Thank you!
I’ll be there on the 5th as well, driving down from NYC tomorrow night.
Good morning all,
I passed my CFI initial yesterday! CFI academy took just about 3 weeks for me. I took my oral last Saturday in LZU which lasted about 6 hours 
, then discontinued the flight portion due to weather. I then had to wait about a week to take the flight portion with the same DPE in Tennessee. Its been a journey, lots of hard work and countless hours of studying but SO worth it. Heading back to NYC now as a brand new CFI.
Cheer,
Jonathan
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Jonathan,
Congratulations!! That is a huge accomplishment. What are your plans for after you complete the program?
Chris
Thank you!
I will most likely fly for a local flight school on Long Island that is closer to where I live. ATP’s location is just too far, and I doubt there will be a instructor position open when I complete the program.
Absolutely. I would.
Congrats! Ill be at ISP on Sat taking my CFII with Adam. I bet your happy to be home again!
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Haha yeah man, feels great to be home. Congrats to you as well!
I’ll be there on Saturday for my last CFII prep flight, I’ll see you then. I have my ride on Tuesday with Adam.
Update: Got my CFII today! 5 checkrides down, 2 to go 
Jonathan
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Very nice. Congratulations!
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Congrats! Start studying the Seminole supplement and getting the flow down. It’s a lot to take in the 4 flights and 4 sims!
Hi all,
So, interesting story with my comm multi add-on. Yesterday, the DPE and I went up and had to declare an emergency and discontinue the checkride due to a stuck trim in the full nose up position. We started off the checkride with slow flight, I added nose up trim to relieve some yoke pressure and while recovering from the maneuver I noticed the trim was stuck. I quickly let the DPE know of the problem and we were forced to declare an emergency and land. Thankfully, we were able to safely land without further incident.
We rescheduled for today and I passed! I decided to opt out of the MEI, so this was officially my last checkride with ATP! However, I do have multi engine crew, so that’s the next (and last) step! My time here at ATP has been nothing short of amazing! Im looking forward to instructing at ATP and paying it forward to my students. I’m just waiting to see what locations are available. I’ll be sure to keep you all posted on crew and what location I pick!
Cheers,
Jonathan
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Congrats, and that sure is one heck of a story to tell down the road! 
Glad to hear everything worked out and resulted in a safe outcome. I can only imagine what the DPE was thinking!
Nice job Jonathan. I am curious why you opted out if your MEI?
Adam
Congrats Jonathan! That would explain why one of your Seminole’s just went down! Great job recognizing and keeping the crew environment alive by advising your DPE (was it Jon?)
@Adam He may have his own reasons but A LOT of us are forgoing MEI as ATP now has a 100hr program again where they are guaranteed the MEI spot so not only do most of us finishing have to wait to get the ME Standards Instructor spot to open (my location just changed so I have at least 7 months for it to open again and there are 2 others ahead of me) but now you will have these 100hr graduates getting the slot when they start finishing in about 8+ months as the 100hr has been available for over a month.
For me it was the risk of another bust, the extra cost, the minimal chance to get the MEI spot, not many flight schools around me have ME Aircraft outweighed the reward of another certificate. I’m not ruling it out forever but for the time being atleast.
Jonathan,
Great job with the emergency and with passing your last check ride. Thank you for all the updates, please keep them coming as you progress through your career.
Chris
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Hey, Jonathan!
Congrats on your comm multi add-on! As someone who will start pilot school in January 2021 when I graduate college, I’ve been reading your story and it’s really inspiring! I am just curious, and I don’t know if I can ask this, but how many total flight hours do you have now?
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Hi James,
I have exactly 244 as of today. I’m scheduled for 20 hours of multi engine crew, and should have around 264 by the Tuesday, which will mark the end of the program for me.
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Thanks Adam. I opt’d out because I run the risk of not finishing the program within 120% of duration (which is needed for the ATP instructor position) if I go for the MEI. For me, it’s high risk for something I may not be able to use right now. I may consider it later down the road. I also agree with Tom.
Jonathan,
I appreciate your response and your and Tom’s reasons are yours and no one can or should dispute them.
That said I do have to say I’m confused as to the “risk”? If you guys are headed to the airlines you’ll be taking a checkride a year for the rest of your careers (and line checks on top of that once you upgrade). While checkrides of course have the risk of failure that risk goes down dramatically if you’re prepared which of course you should be. I’m challenging your decision but you really need to embrace the checkride as an opportunity to demonstrate your skills and knowledge and in most cases to gain something you’ve worked for (rating, upgrade, new type). I’ve been an instructor at both the airlines I’ve worked for and I still haven’t met the examiner who wants to down someone. Unfortunately I’ve also met pilots who’ve had checkride-itis so bad they’ve passed on opportunities. Please don’t let that be you guys because frankly, as long as you’re willing to do the work, there’s really no reason for fear.
Adam
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