What to do after ppl

[skateosiris]

Hi,

I am wondering what the typical path is after you aquire a PPL, should you build your hours up then take a night rating, or take the night rating soon after the ppl, then build your hours and eventually take the CPL?

Thanks for the help

[old_man]

Depends on what your goal is but yes, getting the night rating is usually the first step and it is quite fun!

[AUGER9]

Time build at night after you've acquired the night rating.

[skateosiris]

Thanks for all the reply's, how many hours should you typically build up before starting the commercial?

[AEROBAT]

If you have the money buy a plane and fly it for a year or so before starting on your commercial. That's what I did.

You can get a nice little Cessna 120 or a Tailercraft for under $20,000 and you could even do most of your commercial in your own plane. If you go that route pick a taildragger, they are more fun.

[loopa]

I strongly suggest that you look at your requirements for your CPL. You have to know them anyway.

200 hrs TOTAL TIME
100 hrs PIC TIME
35 HRS DUAL
20 HRS INSTRUMENT ON TOP OF PRIVATE
30 HRS SOLO
20 HRS SOLO CROSS COUNTRY
300NM CROSS COUNTRY TRIP

CPL COURSE = 65hrs

CPL DUAL: 35 hrs of dual
5 hrs dual for Night Rating (2hrs xc)
20 hrs of Instrument (10 can be from sim) (remember you have to train for 20, so if you have 5 hrs from private, your total INSTRUMENT = 25 at the end).
That leaves you with 10 hours that are to be used for Improving your flying to CPL standards such as using navaids, flying ils, dead reckoning, working on your exercises, your pre flight test, and etc.

PIC TIME: 100 + 30FOR CPL (why plus 30? often times you have guys who have flown for years before moving on to CPL; they are still entitled to do the CPL course).
Out of the 30
5 hrs solo night (10 t/o, circuits, landings)
25 hrs used for improving your flying. It can be done in the form of practicing exercises, flying XC's, etc.


But remember for the typical PPL who graduates at 70 hrs, you have 130 hours of FLYING to get in before you meet the 200 hour TOTAL time requirement. And the CPL Course is only 65 hours leaving you with 65 hours of EXTRA flying that you have to do.

So a good thing you could do is use that extra 65 hours of build up time in the FORM of either doing XC's or starting your MIFR.

Keep in mind, to be able to get your MIFR rating, you need 50 HRS of PIC XC. So what you can do is use the extra 65 that you have, do your multi engine rating which takes about 6-10 hours. This now leaves you at 55 hrs of flight time left before your CPL requirement.

Get on board with a deal renting block hours on a multi. Take it out, and get the rest of your 55 hrs as MULTI-PIC XC time. It would be expensive, but would be nice time to have.

Or the other thing you can do is rent a single engine and log SINGLE-PIC XC time.

Let's compare both.

55 hrs x 140 for single engine = 7700
55 hrs x 250 for multi engine = 13750

So it's the TIME versus the Money. I know a few guys who did it this way when economic times were good and as soon as they got their instructor rating, they were a class 4 teaching Multi ratings and multi-ifr. Not a bad deal when you think about the employment prospective.

Of course, I used this conclusion by assuming you're at 70 hrs of Time from your private. Each scenario is different; at least now you know how to plan it out.

[Big Pistons Forever]

Or the other thing you can do is rent a single engine and log SINGLE-PIC XC time.

Let's compare both.

55 hrs x 140 for single engine = 7700
55 hrs x 250 for multi engine = 13750

So it's the TIME versus the Money. I know a few guys who did it this way when economic times were good and as soon as they got their instructor rating, they were a class 4 teaching Multi ratings and multi-ifr. Not a bad deal when you think about the employment prospective.

.

