0 hrs to CPL in 6-8 months...

Mohsin · Post by **Mohsin** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 9:08 am

hey!
has anyone around here gone from 0 to CPL in around 6 months? I was told by the dude at St.Catharines Flying Club that he'll get me done in 7-8 months including Single IFR.
The reason i want to do that is cause im already a University grad and been out of school for a year and a half or so. Dont want a diploma or anything, just get my CPL asap.
Any advice?
thanks

Justwannafly · Post by **Justwannafly** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 10:43 am

Ive seen it done...BUT that is VERY hard to do...you will be doing nothing but flying....

john holmes · Post by **john holmes** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 10:50 am

Yes it can be done, I went from not flying to CMIFR in 8 months. I wasn't working at the time. You could do it in 6 months if you really wanted to. However it took almost another 2 years of looking for a job and working dispatch before I got paid to fly.

l_reason · Post by **l_reason** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 12:51 pm

I did my CPL in 8 months then took a month off and finished my instructor rating in under a year, started working as a flight instructor when I was 20! You NEED to have the money in place BEFORE you start. I would have a long talk with the CFI at the school your planning to attend about your timeline. I started with one lesson per day until I was able to handle more flying then 2 or 3 bookings a day, 5 days a week. I spent 30-40 hours a week at the flight school reading when I was not flying. If you treat getting a licence like a job you will have no problem to have it done in that amount of time. I was commuting 115km each way to the flight school. Started in mid July and had my PPL in September and a CPL in march the next year.
The faster you do it the cheaper it will be!
Good Luck

8 months = 240 days
200hours in 240 days is only 1.2 hours a day

flyincanuck · Post by **flyincanuck** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 3:09 pm

I've seen 0-CPL Multi-IFR done in 9 months.

You'll need to be dedicated, and by dedicated I mean fly on average twice a day, and study the material when you go home. If you're serious, you can do it.

I'm acutally pushing someone through from 0 - CPL (including a Multi-IFR) here in Hamilton as we speak. PM me if you want more details.

Good luck

Mohsin · Post by **Mohsin** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 5:39 pm

thanks guys:
very encouraging to hear that it can be done. My dad said he'll finance my flying if i can do it in less than 8 months...every school i visited was quite discouraging but BFC and STFC were the only two club that gave me hope that i can start in july and be done quick. thats how the StC CFI put it: you'll start slowly flying maybe and hour a day then when im building time and doing "cross countrys" ill be able to fly even 4-6 hrs a day.
Maybe a little ambitous but its a positive sign...
thanks a bunch
Haven't got any feedback on St.Catherines Flying club yet ...anyone?

co-joe · Post by **co-joe** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 9:33 pm

Remember weather is crutial to an attempt like that. Plus you'll have to eat, sleep, live, and breathe aviation. GUMPS will be the first thing out of your mouth in the morning, and you'll fall asleep each and every single night to the CARs (lets face it they cure insomnia anyway).

I'd still pay as you go. Don't be another victim of a flight school gone under with ALL of your fasha's cash. There's also nothing wrong with being checked out at two schools. Once you have a license you can't afford to miss good wx due to a/c unavailability.

l_reason · Post by **l_reason** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 8:55 am

When I did mine I made a bit of a deal with the school. “I’ll spend my 30k plus in 8 months but because I’m spending more per week then any other student I want to have first dibs at the planes.”
I had bookings in the books 3 weeks ahead all the time. The school also knew they cold move my bookings around freely (from 8am to 10am) because I was ALWAYS there. Keep your option open to walk down the road to another school and make sure that the school you are at knows you have that option. Your 30+ grand is always welcome at another place.

ski_bum · Post by **ski_bum** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 11:10 pm

Try Harv's Air, if you are willing they will get you through in that time frame. That is a pretty common time frame for most of their students.

cyyz · Post by **cyyz** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:40 am

don't fail any tests... It can be done.

Scuba_Steve · Post by **Scuba_Steve** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:54 am

I did mine in 9 months, and there was a slow down at my school since they didn't have a multi engine aircraft until the last month of my training.

you will basically live at the airport and study all the time but it is totally doable.

