FAA Accelerated instrument Training Program
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FAA Accelerated instrument Training Program
Hey there..
I came across 10 Day accelerated training programs offered by quite a few companies all over US ( PIC, GATTS, etc) and was wondering if you guys would recommend them.. From what I was made to understand, the instrument training is generally very hard and involves mastering various procedures,etc. Do you guys think 10 days is enough to master these procedures and be a safe IFR pilot? 10 days seems awfully short for a rating that people say involves a lot of material.
From talking to some students and instructors who are involved with such programs, they say that I wouldn't be at a disadvantage compared to a person who went through the regular route since the training is intensive and covers the necessary material...
Thanks
I came across 10 Day accelerated training programs offered by quite a few companies all over US ( PIC, GATTS, etc) and was wondering if you guys would recommend them.. From what I was made to understand, the instrument training is generally very hard and involves mastering various procedures,etc. Do you guys think 10 days is enough to master these procedures and be a safe IFR pilot? 10 days seems awfully short for a rating that people say involves a lot of material.
From talking to some students and instructors who are involved with such programs, they say that I wouldn't be at a disadvantage compared to a person who went through the regular route since the training is intensive and covers the necessary material...
Thanks
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Honestly I think one's success in such accelerated programs depends on his or her personal aptitude and academic stamina. A buddy of mine completed his multi rating in four days from scratch; that is, going through the written, oral and practical tests, and passing the checkride with flying colors. Certainly the instrument rating is one of the toughest ratings to acquire as a pilot, but as I said earlier, it all depends on you as the individual and the overall expertise of the instructor who in turn will need to break down the material for you in a way that you can digest it within such a short amount of time. I personally wouldn't choose such a route, but that's just my individual stance. First and foremost, know yourself. If you can assimilate information within a relatively short amount of time then go for it! If not, well...That's pretty much my two cents worth. Cheers!!!!!!!!
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My concern is whether the short period of time and the consequent lack of experience might hamper my instrument flying? For example, making go/no-go decisions based upon weather by extrapolating information from weather charts ,etc. I wonder if these training programs would address such tasks for an optimum period of time
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Jai6638,
I assume your referring to the FAA IR?? Im not sure how many hours you require for it but here in JAA land our IR is either 50 or 55, depending whether you have a CPL already or a PPL. I've nearly finished mine and there is absolutely no way I could have done it in 10 days. I would have been phsically and mentally exhausted trying to do that. At a push, 4 weeks perhaps.
I assume your referring to the FAA IR?? Im not sure how many hours you require for it but here in JAA land our IR is either 50 or 55, depending whether you have a CPL already or a PPL. I've nearly finished mine and there is absolutely no way I could have done it in 10 days. I would have been phsically and mentally exhausted trying to do that. At a push, 4 weeks perhaps.
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Hey there.
Yes this is for the FAA IR... Requiremenst are 40 hours of instrument trainig ( 20 hours of which will be done in a simulator ) and 50 hours PIC cross country time ( which I will have ). I've heard that it is exhausting because there is a lot of stuff to memorize/practice. However, the ability to be exposed to the material for 10 days continuously apparently is a big plus point since your building on what you have learned everyday!
Not sure
Yes this is for the FAA IR... Requiremenst are 40 hours of instrument trainig ( 20 hours of which will be done in a simulator ) and 50 hours PIC cross country time ( which I will have ). I've heard that it is exhausting because there is a lot of stuff to memorize/practice. However, the ability to be exposed to the material for 10 days continuously apparently is a big plus point since your building on what you have learned everyday!
Not sure
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I did a 10 day programme a couple of years ago -unfortunately it is not running anymore. However, before you go you need to have your basic instrument skills sorted and under your belt before doing anything else.
I wrote up my story here.
http://www.bumblesfolly.com
I wrote up my story here.
http://www.bumblesfolly.com
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Ye they dont offer the training anymore. However, would you recommend the 10 day programs? With regards to instrument skills, I am the typical low hour PPL who has altitude deviations of +/- 100 feet and heading deviations of +/- 5 degrees. Do you think that I'd have problems with an accelerated program due to these problems?
I've heard that instrument training improves this and have been assured by the instructors that after devloping a good scan, this will be a non-issue..
I've heard that instrument training improves this and have been assured by the instructors that after devloping a good scan, this will be a non-issue..
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yes go for it.
If you have not already go one, get yourself a copy of the practical test standard to see what you have to do and make sure you have the written passed before you start the programme although most 10 day courses require that you have had this done anyway.
Here is the East coast version of what I did
http://www.dsflight.com/eastcoast-ifr.html
If you have not already go one, get yourself a copy of the practical test standard to see what you have to do and make sure you have the written passed before you start the programme although most 10 day courses require that you have had this done anyway.