Sorry but I have to strongly disagree. One of the huge problems with MEIFR instruction in Canada is that too often it is being taught by instructors who know absolutely nothing about actual IFR flying. Anybody who forks over the big bucks to be be prepared for the MEIFR by a 200hr Class 4 instructor is an idiot. . As a new PPL there is plenty to learn about being a good VFR pilot before you get into the MEIFR world. As for a the CPL new Class 4 you have the right qualifications to teach the PPL sylabus under supervision. Do a good job at that, and in a couple of hundred hours you will have stick and rudder skills that will stand you in good stead regardless of where you eventually end up and you will find the MEIFR pretty straightforward. The reality is that there are no shortcuts to experience. Pay now or pay later but you will pay.

[loopa]

Or the other thing you can do is rent a single engine and log SINGLE-PIC XC time.

Let's compare both.

55 hrs x 140 for single engine = 7700
55 hrs x 250 for multi engine = 13750

So it's the TIME versus the Money. I know a few guys who did it this way when economic times were good and as soon as they got their instructor rating, they were a class 4 teaching Multi ratings and multi-ifr. Not a bad deal when you think about the employment prospective.

.

Sorry but I have to strongly disagree. One of the huge problems with MEIFR instruction in Canada is that too often it is being taught by instructors who know absolutely nothing about actual IFR flying. Anybody who forks over the big bucks to be be prepared for the MEIFR by a 200hr Class 4 instructor is an idiot. . As a new PPL there is plenty to learn about being a good VFR pilot before you get into the MEIFR world. As for a the CPL new Class 4 you have the right qualifications to teach the PPL sylabus under supervision. Do a good job at that, and in a couple of hundred hours you will have stick and rudder skills that will stand you in good stead regardless of where you eventually end up and you will find the MEIFR pretty straightforward. The reality is that there are no shortcuts to experience. Pay now or pay later but you will pay.

I have respect for your years of safe flying u and am in no way disagreeing with you. I personally have only heard a few occasions where a class 4 was a multi instructor.

However, if he has the money what's the down side in having him do his 55 hrs in a multi ? This is in no way a criticism ... I'm just wondering what down sides you see in that as an experienced pilot Piston


Thanks !

[Big Pistons Forever]

Doing a bunch of ME build up time so you can immediately teach the ME and MEIFR ratings as you clearly imply in your post is IMO a very poor idea for all parties involved. The instructor will be in way over his/her head and the student will be terribly shortchanged. Personally I think the build up time between PPL and CPL should be used to build solid VFR single engine airplane handling and cross country flight skills, because the level of flying skill, airmanship and PDM I am seeing in the average 200hr MEIFR CPL's is not very good. It seems to me if they spent more time working on their fundamental skills instead of chasing all the rateings they would be better off in the long run. If I was a ME CAR 703 chief pilot and I had a choice of two pilots, one with a MEIFR and the other with a MEIFR plus 50 hrs Multi, I would consider both of them as 200hr no nothing wonders and would make my decision based on attitude and work ethic not on ME time. But hey that is one opinion on an anonymous board so you should take this advice with the same grain of salt you should apply to anything you read on Avcanada.

[loopa]

i wish most operators thought like you.

[SuperchargedRS]

night rating lol

Anyway, go get your night rating so you can actually do some real flying (over the top is another Canadian hoop you should go jump through early on).

THEN go fly somewhere, I mean go fly to cuba, or to mexico, california or something like that. You will learn allot more and be worth allot more then the airline cadet type, heck I bet most of the guys with a commercial dont have much/if any time doing that much pilotage.

People get way to wrapped up in VFR, IFR, what class a instructor your going to be blah blah blah, planing/planing on the fly and flying well over thousand mile x-countries will teach you how to be an aviator, not just a rating holder

[old_man]

THEN go fly somewhere, I mean go fly to cuba, or to mexico, california or something like that.

Very tempted to be right seat on that one. That would be fun and a good learning experience.

[CarbHeat]

I'm doing my night rating after 30 PIC, then float rating.

Then either VFR OTT or VFR multi rating.

[SuperchargedRS]

If you do decide to do any long range x-country your going to need that over the top much more then a ses rating. When I did my last long range trip I would have spent a even more time weathered in some bodunk towns w/o the ability to go on top.