My 35-Hr ASAP experience

braidkid

New Member
Well, I just got done with the 35 hour ASAP program. Overall I was very pleased with my experience. I’ll try and recap on the 7 day program.

The ASAP program is designed for low time multi engine pilots to meet minimum insurance time requirements. I’ll need a few more ASAPs to meet insurance reqs but it was a good start anyway. The first 10 hours are spent with an instructor going over the multi-comm maneuvers and instrument approaches. They want to be sure you are performing at the multi-comm level before turning you lose in one of their planes. The next 25 hours are spent with another student (career pilot or another ASAP student) flying cross countries. You call a dispatcher before each flight and they tell you where to go. Once you’ve checked the weather, planned the flight, and preflighted the airplane you call dispatch again and they release you for flight. Upon reaching your destination you make another call to dispatch and are given your next leg and so forth…

Day 1: The first day I spent 5 hours in the sim getting used to CRM procedures. I flew half left seat and half from the right. This was fairly easy and demonstrated the reduced workload of having two pilots versus one especially while in IMC shooting an approach. After the sim session it was time to fly!! Since I had already received my multi-comm from ATP the previous week with the same instructor we didn’t need to spend a lot of time on maneuvers. We went up, I performed all the same maneuvers performed on my checkride the previous week, and then we shot multiple instrument approaches to get me up to speed on ATP’s airline call outs (Gear down, stabilized, 100 to go, minimums, etc…). Overall it was a great day and I felt like my instrument skills were getting a good workout.

Day 2: We only flew for about 2.5 hours the previous day and I needed 10 with my instructor. Since my maneuvers and everything else were pretty good my instructor and I flew a cross country. We flew from Manassas down to Wilmington, NC and back.

Day 3: Since I only required one more hour and it was New Year’s Eve this was a short day. My instructor and I flew another guy going for his MEI to his checkride to a neighboring airport. By the time we got back I had my 10 hours with an instructor and was ready to be released for my 25 hour cross countries!!

Day 4: We had New Year’s Day off so I reported back 8 am Friday morning. I called dispatch and found out my partner and I were going to Wilmington, NC again. Once we got to NC we found out we were going to Jacksonville, FL!! Once we got to FL we were sure we would be spending the night there but much to our surprise we were next told to go to Atlanta, GA!! We got to GA around 10 pm. ATP had already arranged for a hotel once we got there. Our hotel was very nice and I was surprised ATP arranged for such nice accommodations.

Day 5: We arrived back at the airport and found out we were going to Raleigh, NC. Once we got to NC we were dispatched to Trenton, NJ. After arriving in NJ we were finally told to report back to Manassas. We were both glad to have finished our round-robin tour of the east coast!!

Day 6: I received a new partner for this trip and was told to fly to Lexington, NC. Upon reaching NC we were assigned back to Atlanta, GA. At this point I had as much Seminole time as I could handle and was burned out. We were relieved to find out we were going back to Manassas that night. Even better news was receiving direct Manassas out of Atlanta and a 185 knt ground speed home!!!

I completed the 35 hours in 6 days instead of the advertised 7 days. I have absolutely no complaints from my experience and would recommend the program to anyone. I now have about 45 hours of multi time. After completing my CFII/MEI with ATP next week I will have about 55 hours MT. I know I need another 100 or so. I’m not sure if I’ll buy more ASAP’s or check out Ari-Ben’s time building program for half the price. I hope this is good gouge for anyone considering the ASAP program. I’ve spent some time with both career pilots and instructors for ATP so I feel qualified to answer any questions you may have for ATP in general.
 
Hey... thanks for the description of your ASAP experience. I'm not planning on entering that program anytime soon. I'm still working on my instrument ticket. I did notice you flew ATP out of HEF. How did you like the school and instructors at that location? What other ratings, etc did you get from ATP there? Reason I ask, is I'm considering obtaining the rest of my ratings through ATP. I currently fly out of Leesburg (JYO), so HEF would be the obvious location for me to train out of. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
 
Hi cavu4u,
I found the instructors and facilities at HEF were excellent. I got my multi-comm there as well (read my 10-hr multi-comm experience). I'm heading back to HEF this weekend for my CFII/MEI and then I'm DONE!!!
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I would definately suggest obtaining your add-ons at ATP. $1600 for your multi and $1700 for CFII/MEI add-ons seem reasonably priced to me and they get you done in a fast period of time. The best thing about the HEF location are the newer Seminoles.

I don't know if this answered your question but if you have any more feel free to reply or PM me.
 
BraidKid,

Thanks for the feedback. I'll definitely hit ATP up once I get my instrument out of the way. That could be a while considering the weather and icing temps during these months.

I looked at ATP's seminoles a few months ago on the ramp. You're right... the avionics in them are quite impressive considering the airplane.

Anyhow, thanks again for the insight. Good luck!
 
Braidkid,

I currently have about 1175 TT and 80 Multi (CFI<CFII<MEI) and I'm contemplating buying some block time (100 hours) through either All ATP, Ari Ben and Air Desert Pacific. Would you recommend All Atp for such a venture as I saw you earlier reference to Ari Ben for time building. The trips do sound nice for time building purposes. Long trips throughout the east and great equipment. I'm leaning towrads ATP as I need to complete my ATP written but I keep thinking of the bad weather we are experiencing in the northeast. Any info will help?

Thanks.
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I'd watch that Air Desert Pacific place, sounds like they're practicing PFT. This is from their front page:

"Professional Pilot Placement Program
Zero to Flight Instructor in 16 weeks
Flight Instructor Employment
FAR 135 PIC Employment and ATP
From $25,387"

Sounds fishy to me. I'd stick with ATP or Ari.

Cheers


John Herreshoff
 
Hi Antonio,
I do not have any experience with Ari-Ben or Air Desert Pacific. All I know is you'll pay $1045 buying 100 hours from ATP vs. $6000 buying 100 hours from Ari-Ben. That's $4k in savings by going to Ari-Ben. I only have 50 hours MT now and will probably need another 50 just to be able to instruct. Therefore, I'm highly considering going to Ari-Ben next to buy 100 hours to meet insurance mins. The only reason I'd go to Ari over ATP is the price. The main reason I did ATPs time building program was because I got all my add-ons there and it just made sense to get comfortable in the Seminole. By the time I had my MEI checkride I felt very comfortable in the airplane.

I do not know much about Air Desert Pacific so I won't comment on them. However, Ari Ben's time building program differs from ATP's in a few ways. You are limited to the state of Florida unless you want to buy your own gas. This is because Ari won't refund gas price unless it's on their field. Also, you are limited to flying at night. The airplanes are probably not as nice as ATP's Seminoles either. Still, you're saving 4 grand by going to Ari and time is time when trying to meet insurance mins.

I hope I answered some of your questions. Feel free to PM me anytime...
 
I looked into Ari Ben's program last year before I was hired, and it is a good deal. The dealbreaker for me was the schedule-they told me the aircraft are used for training during the day, and then flown for timebuilding during the night. Good utilization of the equipment, but that's a rough schedule. At that rate of use, those planes need a biweekly 100-hour.
 
Was the seminole that you flew at HEF a 2001 or 1979/80
model?

Does anyone know what model that the JAX base has?
 
[ QUOTE ]
Was the seminole that you flew at HEF a 2001 or 1979/80
model?


[/ QUOTE ]

I flew the 2001 model mostly. For some reason HEF manages to keep the newer Seminoles. I had no complaints with the 79/80 model either.
 
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