In between PPL and CPL

[justwanttofly]

Hello,

I'm a newly licenced PPL, and now waiting on funding to complete my CPL. What I'm wondering is how many times per week should I be flying to stay competent in my flying abilities? It could be up to three months until I'm ready to start and have the my finances in order. I don't have a lot of money to spend between now and then.

Thanks,

justwanttofly

[shitdisturber]

At your stage of flying I'd say you should be flying once a week if you want to keep your skills up. Way back in the day when I was in your shoes, I could see a degredation if I went two weeks without flying. Don't just fly around aimlessly either, do some short cross countries and/or steep turns, forced approaches, all the stuff that'll keep you working. It may hurt your wallet now but when you're doing your commercial all that practise will pay off; short term pain, long term gain.

[kiloindiapapa]

Congrats on getting your license.

This is along the same lines as your other question while waiting to get your license. Id say fly as much as you can afford to do. You got alot of hours to build to make your 200 hours. Im assuming you are getting your license because you enjoy flying so just fly as much as you can and when you can...why because now you can.

[pilotincommand]

like said above, i believe you need 35 hours solo and 30 hours dual after your PPL for the CPL. and a total of 200 hours. so regardless if you time build now or later, your going to have to do it sometime. so have funn

PIC

[Big Pistons Forever]

One of the things I often see at FTU's is that there is essentially no plan for the build up time between the PPL and CPL. This period is a valuable oportunity to nail down the stick and rudder skills and an invaluable chance to go out and get some oportunites to exercise your PDM in the real world. You should not just be boring holes in the sky but have a defined objective for every flight. I recommend you start with a series of short(er) out and return flights to as many different airports as is practicable in your area. In between, go out into the practice area and practice your airwork. You should then plan at least one long cross country with an overnight(s) stop. This should be to an airport at least 500nm away and preferably 1000nm. I amazed at CPL students who, except for the CPL x country, have never been more than 50 miles away from their home base and have only landed at 4 or 5 different airports, have never had to buy fuel away from home or arrange overnight parking etc etc.

Finally be hard on yourself. If the altitude is 75 feet off fix it. Work at keeping the ball in the centre especially during climbs and turns, and aim for + - 2 knots when flying the final approach. Thisi will pay huge dividends when you go onto CPL training.

[SuperchargedRS]

Aside of how many hours you are going to fly, think about WHERE, in WHAT and HOW you INVEST your hours.

You got some hours to burn, if you just fly within a 300nm circle in a sky civic (172) then your going to be average (I could careless about the tests and standards, I tend to look at what people fly and how fluidically they handle the machine...you knock out your CAVU, 0 wind checkride, but lets see Mr Top Gun in a 30kt night X-wind density alt).

When you get your PPL go put a 1500nm X-country under your belt, fly down to Mexico and back, fly to Cuba and back, THATS what builds a pilot, THATS why I had job offers before I got my CPL lol

All I'm getting at is don't just think about how quickly you are going to build those hours, think of the quality of those hours.

hope that helps

[justwanttofly]

Thanks for all the great advice. One problem though, where am I going to find a FTU that is going to let me take their plane on a 1500nm x-country? I'm located in Alberta so Im open to suggestions.

[kiloindiapapa]

[quote="justwanttofly"]Thanks for all the great advice. One problem though, where am I going to find a FTU that is going to let me take their plane on a 1500nm x-country? I'm located in Alberta so Im open to suggestions.[/quote


Pm me and i can maybe help you out.

[f650]

The flight school I am at has let commercial students go on long trips. In the last year we have had PPL's building time for their CPL fly from Southwestern Ontario to Thunder Bay, ON, Miramichi, NB, Florida and Texas. Discuss your planned trip with the CFI. Prove to them that you can handle the trip and will take care of the a/c. Hopefully they know you well enough that they can trust you to take care of it like a professional pilot. A second issue to be considered is, does the school have enough aircraft to let one go for several days or more without leaving their other students and instructors grounded?

[shitdisturber]

I suspect most schools are going to be concerned about the revenue they're potentially losing while you're gone on a trip like that. If you tell them you're going to fly there and fly back again except for necessary rest they may be a little more likely to help you out. Back when I was running a school if you presented me with a reasonable plan I might have been inclined to let you do it but that was more than a couple of years ago.

[Shiny Side Up]

One of the things I often see at FTU's is that there is essentially no plan for the build up time between the PPL and CPL. This period is a valuable oportunity to nail down the stick and rudder skills and an invaluable chance to go out and get some oportunites to exercise your PDM in the real world.

The FTU is often as guilty as the student at this point. Too many people really have this plan for their commercial.

1) Get PPL.
2) ?????
3) 200 hours get commercial licence!

From the day you finished your PPL if you're interested in doing the commercial, work out a plan to do so. Just because you might not have funding in place, doesn't mean you can't have a serious pow-wow with your instructor and preferrably the CFI as well to get a plan set up. Write it down as well. Start thinking now about what route you want to go. Do you want to get a multi IFR? a float rating? Don't be that guy who is at 180 hours and then wondering what to do.

Finally be hard on yourself. If the altitude is 75 feet off fix it. Work at keeping the ball in the centre especially during climbs and turns, and aim for + - 2 knots when flying the final approach. Thisi will pay huge dividends when you go onto CPL training.

And don't just be hard on yourself with just the flying. If you want a flying job when you're done your licence, time to start acting like it now. Show an interest. You just finished a PPL flight test, you have to stay at that standard or better. None of this "oh, I forgot how to do that" crap.

[justwanttofly]

Very good, thanks for all the great advice. Im planning on going home for a visit which means I wont fly for about 2-3 weeks. The thing is the more I dont fly, the more nervous I feel about the next time. Is this feeling normal?

Thanks again,

Justwanttofly

[LousyFisherman]

Very good, thanks for all the great advice. Im planning on going home for a visit which means I wont fly for about 2-3 weeks. The thing is the more I dont fly, the more nervous I feel about the next time. Is this feeling normal?
Justwanttofly

Yes, but don't worry about it. If you can fly once a month, you will be fine. For the first six months after my PPL, flying once a month, I was a little nervous for every flight. Once spring/summer arrived and I started flying every 2 weeks, my skills improved and I lost the butterflies. Now, my personal limits are if I have not flown for 2 months, no mountains and no passengers. Even so I do not experience any nervousness, even though it has been a while.

PPL, 155 total hours, flying 60-70 hours/year

HTH
LF

[iflyforpie]

I used my time to get ratings. Float rating, multi rating, IFR rating, night rating. Each kept my flying sharp by forcing me to adjust to new aircraft and ways of flying, each counted as hours towards the total time and required dual hours, and the requirement of 50PIC cross-country hours forced me outside of the circuit. I would make each landing a performance landing and land at as many airports as I could along the way.