hkdguy

Anyone have any recommendations for a great place to get an ATP MES rating?

Thanks

JohnBurke

"Great" is relative. What's your goal here?

If you just want the multi-sea rating and it's about ink and cost, then the most cost-effective way to do it will be Seabring Aviation in an Aircam. The wait list has been several months, due to popularity. I'm not sure what it is presently. It's the least you'll pay for multi-sea. It's minimalist. It's also floats, vs. a hull, so a little different experience.

More expensive, but a shorter waiting list, if you want to stay in the lower 48, will be Waterwings. It's about double the price, but you'll do it in a Widgeon. You can do the ATP there, too, but they do require 50 hours in class (multi-engine sea), before the ATP checkride.

If you want to shell out a bit more, The Goose Hangar in Anchorage offers the multi-sea rating in a Goose, for about triple the price.

Pick your poison.

10PAT

Waterwings has all but discontinued their Widgeon offer. He said he doesn’t like seeing the Widgeon getting beat up constantly, and it’s a little bit hard to find/keep a consistent and available instructor for it. They’ve sold one of the Widgeons and said he will only do Widgeon training for someone who is buying one or something similar. They now have 2-3 Aircams though and are offering the MES rating for much cheaper (than the Widgeon) if you go the Aircam route.

JohnBurke

That was inevitable, sooner or later. I'm pleasantly surprised that the Goose hangar is still playing ball, though they do charge for it. A lot of experience comes with that training, though.