Here is the East coast version of what I did
http://www.dsflight.com/eastcoast-ifr.html
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10 days just isn't enough to absorb it all properly. A couple of examiners I've met told me that they've been less than impressed with the products of these courses. Anecdotal evidence, I know. The 10 day courses are mainly aimed at ultra busy business people who just don't have the time to do it "right." I'm not against accelerated training (did my PPL in 21 days) but given the choice I'd take my time with the IR, 4 weeks or so. Remember the IR is the cornerstone of your professional flying career so it's important it's done right. Also, these courses have you take the test in a single which does not give you multi IR priviledges. You have to take another (very difficult) test to get a multi IR which makes it expensive overall. Oh, by the way, I'm an IR instructor myself.
Why do it if it's not fun?
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I've got no first-hand knowledge of the courses you're talking about, but here's my thoughts on the subject.
The course is a minimum of 40 hours. Over 10 days, that would be a minimum of 4 hours flying per day, plus groundschool, briefing, de-briefing.
I teach the JAA IR. The last three days, I have flown for about 4 hours a day. After three days of that, I'm pretty exhausted, and ready for the weekend. And I promise you that the workload for me, as an instructor, is much much less than for a student!
(Just to clarify, by the way, my 4 hours per day was split between two or three students each day - I certainly wouldn't allow my students to fly that many hours.)
FFF
----------------
The course is a minimum of 40 hours. Over 10 days, that would be a minimum of 4 hours flying per day, plus groundschool, briefing, de-briefing.
I teach the JAA IR. The last three days, I have flown for about 4 hours a day. After three days of that, I'm pretty exhausted, and ready for the weekend. And I promise you that the workload for me, as an instructor, is much much less than for a student!
(Just to clarify, by the way, my 4 hours per day was split between two or three students each day - I certainly wouldn't allow my students to fly that many hours.)
FFF
----------------
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"I am the typical low hour PPL who has altitude deviations of +/- 100 feet and heading deviations of +/- 5 degrees."
No one's perfect my friend. From what I've experienced, you are allowed a reasonable buffet when it comes to such deviations during instrument training. The whole point of this rating is to ensure that you can control the aircraft with that level of preciseness above that of a pilot without an instrument rating, not to mention the added level of safety which come from having an IR. We all know through statistics that the number of weather related accidents go down with IR pilots as oppposed to non IR pilots(Fair_Weather_Flyer and FlyingForFun you can correct me on this one).
But back to the point. What happens when you have to fly with 18knot gusting winds for example? Certainly you don't expect to keep that needle dead center on that altimeter do you? {without damaging something of course
}. But on a more serious note, true it's extrememly challenging that's for sure, but others have done it and so can you. That's one of my personal mottos which have gotten me through training thus far...
No one's perfect my friend. From what I've experienced, you are allowed a reasonable buffet when it comes to such deviations during instrument training. The whole point of this rating is to ensure that you can control the aircraft with that level of preciseness above that of a pilot without an instrument rating, not to mention the added level of safety which come from having an IR. We all know through statistics that the number of weather related accidents go down with IR pilots as oppposed to non IR pilots(Fair_Weather_Flyer and FlyingForFun you can correct me on this one).
But back to the point. What happens when you have to fly with 18knot gusting winds for example? Certainly you don't expect to keep that needle dead center on that altimeter do you? {without damaging something of course
}. But on a more serious note, true it's extrememly challenging that's for sure, but others have done it and so can you. That's one of my personal mottos which have gotten me through training thus far...
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Check out American Flyers, they actually claim that their bread butter is on Instrument training. 8-10day course nice and concentrated, but I believe it may be a course to look into.
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I have good experience of a 10 day inst program as an instructor. (In fact I think I have done about 6 or 7 of them in my instuctor days). Very tough and VERY tiring! If you can give yourself 14+ days all the better. If it works out 10 days is great but that means good weather (yes even though its Inst training VFR weather speeds up the number of practice approaches etc you can get done), no a/c avail problems, thorough knowledge of the practical aspects before day 1, the knowledge test completed(nothing worse for slowing down a course if not passed, nothing worse than a fail in it during the 10 days for knocking confidence either!) What tended to happen is that one day would get screwed up (always seemed to) and that would lead to a highly stressed day 9 and 10-sometimes with the IFR x-c qualifier being done on the day of the checkride.
Really the 10 program is a sales pitch. If your goal is a career pilot then approach it from the angle that you want to maximise your learning time and give yourself a little longer. Better to take your time and consolidate your knowledge and skills than to just burn out in 10 days for the sake of just a certificate.
Really the 10 program is a sales pitch. If your goal is a career pilot then approach it from the angle that you want to maximise your learning time and give yourself a little longer. Better to take your time and consolidate your knowledge and skills than to just burn out in 10 days for the sake of just a certificate.
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I was an instructor for that 10 day programme.
