Ask a Flight Instructor

Posts Tagged ‘questions’

Scott writes:

I have the following certificates/ratings: ATP MEL, commercial helicopter, instrument helicopter, private SEL, and CFI helicopter. I am wanting to add a commercial or ATP to my SEL certificate, followed by my airplane CFI and MEI. 1st question: When I take my commercial checkride, does it have to be in a complex aircraft? 2nd question: I understand getting my ASEL CFI would be considered an add on. It is not clear to me what the requirements are for an add on. Any insight? Thanks.

Scott, the first place to look is the current ATP Practical Test Standards, FAA-S-8081-5F (pdf). There is no aircraft type requirement listed, and one of the CFIs I work with did her initial ATP checkride in a Skyhawk with fixed prop and gear. If you take a Commercial checkride, it must be done in a complex aircraft. The Commercial PTS, FAA-S-8081-12B (pdf) requires that if you add an ASEL rating to your Rotorcraft – Helicopter, you must do almost the entire checkride.

As far as the Instructor, Airplane addition goes, again we have to go to the CFI PTS, FAA-S-8081-6C (pdf) on page 36 of the pdf:

Adding an ASEL instructor rating to a RH instructor certificate.

For the addon checkride, most of the tasks have you refer to the notes under each area of operation. I won’t break it down task by task, but hopefully this will help you get started on the right path towards your new ratings.

This question comes from Karl:

I’m thinking about buying a retractable gear aircraft with 250 HP engine from a CFI who lost his medical. I am certified in high perfomrance AC (C-182) but I only have under 2 hrs of retract time.

I’m interested in taking a flight in the AC and he tells me that since I have a current medical and rating in a high performance AC, that I could be the legal PIC, even though I am not checked out in this plane. He would fly along with me, of course.

This doesn’t seem right to me. What do you think?

Hi Karl.  Thanks for your question. There are a few things that you need to think about here 1) Legality and 2) Insurance and 3) Safety.

Legality

According to FAR 61.31paragraph f, in order to act as a pilot in command of an aircraft which has an engine of more than 200 horsepower you must have received and logged ground and flight training from an instructor AND you must have an high performance endorsement from that instructor in your logbook.  In addition, if you want to be pilot in command of a complex aircraft, FAR 61.31(e) says that you must also have ground AND flight training in complex airplanes with logbook endorsement.  And just as a reminder, a complex aircraft has flaps, retractable gear and a controllable pitch propeller.  So that means if the airplane you are wanting to buy is a complex, high performance airplane you need 2 separate logbook endorsements (not ratings).  As a side note, these endorsements are one time events.

Insurance

Every insurance company and policy is different.  I would recommend checking with the policy on the aircraft to make sure you meet the open pilot provisions.  It might require you to have so much time in the make and model or it may require a proficiency check in the make and model by an authorized instructor.  Like I said, every policy is different.  It is best to call and talk with the insurance company or broker if you have any questions about your policy.

Safety

If you feel uncomfortable flying this airplane with this other pilot, don’t do it, even if is “legal”. Find a pilot or instructor who meets all the provisions above PLUS someone you feel comfortable flying with.  There are countless stories of pilots getting themselves killed flying unfamiliar aircraft.  In case you missed it,  here is my personal story of flying a unfamiliar airplane.

Hope this helps.  Let me know what you decide to do and if you buy it.

Fly Safe (and legal)

This question comes from David:

Hi, I am a medical student and I wish to become a pilot after I finish my college. I am considering to go to a flight school in the U.S. but am confused about chosing the best one since I am overseas. Hope to hear from you soon.

David, thanks for your question. This question actually prompted me to start a whole new project (more on that below) so I appreciate it!

To answer the question, “What is the best flight school?”, is about the same as asking, “What is the best airplane to fly?” A hard question to answer unless you know the mission. Every person has an individual need when choosing a flight school and there is not one easy answer for that question.

There are many options when it comes to choosing a flight school.

• Do you want a college degree?
• Do I need preparation for a professional career?
• Do I need flexible hours?
• What kind of airplane do I eventually want to fly?
• Do I need bank financing?
• What kind of airplane do I want to train in?
• Do you want or need a accelerated flight school program or would you like a smaller flight school?

In order to give you a recommendation I really need to know more information about your goals once you become a certified pilot. Not knowing this information, it is hard to give you a blank recommendation.

However, I will say that I would recommend a flight school that is governed by FAR Part 141. Part 141 refers to the federal regulations under which the school operates. I generally recommend a Part 141 flight school for international students because they are usually better prepared to deal with the security requirements to train students from foreign countries.

I have a couple of sites that I would encourage you to visit:

AOPA: How to Choose a Flight School

AvScholars: Learn how to choose a flight school

Flight School Reviewer

Now, my new project (work in progress…just started yesterday):

Aviation School Review.com

Basically offering similar services as Flight School Reviewer but with some added features such as a map where you can see where the flight schools are located, which can be important. You can then click the map marker, look at information about the flight school such as aircraft available, certificates given and then read the reviews. Like I said, work in progress. I would love it if you tried it out and let me know what features you would like to have added.

If you can give me some more information about your requirements for learning to fly, I might be able to better answer your question.

Fly (and train) Safe!