Cheers

1000tolevel · Post by **1000tolevel** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 11:52 am

It is very feasable.
I started from never sitting in the front seat of an aircraft to the CPL multi-IFR in less than 6 months actually. Started on Jan. 13 and finished on July 10, the same year of course. And was working full time as a bartender at night...

Not to toot my own horn but just so you see it is possible.

HOWEVER, you will need three things:

-You have to be completely dedicated and have a good reason to complete it in that short a time frame...
-You will need most of the money up front. In other words, if you have to stop to wait to receive a student loan or grant or save up the money by working, you will not finish in time. And since you fly a lot of hours quickly, you will spend a lot of money quickly as well.
As an example, when I started I had abouthalf the money needed saved up, plus the $7000 approx. student loan from the government, and I saved up the balance while working and flying so I never had to stop to wait for more money.
-You will need a dedicated flight instructor (obviously) and more importantly, an understanding school director or chief flight instructor. The reason the latter is more important is that you will not be able to sit through ground school for the PPL and CPL and IFR, if you do, you will never be done in 6 months. So the Chief instructor will have to approve that you do self-paced study and still sign you off for the written exams. In my case, they gave me an in-house exam before I went to write the real ones.

The advantages is that you will save some money (you don't spend the first half of each flight reviewing what you forgot from the last lesson), get out quickly, and get to look for work early. However, like John Holmes said, he spent two years looking for that first job. So you must have another reason to do this.

For me it was because I wanted to be out by July so I could go to Asia to meet up with my wife and look for work out there. I ended up teaching sailing over there (well, it involves lift doesn't it???).

I would also recommend that before you start, you make sure your instructor and school director agree with it and will help you achieve it. Otherwise, go shop somewhere else.

It works well if you kindda challenge your instructor to do it in time, they will speed things up without cutting corners.

Good luck

Mohsin · Post by **Mohsin** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 5:37 pm

thanks:
i've talked to my school about online ground school and they've recommended the people i do it from. As in your case they're gonna give me a 'mock' exam before checking me off for the real thing. As for the money i have it saved up, was just wondering if i could get a few more from the big dudes incase i decide to do an additional rating...anyway
thanks for the help ...very encouraging!

the professional · Post by **the professional** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 10:52 am

MY ADVICE - GET A GOOD INSTRUCTOR - ONLY WAY IT CAN BE DONE.
If you get a class 4 or a new 3 they will not have the experience to get you through that efficiently. SAD BUT TRUE. I have done a few students that quick, but you will not only need the dedication yourself, but the dedication from your instructor -- suggest a 2 or 1 if you can. someone with at least 10 reccomendations woul;d be good or you are wasting your money.

Spokes · Post by **Spokes** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 2:08 pm

the professional wrote:MY ADVICE - GET A GOOD INSTRUCTOR - ONLY WAY IT CAN BE DONE.
If you get a class 4 or a new 3 they will not have the experience to get you through that efficiently. SAD BUT TRUE. I have done a few students that quick, but you will not only need the dedication yourself, but the dedication from your instructor -- suggest a 2 or 1 if you can. someone with at least 10 reccomendations woul;d be good or you are wasting your money.

Finding a good instructor is definitely important. Gauging how good an instructor is by the class of there rating is not a great way to go. While things can be as quoted above, they may not nessecarly always be. Age, maturity subject knowledge all come into play when determining "how good" an instructor is. I have seen some pretty sharp 3's and 4's out there. I have also seens some 2's that were pretty dorky.

I like the "interview your instructor" post. Find out there background, talk to them about your plan. Don't reject a school just because there isn't a '2' around.

my $.02

dangerous · Post by **dangerous** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 8:52 am

I worked with a guy that went from PPL with only 50 hours to CPL and multi-IFR in just over 2 months. He was at the airport all day and many nights too.

Air Cadets do their PPL in 7 weeks. Combine these two scenarios and you can go from 0 time to CPL MIFR in less than 4 months. It'll take a lot of effort, self discipline and money, but it's possible.

0 hrs to CPL in 6-8 months...

0 hrs to CPL in 6-8 months...

0 to CPL in 6 months