Ayu97

I'll would like to know if it is possible to complete training from ppl to cfi in a period of 5 months without having to attend ATP? I been reading a lot of trash talk about ATP and I don't think that is a bad school but I'm looking to get the best training available without dropping 60k to 70k and coming out prepared to be a good cfi. So far i have not read anything bad from Ari-Ben so if any of you guys know something please let me know. I will star training march 2008. Where I live they are a couple of FBO but they don't have any financial help so it will be very difficult to finish in 5 or 6 months and star making money as a cfi. ATP is the last option I'll like to go because I also heard their rate of drop outs in CFI school is very hi and I'm not looking forward to have a bad instructor and not pass my checkrides. I'm just looking for suggestions in a fast, good and professional school that helps me become a safe and good pilot.

LeoSV

The answer is pretty much no. You can try to fly as much as possible at a flight school, but your instructor will not be there everyday, your plane of choice will not be available everyday, you will not go on long X-C all the time to get the hours out of the way like you do at ATP either. The longest part of your training will be the PPL because you start from scratch and you need an instructor with you pretty much the whole time. The others will take a while because you need to get so much X-C and Sim INST time, and you will either need a safety pilot for that, or pay an instructor $40/hour to sit there and look out for airplanes for you. It's not the actual training that takes so long, it's the logistics of it all. At ATP, you go in and just train all day. Sims, ground school, in the plane.. Nobody here denies they do what they advertise, it's the quality of the instruction that is in question. If you just want to pay alot and go straight to the regionals without paying your dues, ATP is the place for you. If you don't want to pay all that money, then expect to train alot longer than 5 months from PPL to CFI. It'll be well over a year probably. And ATP only has the 90 day thing AFTER you get your private. expect the private to take 3 months or so, and then another 3 months for ATP, at the soonest.

de727ups

It depends on where you go. It's hard to believe there aren't flight schools out there that uses sims, can fly with you every day, and can be as focused as ATP. I'd look for a larger school with at least 5 152's and 10 CFI's. Walk in and tell them you want to work very hard and fly every day. You're willing to make your entire focus for six months flying. It's really more about you than the school, I think. ATP is successful because they give you the tools to do it very fast and leave the rest up to you. But, there's nothing special about what they do. You gotta look around but there are other places that can get it done.

As far as financial help goes, that's one you'll have to ask about. I've seen some school advertise the PilotFinance program. Maybe you could goggle it and get more info.

t207

Ayu97 try north aire in prescott Arizona. I did my ppl there a few years ago and flew one to two times a day and did most of the writen test prep on my own and start to finish took me 4 weeks.

de727ups

I did my commercial multi there in 1980.

Lbell911

I did my pvt se in 40 days at an FBO, and then my Instr. just 30 days after that, but again as de727ups said, I had a dedicated flight instructor, and since he knew I was commited to flying all the time, he'd give me priority on air-craft and instructor scheduling. Now keep in mind I was also working full time while still flying.....Stressful yes, but I accomplished it!

Now I gotta work on my ME elsewhere, as the FBO doesn't have a ME airplane.

plasticpi

There was a guy in my CFI class at American Flyers (ADS) that started training 2 months prior to that. By "started training" I mean the fist time he grabbed a yoke was 2 months before completing his commercial certificate.

Granted, he flew for nearly 8 hours a day, probably studied the rest of the waking hours, and did this 6 or 7 days a week. I don't know how much he spent, but I don't bet that it was terribly cheap.

So basically he went from 0 time to CFI/II in about 3 1/2 months. So yes, it's possible. How practical it is, however, is certainly up for debate.

In all reality you will spend less money by doing it all in one fell swoop like this, as recency of experience is prime in this situation, but you will have to pay for it basically all at once, financially, mentally, and socially.

If you're going for a career in aviation, don't sweat which school will look best on a resume. A license is a license is a license. There's too many other variables involved to say that School A makes better pilots than school B, the biggest variable being the student. You'll get out of your training what you put into it, no matter where you go.

Best of luck to you!

N618FT

You can 1/2 ass anything as fast as you want.

Ayu97

thank you guys ...just like plasticpi sais..I know it will be hard financially, mentally and socially but it seem doable. I'm not looking to do ppl to cfi in 3.5months but at least from 5 to 6 months. Financially, well I hope my family helps a little and I know they will and its not good to take loans but to make my training as fast as possible it is the only route. The mental part is the easy part, I'm not some little kid who its entering the industry because its cool to fly plane. I'm 26 almost 27 with a BA in accounting and I have been working since I was 16 so I know what sacrifices and hard work is. When you have a dream and you are 100% focus in what you want their is nothing that can stop you. Socially, it will not kill me to stay home studding knowing that soon after I instruct for a while I'll be flying all over the states as a FO in a regional.

planecrazyjenn

Went to Ari myself...have nothing but good things to say about it...and you can get it done in 5 months or less. 5 is kinda the norm. Fast isn't always best...and having a little bit of room for extra study is nice. But you can do it in 90 days if thats your learning style and you can retain it.

Can't speak for ATP...never went there, but did have a lot of students come over to us from there complaining of bad instruction. However, that's just the people I've come across...there are people who are happy with their training their.