IR to CP….how long?

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LmannyR

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I have the commercial written done. I’m at 210 hours TT. All requirements are met except for the 2 hour night training cross country, 10 hour TAA, and the 250 TT. How long typically does learning the flight skills take for the commercial check ride?

Trying to gauge if I should continue to time build or start the commercial flight training now.
 
The commercial maneuvers are not hard if they are taught the right way. There are places where you can get it knocked out in a long weekend. 10 hours is a reasonable amount, and since you need that in a TAA anyway, just wait until you have about 240 hours and do the maneuvers training in a TAA and knock out both things at once.
 
I askeded my IR instructor and he said 40 hours air work? I said, really? Maybe I need to look for another instructor.

How is the commercial checkride vs IR?
 
LmannyR said:
I askeded my IR instructor and he said 40 hours air work? I said, really? Maybe I need to look for another instructor.

How is the commercial checkride vs IR?
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40? I’m sure some people take that long, or maybe he’s including meeting all the requirements as well. But if you meet them, and you’re a decent pilot and don’t drag the thing out for months and months, it should take far less than 40, as mentioned.

The commercial checkride is pretty commonly considered far, far easier than the instrument.
 
LmannyR said:
I askeded my IR instructor and he said 40 hours air work? I said, really? Maybe I need to look for another instructor.

How is the commercial checkride vs IR?
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I got 10 hours of dual toward my commercial, including 4 hours under the hood (I wasn’t instrument rated yet,) so 6 hours of training on Commercial maneuvers.

I’d suggest getting a little dual in the maneuvers now, so you can practice them solo a little bit. Start transitioning back to visual flying, as the Commercial is a VFR checkride.
 
RussR said:
40? I’m sure some people take that long, or maybe he’s including meeting all the requirements as well. But if you meet them, and you’re a decent pilot and don’t drag the thing out for months and months, it should take far less than 40, as mentioned.

The commercial checkride is pretty commonly considered far, far easier than the instrument.
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I’m quite dedicated. Fly everyday. I’m not kicking tires here. IR was a long road. Consider myself a decent pilot. Still learning with every flight as I’m relatively low time. Good to hear CPL is not as difficult as IR.
 
Thanks for the advise all.

Seems CPL will be a walk in the park compared to IR.

Need to find and research a CFI school near me (KSUA). Preferably one that can be completed quickly. IR took nearly 3 months of flying 4 times a weeks with some days, twice a day. I can only spare 4 days a week as I’m working full time the other 3 days.
 
LmannyR said:
Thanks for the advise all.

Seems CPL will be a walk in the park compared to IR.

Need to find and research a CFI school near me (KSUA). Preferably one that can be completed quickly. IR took nearly 3 months of flying 4 times a weeks with some days, twice a day. I can only spare 4 days a week as I’m working full time the other 3 days.
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If you're flying twice a day, 4 days a week, then even with weather cancellations and a few maintenance problems you're still looking at potentially 2 weeks start to finish for the Comm. That's solidly in "schedule your checkride before you start training" territory and is definitely the way to do it.
 
Instrument is much more difficult than commercial. Commercial depends on your ability to do the maneuvers. You can watch YouTube, print out the maneuvers and do them yourself. Most people have trouble with the power off 180 accuracy landing.

It’s difficult to assign a number of hours to it, depends on your airplane availability and the examiners availability. You’ll want to keep your skills fresh by flying at least once a week until your checkride.
 
I know some have actually done the commercial start to finish in a day, with 30 minutes flight training, and they did so well that the DPE actually paid them........ :rolleyes2:

1) It takes what it takes
2) How old are you? Older students take more hours - fact of life. A 22 something with natural ability and training full time - a lot less.
3) After all of your requirements are met, hours to train the maneuvers - 10 would be on the low side, 20 maybe, 30 not out of the question.
4) I haven't been flying regularly because of travel, planes have been down, Canadian Haze and thunderstorms, summer cold, dog ate my homework, etc. And, I'm a long way from 22 years old. So no, I'm not knocking this out in 10.

If I were you, I'd take your CFI on a long X Country in a TAA or Complex plane and kill as many birds as possible. Fly 2 hours in Daylight VFR, and then wait until dark to get your 2 hour Night VFR X Country on the return trip.

Then just keep training for the Com until you hit your 250 hours.
 
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im not 22 but not near the hump ether.

Guess it varies. Im a quick hands on type of learner. Once I’m closer to the 250, I’ll get started. Next week or two.
 
I guess at 62 I’m “beyond the hump” LOL:cool:
 
Technically, based on the avg life span of 80ish,……. 40 is the hump. Lol. Life is shorter than most think.
 
If you can afford to pay a DPE a second time, don't fret about it and just take the check ride for fun, because it really is the easiest rating to get. If you think of it as a "demonstration" instead of an "exam" and look at it with a positive attitude you'll probably save the money you put aside for the check ride. If you're worried about a failed check ride jeopardizing your career, then don't do it that way. :) :)
 
LmannyR said:
Technically, based on the avg life span of 80ish,……. 40 is the hump. Lol. Life is shorter than most think.
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Average lifespan doesn’t play into it. Basically after age 20, our ability to learn new things decreases proportionally with age.
 
MauleSkinner said:
Average lifespan doesn’t play into it. Basically after age 20, our ability to learn new things decreases proportionally with age.
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Lol. For sure. My comment was directed toward the 67yo gentleman. A side conversation.
 
I would fly with a cfi to knock out the last cross country and nail down the maneuvers in a taa or complex of a similar make and model as the plane you intend to use for the checkride. Practice the maneuvers on your own, especially an additional lap or two in the pattern every flight practicing the power off 180 and soft/short field techniques. Then about 10-15 hours out from the 250TT, get everything up to ACS standards with cfi, and checkride prep. In between, long x-countries IFR. I just passed my commercial in May and wished that I spent more time staying sharp on the instruments.
 
LmannyR said:
I askeded my IR instructor and he said 40 hours air work? I said, really? Maybe I need to look for another instructor.

How is the commercial checkride vs IR?
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the maneuvers, or 'air work' for the commercial should about 10 hours, give or take, IF you are proficient. I've trained several for the comm'l, years ago, and none took more than 10 hours, as I recall. All passed the check ride on their first attempt. With the commercial, you are learning to be smooth and precise, anticipating control inputs, while flying advanced maneuvers....which does take practice. My 2 cents. Good luck!
 
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