AeroT
Well-Known Member
I've always been somewhat critical of ATP due to a bunch of reviews from other people who bash it or say it's not quality training etc... I did all of my training at small FBO's and this was my first experience with a larger scale flight school. I'm here to set the record straight because I had an outstanding experience at ATP-GKY and would recommend it to anyone who has a strong work ethic and doesn't expect things to be handed to them. I did the 5 Day 15 Hour MEI/II Program but witnessed people in all phases from commercial multi to private students.
Day 1: Show up at 8AM, fill out paperwork and make payment. Get assigned my first instructor for the MEI portion and start reviewing the Seminole supplement to make sure I have all the knowledge down pat for my checkride. Take an early lunch and come back around 1 and then go fly for 2 hours. Great thing about GKY is it's in the Bravo but very close to the edge so going out to the practice area doesn't take longer then 10 minutes. Come back in and complain about how hot it is outside and decide not to fly until 7PM when it cools off. Go flying again at 7PM for another 2.2 on the Hobbs and call it a day. My instructor was extremely knowledgeable and proficient in the Seminole. He could demonstrate any maneuver to ATP (not the company) standards and give excellent instruction.
Day 2: Show up at 8 AM, go fly right away to beat the heat and get another 1.6 on the hobbs. Feeling pretty confident by this point as most of my maneuvers are down solid. Come back do some ground, get my endorsement for my checkride, early lunch again and then a nice break until 7PM to fly again. Flew again at 7PM for another 2 hours and then was back at the hotel in bed by 10PM.
Day 3: Checkride day has arrived. Showed up at 6:45AM and did all my performance charts along with a weight and balance. The examiner likes to do his checkrides in pairs so he'll do 2 orals and then 2 flights. The other guy going was a Commercial Multi. I was the first applicant selected and went in and started my oral around 7:30AM. Oral lasted about 30 minutes or so and was very straightforward. There wasn't any side chit chat and the questions were in a rapid fire sequence. After finishing the Oral I went and preflighted the Seminole while the Commercial Multi was doing his Oral. Around 9AM we were wheels up and off to start the maneuvers. Started out with slow flight, power off stall, steep turns, Vmc demo, drag demo, engine shutdown and airstart and then to FWS for 3 landings. 1.2 on the Hobbs and I was an MEI! Switched instructors and got assigned the Chief Pilot, did some sim later in the afternoon for an hour to get the profile of approaches I was going to be shooting the next day and then had the rest of the day off.
Day 4: 8AM went out and did the 3 approaches twice. One was a single engine ILS, Partial Panel GPS, & full procedure VOR back into GKY. During the middle part of the day we did some ground and got me squared away for my checkride. Went back out around 3PM and did the approaches over again to make sure I was comfortable and wasn't missing anything. Total hobbs for the II was 3.2 for training.
Day 5: My last day (I hoped)! Same setup as before 2 of us were going on II rides and I was selected first. Did the oral, went out and flew the approaches and came back in on a circle to land. I was now an MEI/II in 5 days and felt very confident in my skills! I still had some time left over so we went to Hard Eight BBQ in Stephenville and had a faulty RPM gauge on the way back.
The airplanes that I used for the training were all newer model and well maintained. Never once had an issue with maintenance. The facility was clean, well kept, and the atmosphere was strictly professional and strictly hard work with a little bit of humor/chit chat tossed in. All the instructors were fairly new, but they all had a solid grasp of what was expected of them and all were very sharp pilots. I can't give a review for the whole company as I haven't attended other locations. I know there are always going to be a few bad apples, but I can assure you that if you go to GKY and work hard you will leave with your ratings in hand. Jeremy Yaple, and Erik Wilson both were extremely professional and had your needs in mind.
