Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

3 Answers

Military Rotor to Fixed Wing

Asked by: 3225 views Commercial Pilot, Helicopter, Instrument Rating, Private Pilot

Hello,

I'm sure this question is somewhere on this site, but I can't seem to find it.

If someone was to have: commercial pilot - rotorcraft-helicopter; instrument helicopter, is it necessary to get a PPL SEL first in order to obtain an instrument and commercial fixed wing? I know that the written tests are not required, but I can't find the reference for this.

Any help is much appreciated.

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Dauntless Aviation's GroundSchool series of apps are the smart pilot's choice for fast and effective FAA knowledge test prep.
Actual, up-to-date FAA questions Polished user experience
Best explanations in the business Free lifetime updates!
Private Pilot IFR Commercial Pilot CFI ATP Sport Pilot Sport Pilot Instructor Parachute Rigger Aviation Mechanic (A&P)
You can get the app now and be studying right away. Available for PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android.

3 Answers



  1. Russ Roslewski on Mar 30, 2016

    No, you could add it directly on to your Commercial certificate. This is pretty commonplace. For example, a Commercial ASEL pilot adds on a Commercial helicopter rating (as I did). Or a Commercial Glider, etc.

    The reference is 61.63. Pay close attention to the difference between adding on a “category” of aircraft like you want to do, and a “class” of aircraft (like adding a multiengine airplane rating to a Commercial Single certificate).

    While you have to meet the aeronautical experience requirements, notice that many of these requirements do not have to be in an airplane, they can be in ANY aircraft. For example, from 61.129 for a single-engine airplane add-on, you have to have 100 hours in powered aircraft but only 50 of that has to be in an airplane. Same with 100 hours of PIC but only 50 hours in airplanes. And similarly, 50 hours XC but only 10 of that in airplanes. So you likely have a lot of the time requirement knocked out already.

    You could, if you so chose, add the rating on at the Private level, but that is not required.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Dwilliams on Apr 01, 2016

    OK great. That was what I was looking for. Do you have to get your commercial first or can you get your get an instrument rating first?

    Thanks.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. Russ Roslewski on Apr 01, 2016

    In this case, you would pretty much have to get your Commercial first. 61.65a requires for an instrument rating that you have a private pilot cert or better in the category and class first.

    ———–
    (a) General. A person who applies for an instrument rating must:

    (1) Hold at least a current private pilot certificate, or be concurrently applying for a private pilot certificate, with an airplane, helicopter, or powered-lift rating appropriate to the instrument rating sought;
    ———–

    Now, notice that you can concurrently get a private certificate AND an instrument rating at the same time. This is a pretty recent change. I don’t see anything about doing the same for a combined Commercial and Instrument rating.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.