First off, you are doing yourself a major disservice by only giving yourself 10 days. The reason being is because no matter how proficient you are at tuning an ILS and briefing an approach you are never really up to par for the real thing. I currently teach the instrument rating for a university, consider myself to be quite intense and still find that it takes months of constant practice
for students to have the rote ability and basic judgement.
the moral of the story DONT DO IT
First off, you are doing yourself a major disservice by only giving yourself 10 days. The reason being is because no matter how proficient you are at tuning an ILS and briefing an approach you are never really up to par for the real thing. I currently teach the instrument rating for a university, consider myself to be quite intense and still find that it takes months of constant practice
for students to have the rote ability and basic judgement.
the moral of the story DONT DO IT
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Thanks for the responses...
Just to clarify, I would complete my written and get my 50PICXC hrs before going into the program so that I dont have to bother with that. From a flying standpoint, I would be using a plane that is always available to me... The way the program is structured, the student does 20 hours sim + 20 hours flying to get the total 40 hours required... Hence, if the weather sucks, it would be more sim time..
Regardless, I see what you guys mean..its jst a little tempting.. My PPL training dragged on for 1.5 years ( since I had to wait until I was 17 ) and I found that it was a lot of wasted money and that the frequent gaps in my training led to frustration and rusty skills! The hours I built were mostly to get me back in the saddle everytime I stopped flying for 3-4 weeks
..
There was a point in my training, when I had gotten a good feel for the trim,etc and could nail my heading and altitude consistently.. Then, I stopped flying for a month or so ( since I had time to kill,bad weather and instructor scheduling issues) and then when I returned, I had major deviations again! This is just one example.. Hence, the structure of the 10 day program appeals to me. This way, I know what I am going to do and how I am going to do it in a defined period of time.
Here's what one of the guys who got their license from the 10 day program ( called PIC ) had to say:
"The instrument training is very involved. There is a lot of knowledge and mastery of flight controll that has to occur. With that said, If you are dedicated, you can do it. I found it helpful to have had the written exam out of the way as this will help you in a general sense, to have the basic IR data in your knowledge tank. I am much older than you and have been away from the formal learning process for many, many years. Persistance is the key.
The PIC instructor was patient, understood my gaps in my knowledge and was able to help me bridge those gaps for a suscessful oral exam.
2) I had 41 hours of X-C and 26 Hours of Instrument when I hired PIC. We flew for 6 days and I was well prepared for the check ride.
3)We had 2 days of no fly because of Ice Airments and Pirep 's for ice. We mad that time up on the back end of the program.
4)You are not alone, I too had trouble with altitude. This is caused by not having the airplane trimed properly for the airspeed and or heavy controll pressure. PIC corrected this problem with the simulator and in the aircraft.
5) I have no regrets at all with this training. I feel well prepared to BEGIN my IR flying. I wont do hard IFR but will start with MVFR conditions to a base of 1000' to "cut my teeth" in a sense and ease my way as experiance builds. Like running a marathon, you need to practise and prepare with the new rating."
Here are my choices:
1) Do 10 day program. If I find that I am not confident enough to go up myself or that my skills are lacking, I go back to my old CFI and do some flights with him. The 10 day program I am looking at seems to have very experienced instructors ( 4000hrs TT + ) and has gotten good reviews from the people who graduated from it..
2) Instead of the 10 day program, Go to another accelerated program offered in Boston where they do 3-4 full day flights a week and the rest of the days, they assign ground stuff to learn the material... I'd probably be done in 25 days or so. This route is more expensive though ( $10,000 approx )
3) Go do the conventional route.. Problem with this is that I dont really like any of the CFII's in the local area and my old CFI now works for the airline so he's only in town for a week or so ....
I'm torn..
Just to clarify, I would complete my written and get my 50PICXC hrs before going into the program so that I dont have to bother with that. From a flying standpoint, I would be using a plane that is always available to me... The way the program is structured, the student does 20 hours sim + 20 hours flying to get the total 40 hours required... Hence, if the weather sucks, it would be more sim time..
Regardless, I see what you guys mean..its jst a little tempting.. My PPL training dragged on for 1.5 years ( since I had to wait until I was 17 ) and I found that it was a lot of wasted money and that the frequent gaps in my training led to frustration and rusty skills! The hours I built were mostly to get me back in the saddle everytime I stopped flying for 3-4 weeks
..
There was a point in my training, when I had gotten a good feel for the trim,etc and could nail my heading and altitude consistently.. Then, I stopped flying for a month or so ( since I had time to kill,bad weather and instructor scheduling issues) and then when I returned, I had major deviations again! This is just one example.. Hence, the structure of the 10 day program appeals to me. This way, I know what I am going to do and how I am going to do it in a defined period of time.
