"Michelle P" wrote in message
k.net...
Pilot Puppy shop. One local examiner says they push them out as fast as
possible, quality be damned, just pass the test.
Michelle

Peter MacPherson wrote:

Has anyone used All ATPS for the ATP rating? Any locations
better than others? Since I'd have to travel anyway, I'd like
to go to one of the better locations.

Just because I love to play Devil's advocate...

My CFII never had a good thing to say about things like the PIC 10-day
Instrument Rating, and the place where I got my seaplane rating made no
bones about their distaste for certain well-known floatplane schools down in
Florida.

Both could make an argument as to why- my CFII felt that an instrument
student in the Northeast ought to be trained in all four seasons, and in
actual conditions as much as possible, and you just couldn't do that in ten
days. My seaplane school made a point of teaching more than the barebones
basics the PTS requires, as they felt that a pilot who knew only the PTS
could not in fact be a safe seaplane pilot.

Now, is anyone alleging that All ATPS has an "in" with an examiner who cuts
their students slack? Otherwise we have to concede that their students are
at least passing their checkrides honestly, and it's the same PTS everyone
else uses.

Local guys and smaller shops always grouse about bigger assembly-line
operations because they can't compete with their prices. Sometimes the local
guys do in fact provide better quality, too. I'm glad I went with my grumpy
old local CFII and spent 14 months getting my IR, now that I'm done with it.
But as I'm contemplating moving past that, I'm also starting to see the
advantages of the "puppy store" for some things. Heck, my grouchy CFII even
suggested that I "go to Florida to get your commercial done fast and
cheaper, them come back here to do your CFI with me."

I'd be interested of course to hear why the training approach taken by All
ATPs is worse than the way most ratings get done everywhere else anyway.
Let's not argue perfection- many of the "traditional" schools/instructors
out there stink just as bad as the big places and are more expensive while
they're at it.

Best,
-cwk.