For those people that had bad ATP experiences it could have been due to a numerous amount of factors but I think the biggest one is that the person doesn't apply themselves and doesn't realize how much work goes into getting a certificate/rating. ATP gives you the tools to succeed, but they aren't going to hold your hand and spend hours upon hours teaching you things you should already know or reteach something they already taught you. I got my moneys worth and I will for sure be recommending GKY as the place to go for any type of training.
Day 1: Show up at 8AM, fill out paperwork and make payment. Get assigned my first instructor for the MEI portion and start reviewing the Seminole supplement to make sure I have all the knowledge down pat for my checkride. Take an early lunch and come back around 1 and then go fly for 2 hours. Great thing about GKY is it's in the Bravo but very close to the edge so going out to the practice area doesn't take longer then 10 minutes. Come back in and complain about how hot it is outside and decide not to fly until 7PM when it cools off. Go flying again at 7PM for another 2.2 on the Hobbs and call it a day. My instructor was extremely knowledgeable and proficient in the Seminole. He could demonstrate any maneuver to ATP (not the company) standards and give excellent instruction.
Day 2: Show up at 8 AM, go fly right away to beat the heat and get another 1.6 on the hobbs. Feeling pretty confident by this point as most of my maneuvers are down solid. Come back do some ground, get my endorsement for my checkride, early lunch again and then a nice break until 7PM to fly again. Flew again at 7PM for another 2 hours and then was back at the hotel in bed by 10PM.
Day 3: Checkride day has arrived. Showed up at 6:45AM and did all my performance charts along with a weight and balance. The examiner likes to do his checkrides in pairs so he'll do 2 orals and then 2 flights. The other guy going was a Commercial Multi. I was the first applicant selected and went in and started my oral around 7:30AM. Oral lasted about 30 minutes or so and was very straightforward. There wasn't any side chit chat and the questions were in a rapid fire sequence. After finishing the Oral I went and preflighted the Seminole while the Commercial Multi was doing his Oral. Around 9AM we were wheels up and off to start the maneuvers. Started out with slow flight, power off stall, steep turns, Vmc demo, drag demo, engine shutdown and airstart and then to FWS for 3 landings. 1.2 on the Hobbs and I was an MEI! Switched instructors and got assigned the Chief Pilot, did some sim later in the afternoon for an hour to get the profile of approaches I was going to be shooting the next day and then had the rest of the day off.
Day 4: 8AM went out and did the 3 approaches twice. One was a single engine ILS, Partial Panel GPS, & full procedure VOR back into GKY. During the middle part of the day we did some ground and got me squared away for my checkride. Went back out around 3PM and did the approaches over again to make sure I was comfortable and wasn't missing anything. Total hobbs for the II was 3.2 for training.
Day 5: My last day (I hoped)! Same setup as before 2 of us were going on II rides and I was selected first. Did the oral, went out and flew the approaches and came back in on a circle to land. I was now an MEI/II in 5 days and felt very confident in my skills! I still had some time left over so we went to Hard Eight BBQ in Stephenville and had a faulty RPM gauge on the way back.
The airplanes that I used for the training were all newer model and well maintained. Never once had an issue with maintenance. The facility was clean, well kept, and the atmosphere was strictly professional and strictly hard work with a little bit of humor/chit chat tossed in. All the instructors were fairly new, but they all had a solid grasp of what was expected of them and all were very sharp pilots. I can't give a review for the whole company as I haven't attended other locations. I know there are always going to be a few bad apples, but I can assure you that if you go to GKY and work hard you will leave with your ratings in hand. Jeremy Yaple, and Erik Wilson both were extremely professional and had your needs in mind.
For those people that had bad ATP experiences it could have been due to a numerous amount of factors but I think the biggest one is that the person doesn't apply themselves and doesn't realize how much work goes into getting a certificate/rating. ATP gives you the tools to succeed, but they aren't going to hold your hand and spend hours upon hours teaching you things you should already know or reteach something they already taught you. I got my moneys worth and I will for sure be recommending GKY as the place to go for any type of training.