Here's what one of the guys who got their license from the 10 day program ( called PIC ) had to say:
"The instrument training is very involved. There is a lot of knowledge and mastery of flight controll that has to occur. With that said, If you are dedicated, you can do it. I found it helpful to have had the written exam out of the way as this will help you in a general sense, to have the basic IR data in your knowledge tank. I am much older than you and have been away from the formal learning process for many, many years. Persistance is the key.
The PIC instructor was patient, understood my gaps in my knowledge and was able to help me bridge those gaps for a suscessful oral exam.
2) I had 41 hours of X-C and 26 Hours of Instrument when I hired PIC. We flew for 6 days and I was well prepared for the check ride.
3)We had 2 days of no fly because of Ice Airments and Pirep 's for ice. We mad that time up on the back end of the program.
4)You are not alone, I too had trouble with altitude. This is caused by not having the airplane trimed properly for the airspeed and or heavy controll pressure. PIC corrected this problem with the simulator and in the aircraft.
5) I have no regrets at all with this training. I feel well prepared to BEGIN my IR flying. I wont do hard IFR but will start with MVFR conditions to a base of 1000' to "cut my teeth" in a sense and ease my way as experiance builds. Like running a marathon, you need to practise and prepare with the new rating."
Here are my choices:
1) Do 10 day program. If I find that I am not confident enough to go up myself or that my skills are lacking, I go back to my old CFI and do some flights with him. The 10 day program I am looking at seems to have very experienced instructors ( 4000hrs TT + ) and has gotten good reviews from the people who graduated from it..
2) Instead of the 10 day program, Go to another accelerated program offered in Boston where they do 3-4 full day flights a week and the rest of the days, they assign ground stuff to learn the material... I'd probably be done in 25 days or so. This route is more expensive though ( $10,000 approx )
3) Go do the conventional route.. Problem with this is that I dont really like any of the CFII's in the local area and my old CFI now works for the airline so he's only in town for a week or so ....
I'm torn..
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Faa Ir
Hi,
I did my FAA IR in a accelerated flight training school with one to one training with my instructor over the 7 days I was there.
I did have an UK IMC rating before hand which helped but I personally found It great and you fly so much that it really sinks in.
Do the written exam prior to the flying training would be my advice so its behind you before you start.
Good Luck
I did my FAA IR in a accelerated flight training school with one to one training with my instructor over the 7 days I was there.
I did have an UK IMC rating before hand which helped but I personally found It great and you fly so much that it really sinks in.
Do the written exam prior to the flying training would be my advice so its behind you before you start.
Good Luck
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it all depends on your targets
the fast trak IR (10 days or 14 days) is a very demanding training that you should chose if you dont have any opportunity to fly often and you want to concentrate your flight in one shot.
but if you have time and aviation is your career I dont see the point to do IR as fast as you can... on the contrary you should take as much time you can afford because this phase of your training is probably one of the most important... if you like the instructors and the syllabus just ask the training provider a more suitable pace.
but if you have time and aviation is your career I dont see the point to do IR as fast as you can... on the contrary you should take as much time you can afford because this phase of your training is probably one of the most important... if you like the instructors and the syllabus just ask the training provider a more suitable pace.
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I'm a flight instructor in US and regarding this issue I think 10 days IR rating is Route learning, wich means just memorizing everything before you check ride 
. Make sure you learn and understand everything, because that is what you will be doing rest of your life if you are going to be a professional pilot.
Good Luck
. Make sure you learn and understand everything, because that is what you will be doing rest of your life if you are going to be a professional pilot.Good Luck
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Though just a lowly PPL with IR, not an instructor, I disagree with Amin.
I know several folks who did the accelerated courses, mostly with PIC and I also know an instructor who worked for PIC for a number of years. The training is professional, thorough, and of the highest quality. Several examiners have told me the same thing. There is, however, no wasted time, and as pointed out a considerable amount of the training is on the sim.
However, I think such intensive training runs the risk that it doesn't sink in as well as the same information obtained over a longer period. Of course that depends on the individual. If you will fly a LOT of IFR in the days and weeks after passing the checkride, I think you'll be a competent IFR pilot within a few months. If you pass then don't fly, I think your skills will deteriorate very rapidly.
Accelerated course was not for me. But many excellent instrument pilots have been trained by PIC.
I know several folks who did the accelerated courses, mostly with PIC and I also know an instructor who worked for PIC for a number of years. The training is professional, thorough, and of the highest quality. Several examiners have told me the same thing. There is, however, no wasted time, and as pointed out a considerable amount of the training is on the sim.
However, I think such intensive training runs the risk that it doesn't sink in as well as the same information obtained over a longer period. Of course that depends on the individual. If you will fly a LOT of IFR in the days and weeks after passing the checkride, I think you'll be a competent IFR pilot within a few months. If you pass then don't fly, I think your skills will deteriorate very rapidly.
Accelerated course was not for me. But many excellent instrument pilots have been trained by PIC.
