire. i got to fly in formation with damian, and also took part in a mini-dogfight, lol... damian was in the top cub, so we had no chance. cal put up a good fight though, considering the difference in horsepower :).

anyway, keep weighing your options and let us know what you end up deciding. i'll be in RIC from january 7 - march 7, and then again between april 7 and early july. maybe i'll see you there?!
 
all right, i bit the bullet and am going. i'll be in richmond for the career pilot program beginning 12-10. and yes, that's just a few days away, so wish me luck!

thanks to all my fellow jc'ers for the great advice you've given me on this board. i literally would not have made this decision without you.
 
wow, pack up and go eh? skipping christmas and everything...
well, i'll see you down there in january. good luck!! and let me know what you think of the program/facility once you are a couple weeks in.
 
Asta said:
all right, i bit the bullet and am going. i'll be in richmond for the career pilot program beginning 12-10. and yes, that's just a few days away, so wish me luck!

thanks to all my fellow jc'ers for the great advice you've given me on this board. i literally would not have made this decision without you.
Click to expand...
Let us know how RIC works for you. I was a CFI there a few months ago if you have any general questions.
 
Asta said:
my wife is supportive of the 90 program, god bless her, and our thinking here is that 3 mos of absence might be more bearable than 6 mos of mostly-absence coupled with daily 3 hour commutes, etc.
Click to expand...


Let me give you some advice since your married and have kids- don't rush this. You will kick yourself in the end. This career will have you away from home more then you'd probably like with the kids growing up, school plays, sports etc. If you start to rush, and starting thinking that you'll only be away for 3 months, then you're going to disappointed. Going that route will have you away from home much longer then 3 months. Because soon you'll be saying, well we only have to sacrifice 2 months, and 1 month. Then you get hired and now you need sacrifice another 3 months from home during training. Then you may not get the base you want and now you're away more and more.

TRUST ME, slow down and put your family first. I'm not saying give up on the career, not even close. But don't leap into the fire with the 90 day program then jump right into working there then jump right into an airline.

When I looked at it, I told my wife that I'd be away for 2 months, then home for awhile. Well I ended up being away for 3 months (60 PPL+Weather). Then I was home for a month then gone for 3 weeks straight (CFI school). Then I got hired and instructer in Jax for 1 month, then HEF for 5 months. I kept telling myself "Just one more month then I'm home." It doesn't really work like that when you are trying to get into the industry quickly.

Looking back, I wish I went to a local FBO. I wish I didn't finance what I did. I wish I spent more time at home rather then giving up my life to get into this industry so fast. Because now as a Regional FO, I love to fly but I'm more about money and time at home with my wife.

You have kids and a wife. Take it slow. Try to train locally. If you really want to go to ATP, then do the 10 month program and just fly as much as you and your instructor can if thats what you want. Your CFI won't have a problem with you wanting to fly alot. They don't get that much flight time anyway. Once you finish the program, than take it from there.

My advice though is not to sell your soul to the Aviation Devil. Take care of your family first and work hard towards your career at the same time. It will all work out and you'll end flying for a good Regional hopefully based close to home, that way you're not away as much. But keep in mind that with this career, you'll be away half of your life. No need to jump right into that just to get your ratings. Enjoy the learning part. I know I did, but if I had to do it over again I would have slowed down a bit. From starting ATP to Regional Airline job took me just under 2 years, but I spent almost an entire year away from home. Not good when you've got a family. :)
 
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