Commercial Pilot Certificate - Mil Comp

[ajgeng]

Ahhh, fine guys, I changed my mind. I just made it free. Free Military Competency Test Prep. Only the commercial question bank that will appear on the Mil Comp test. Still interested in feedback. Hope it helps someone, it was a lot of work...
http://www.studygouge.com

Next time I get motivated, I'll make one for the Mil Comp Instructor.

 

[HuggyU2]

Any helo bubbas have any gouge on Mil Comp Instructor for SoCal?

This is brutally simple. Call Sheppard Air (www.sheppardair.com), pay $50 for their test prep, spend 3-6 hours one afternoon reviewing it, go take the written test, go to FSDO and get your certificate.
Easiest thing I've ever done that involved the gov't.

 

[teabag53]

Thanks, Huggy.

 

[JD81]

Nevermind, -1 for reading comprehension.

 

[FlyinRock]

Huggy
Fred said HI. YoYos still some time out and no ETA. The milcomp was a subject of conversation yesterday and Shepphard Air was mentioned by my classmate who did it with them a year or two ago. Good gouge.
Semper Fi
Rocky

 

[pourts]

TB--I second that emotion.

I've bought the MCI test prep software and am working on that now. I need to go through my logbook and convert everything into FAA-speak.

This PIC crap is killing me. The military has it right--Aircraft Commander time, then FPT/CPT. Simple. None of the interlocking web of confusion the civilian PIC logging has.

You aren't one of those guys that logs a .3 of FPT time even though the only time you touch the controls is when you step in and out of the aircraft, are you? It bugs me when IPs do that.

 

[NightVisionPen]

I did it like Huggy as well using Sheppard Air for the MCI. Easy as pie and their website has a ton of info on what you need from your logbook and NATOPS jacket. All the FSDO in Reno wanted was a copy of a NATOPS instructor qual. I didn't put any flight times on the form either. But they wouldn't give me the MEI because of Hornet centerline thrust. No big deal, as an ATP I can get the MEI in a handful of flights if I really wanted it.

ajgeng, your idea is good and you know your competition. Make a better product for the same cost or less and you'll have a winner. Make it mobile via the web like your FAQ says, or better yet make an app for the iPhone/iPad. That is the most annoying part of Sheppard - you can only use it from one computer and it is software based, not web based. But at least they finally went Mac compatible for their software.

 

[mb1k]

I can't believe the disparity in what people are able to get from the FAA. I've talked to a few FAA folks that seem to think their job is to prevent people from getting ratings. I actually heard one say "The policy from Washington is xxxx, I don't agree with it, so I don't comply." I know V-22 guys who were able to get helicopter ratings based on the 10-15 flights in the HTs and some who weren't, not to mention the whole multi-engine centerline thrust debacle. The recent FAR changes for Mil Comp Instructor is another one the FAA lower levels hate. One FAA guy told me the reason that the test is 150 questions for MCI is because those implementing the policy wanted to make it as difficult to get as they could, 150 questions was the most they could ask in the time period. A friend of mine spent months trying to get his MCI based on FRS instructor, and the guy told him he had to be a flight school instructor. Meanwhile, another guy got MCI based on squadron NATOPS evaluator. Go figure.

Best Plan: Ask for everything, argue everything with your logbook, designation letters, and ATFs. The guys processing your paperwork aren't the final authority, so politely appeal if they try and screw you out of something.

FWIW, whomever the FSDO examiner in Pendleton is, he's your guy for MCI. When I was on CNATRA staff I fielded a few initial calls from him asking to verify a couple of facts that some Marines had given him concerning their ratings. I was able to collaborate their statements with the current master curriculum guides and he had no problem awarding them FAA licenses. He called a few more times to round out his understanding of our training. After I last spoke with him he seemed like a positive supporter of giving the military aviators the ticket and even stated that if anyone in the future needed ticket to call his FSDO office. Unfortunately that was 2009 and I don't remember his name and I don't have my NMCI Outlook .pst files handy anymore.

Update: OK, I just read OttoWrote8 and Huggy's posts. I think the "SD Guy" is one in the same that called me. Thanks for the additional gouge too Huggy.