Commercial Pilot
A Commercial Pilot Certificate will allow you fly as Pilot in Command (PIC) of an aircraft carrying persons or property for compensation or hire. Many opportunities for employment exist for the commercial pilot. Some examples are being a flight instructor once certified as such, sightseeing rides, crop dusting, ferrying airplane, banner towing, pipeline patrol, fish spotting, aerial towers, photography flights, transporting parachute jumpers, and glider towing. It is also necessary for employment with an airline. If you do not have an instrument rating, you will be limited to flying for hire within 50 nautical miles of your departure airport, and not allowed to fly for hire at night. The average cost of this certificate is between $8500-$10000.
Need to Know
-
For an airplane single-engine rating. must log at least 250 hours of flight time as a pilot that consists of at least:
100 hours in powered aircraft, of which 50 hours must be in airplanes.
100 hours of pilot-in-command flight time, which includes at least -
50 hours in airplanes; and
50 hours in cross-country flight of which at least 10 hours must be in airplanes.
20 hours of training on the areas of operation listed in § 61.127(b)(1) of this part that includes at least -
Ten hours of instrument training using a view-limiting device including attitude instrument flying, partial panel skills, recovery from unusual flight attitudes, and intercepting and tracking navigational systems. Five hours of the 10 hours required on instrument training must be in a single engine airplane;
10 hours of training in a complex airplane, a turbine-powered airplane, or a technically advanced airplane (TAA) that meets the requirements of paragraph (j) of this section, or any combination thereof. The airplane must be appropriate to land or sea for the rating sought;
One 2-hour cross country flight in a single engine airplane in daytime conditions that consists of a total straight-line distance of more than 100 nautical miles from the original point of departure;
Three hours in a single-engine airplane with an authorized instructor in preparation for the practical test within the preceding 2 calendar months from the month of the test.
Ten hours of solo flight time in a single engine airplane or 10 hours of flight time performing the duties of pilot in command in a single engine airplane with an authorized instructor on board (either of which may be credited towards the flight time requirement under paragraph (a)(2) of this section), on the areas of operation listed under § 61.127(b)(1) that include -
One cross-country flight of not less than 300 nautical miles total distance, with landings at a minimum of three points, one of which is a straight-line distance of at least 250 nautical miles from the original departure point. However, if this requirement is being met in Hawaii, the longest segment need only have a straight-line distance of at least 150 nautical miles; and
5 hours in night VFR conditions with 10 takeoffs and 10 landings (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport with an operating control tower.
-
Be at least 18 years old.
Be able to Read, Speak, Write, and Understand the English Language.
Have a Private Pilot Certificate, an Instrument Rating is not required but certain restrictions exist if you don’t have one.
Have at least an FAA Class 3 Medical from an Aviation Medical Examiner (AME), or Basic Med. To operate as a Commercial Pilot an FAA Class 2 Medical is required and some operators require a Class 1 so you are best to try and get a Class 1.
Have received and logged all the Ground and Flight Training necessary to pass the Practical Exam as outlined in FAA 61.125, 61.127, and 61.129.
Pass an FAA written Exam
Pass an FAA Practical Test with a Designated Pilot Examiner
-
Click here