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I try to post my experience at Pan Am in a way that won't start a huge argument... But it never works. I will keep posting what I experience and let everyone else continue the argument.
As for the $7000... Yes you could get a 737 type rating for it, but ACA, ASA, Comair, and so on, dont fly 737's, so it wont help my career until I shoot for the majors. Which in my case won't happen for at least 10 years, and by then I will be 40, and I may decide to stay at a regional, or go to a fractional.
So for the short term, this is how ACE (in my opinion) will help me:
1) I can learn the CRJ-200 systems without the added pressure of learning it for a job.
2) When I get to a regional, even if they fly turbo-props, I will already know how to use FMS, auto-pilot, read and use the PFD, MFD, and EICAS. As most tubo-props use at least a partial glass cockpit, if not full glass.
This class is tough enough without a job on the line. I feel I will have an advantage when I get to initial training at a regional airline.
I talked to my Cousin, who is a captain at ACA flying the Jetstream41, (and FSI grad) and asked him if ACE was a bad idea. He said if he had been exposed to those systems before he got to ACA, his initial training on the J41 would have been a lot easier.
So it's that simple, I talked to someone I trust, and made an educated decision based on that.
The Turk.
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Now, I'm not picking on the Turk here. On the contrary, I wish him the best of luck and I am trying to help him and everybody else from what I've been through so far. However, I'm not going to ignore the fact that someone is getting robbed, just because it is a post on a website. This whole thread is just like "Hey I got mugged on the street today" and everyone's reaction is: "Wonderful! Thanks for making a post!"
Anyway, flight schools are a business and I realize now what money makers for a school are. Personally, I'd like to hear from people like Doug, Eagle, A300 Captain, etc., if they have time, what their thoughts on programs like this are straight up. Because everyone I've talked to has said that ACE is just another 7000 dollar deposit for the school. In fact, that's why it got moved ahead of the CFI program as the above poster pointed out.
So you jet and turbo pilots out there, you can see what people say the benefits of the Ace program are. So is a program like this worth the money or should an aspiring pilot get his/her cfi first? Like I said before 7,000 dollars is a lot of money, especially when you become a CFI.