Thinking about going to AriBen or ATP

thaina09123

New Member
Hi there,

I am new to this forum and the website so please be gentle. I will have my PPL from part 61 FBO in couple of days and looking for flight school for next year. I have narrowed down to two schools which is Ari-Ben and ATP. (I somewhat wish that I went to part 141 for more organized training.)
I have yet vistied any of these two but plan to do so in January. However, before I make a move, I just want to hear the voice of the students so that I can plan my $ accordingly. It is more likely that I will take the full loan without co-signer.
Here are the questions,

1. Is it hard to get a full tuition loan(without co-signer) for a 21-yr-old with good credit? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
2. How much more of $30,000 do you need? books, exam fees, housing....
3. How is your day like? ground school?, flight?....organized classes?
4. Do you work while training? any on-site job offer?(refueling, cleaning?)
5. Do you like it?
6. Do you share X-Country time with someone else?
7. How about insurance deductible at the school, do you recommend renters' insurance before training?
8. Lastly, your living expenses, can you draw this from loan? any discounted housing if your training takes longer, or perhaps if lucky, for their flight instructor?

To be honest, I am leaning more toward Ari-Ben because it is a little bit cheaper and that if somehow I don't make the instructing job at the school, I would have less debt to deal with. However, the the cost of these school isn't far off, I might have to think twice.

Any other comment is appreciated and forgive me for the long list of curiosity.

thaina09123
"rookie in the house" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
The only thing I have against AriBen is that I have been told their instructors don't get paid to brief students. If this is true, it is a sad situation.
 
I think that's how it works. They only pay you for ground school if you instructing VA student. Even my instructor at the FBO doesn't get pay for ground works.
 
This amazes me. AriBen and other places could charge for ground briefing and make more money. The instructors could make more money. I do not understand why they do not charge for this. It is the flight instructors job to 'instruct' be it on the ground or in the air. Ground instruction and briefing is every bit as important as flight instruction, and the students should pay for this.

If I was unfortunate enough to be an instructor at such a place, I would be keeping my briefing to an absolute minimum. If a student needed more indepth briefing they would only get it after they had bought me lunch or dinner!
 
I'm a VA student at aviator and just started the course last week. I've only heard good things from the other students, and as far as the ground goes the non VA students will still get ground to an extent depending on how much help you need. If you hit the books hard theres no reason why you should pay extra to have someone baby you. Also, you are pretty much going to get hired as soon as you finish the training, no waiting list, as long as youre not a rock.
 
Hi, I am a current student at the Aviator. If you have good credit I don't think it is very hard to get a loan. I am 21 years old also and Key Bank approved me for the loan without a co-signer. The thing is not having a co-signer increases how much you pay them back. You can include money in the loan for your living expenses. When I got to the Aviator they had a check waiting for me for the living cost part of the loan. There is a fairly large cost difference between the Aviator and ATP. The Aviator is currently $30,000 and ATP is $38,000. The checkride fees are not included in those cost of either school. That $8,000 difference is really much larger after you finance it. At the Aviator you get 200 hours of multi. All of that is in the actual airplane. ATP's website shows 190 hours multi with 50 of that in a simulator. It does not cost much to run a simulator compared to an airplane. I can't speak for ATP but at the Aviator it looks like most people finish the program right on time and budget. Everyone will be slighty different but it is really close to what is shown on their website. I have even talked to people that ended up spending a little less. I personally haven't been working while here. That being said there are people who do work. The instructors are good about scheduling around your needs. Call and talk to Mike or Ari abouting work. They can give you better info on that than I can. If it is going to be some time before you start I would suggest studying and taking as many of the written exams as you can. That would give you a really good back ground before starting and one less thing to study for while your here. The program is set up so you flying 80 hours dual and get the private multi and instrument rating during that first 80 hours. After that you time build for 100 hours. During that time you flying with another student to wherever you want. The time building is all done at night and on the weekends as you want. At ATP you time build with another student for 75 hours. Unlike the Aviator at ATP you have to call their dispatch and they tell you where you will fly. At ATP you don't have your choice where you fly. I am glad I made the decession to come to the Aviator. I am flying five days a week and am happy with them.
 
Hi,

Thank you for the info you guys giving me. It's really helpful. I hope to visit both places early next year. $8k is really big advantage for me, especially it will be significantly more after the interests. I can even use them for tailwheel endorsement and what not.

Thanks for the info though, I really appreciate you all.
thaina09123
 
I'm thinking about going to Ari-Ben also. I've already applied to Key for the money. Problem is a hurricane hits Florida every week or so and to make matters worse all the motels are full of emergency workers.
 
Forgot one question,

It seems like eveyone is recommending to get all the written exams done before attending. Do they offer the ground school for that? Is it something extra? or is that the suggestion. Lastly for those of you who completed written before training. Where do you recommend to do the ground stuff?

Thank you...
 
Studying and taking the writtens was simply my personal suggestion. Unlike most students who come to the Aviator, I already had my instrument rating. I have also taken most of the other writtens, too. This has made my training much easier for me. I know they do have ground school classes but I have not needed to take any yet. Therefore I do not know precisely how they are set up. The billing works on an account system. The bank will make a payment on your account. Each time you fly your account is billed for that flight. When that money in the account runs out then the bank makes the next payment and the process goes on. I do not know if the ground school classes are included in the total cost of the program or not. However any money left over in the account at the end of the program is giving back to you. So if you don't use something then it is just money you save. As far as the written test go, I do not think there is any reason that a person can't simply study the books and pass the test. Everything you need to know is covered in the books if you just study them. To study for the written test I suggest the Gleim books. There site is www.gleim.com. They have both books and software to help prepare the the writtens. A number of pilot shops sell their publications. You might also look on ebay for any used stuff. Study there publication and then sit down with a local instructor for a little while and have them sign you off to take the test. If you get the Instrument written test completed then you can take the Flight Instructor Instrument Airplane(FII) and the Instrument Ground Instructor(IGI) without getting another signoff. Those two test use the same bank of questions that the instrument written comes from. Anyway all this is my personal suggestion.
 
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Studying and taking the writtens was simply my personal suggestion. Unlike most students who come to the Aviator, I already had my instrument rating.

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If you already have your instrument rating when you go to Ari, and are doing the 200 hr. course for all your ratings, how do they handle the time you would be normally training for instruments? And how much time is alloted for that?
 
You really should call Ari. You're going into waters that not much of us here are in or have experience in. I'm enjoying being here at Aviator. Whatever you do, DO NOT get put in the houses in Port Saint Lucie...they're nice (the houses), but it's a long haul to the airport.

Take you time, and make sure you make the right decision for you. Good luck and feel free to ask as many questions as you feel need to be answered.
 
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Whatever you do, DO NOT get put in the houses in Port Saint Lucie...they're nice (the houses), but it's a long haul to the airport.

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So they have housing that is not in Port Saint Lucie? I am assuming you are talking about the housing that is included for 3 months with the course. Where is the other included housing if they have it?
 
We're about 23miles(30 mins) from airport. All I can say is that's a lot of gas and miles to your car.

The main student housing is in Vero Beach, 8 miles(10-15ins)
 
The housing in Vero is pretty close and they're nice places too. Unfortunately it's all full right now. But there are people that come and go so there's a chance that you can get in here when you come down.

j
 
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