Most practical order to do Com, MIFR

[thebigchize]

Recently finished up my PPL with 65 hours. Looking for a few opinions from guys/girls that have been through it on the best way to complete the rest of my training. Working full-time and training at a local Flying school. I was thinking xc time build until 100 hours-write the Com. written-multi rating-ifr rating-com. flight test and sneak in a night rating once the nights are longer! Any and all answers welcome. Thanks for your time in advance!

[Bede]

In the following order:
1) Buy an airplane with a few other guys. Get a freelance instructor. Fly around the country to build time. Get CPL
2) Get block time from someone. Do above.
3) Buy airplane on your own. As above.
4) Go to pilot puppy mill. Shell out $$$ to instructor with Ray-bans who will tell you he's on the verge of getting on with Air Canada.

If you want to fly floats, get a kitfox or similar well maintained float plane.

[Doc]

I'd have to agree with Bede. I will ad however.......do most of your time building AT NIGHT!, You will thank me for this advice later. Take that to the bank!!

[rob-air]

Most of all, enjoy your time bulding. If you make a career out of aviation this will probably be the only ''fly when and where you want'' you'll get.

If i had to do it all over again I would buy block, build time, Multi rating ,get my cpl, instructor, get that magic 1000 Hrs, only then do the IFR dance.....send out resumes to Jet fuel burning operations.

But it all depends on your goals.

[ogc]

I was working full time doing my time building. As soon as I got my PPL signed off I did my night rating, did some time building wrote my commercial did my commercial flight test at 150 hours. Then started my MIFR, finished tyat around 185 or so and finished of with some more time in a 152.

recommend getting the commercial flight test done before the multi ifr as it is one less thing to worry about while working on the multi.

Thats just me though, your experience may vary.

[Cessna driver]

I was working full time doing my time building. As soon as I got my PPL signed off I did my night rating, did some time building wrote my commercial did my commercial flight test at 150 hours. Then started my MIFR, finished tyat around 185 or so and finished of with some more time in a 152.

recommend getting the commercial flight test done before the multi ifr as it is one less thing to worry about while working on the multi.

Thats just me though, your experience may vary.

+1.


Use the last 50 for other ratings/licenses

[teh1pilot]

As much as I agree with Bede's post, I also have to mention that not everyone has the cash or the time/patience to deal with buying an an a/c...especially with other people. I think it's also important to look at the other options as well. If you don't want to commit to getting a plane yourself, I would recommend doing the following in order.

1. Night rating after PPL
2. Commercial
3. Multi/IFR

Now based just purely on personal experience, this method of doing things seemed to work really well. Get your night rating right out of the gates, and any solo build up time you need for your commercial, do at night if possible...It will really help down the road for your ATPL licensing requirements. Get the commercial before MIFR, as it seems to be just simply an extension of your PPL training. Then, if money/time/FTU allow, do your MIFR together. It will save you time and money, as well as give you a Group 1 IFR sticker. Something that would make you a little more appealing when applying for a job vs. a Group 3. Finally, doing your MIFR in a twin will put you closer to the required 50 TOTAL time required to teach Multi ratings if you decide to take the Flight Instructor Route later on down the road.

Just my 2 cents based purely off personal experience though..

[thebigchize]

Appreciate all the responses. I think night, commercial then MIFR makes the most sense at this point but not completely convinced. Both ways have there merits. If you decide to do your commercial first, what is the best way to train between 105ish to the 150 hour mark. Isnt that much more time than you need to prep your commercial ride? What else would you being doing during that time? Assuming your done your 50 xc hours

[ogc]

Appreciate all the responses. I think night, commercial then MIFR makes the most sense at this point but not completely convinced. Both ways have there merits. If you decide to do your commercial first, what is the best way to train between 105ish to the 150 hour mark. Isnt that much more time than you need to prep your commercial ride? What else would you being doing during that time? Assuming your done your 50 xc hours

Thats the beauty of it. You can do whatever you want. Take a trip somewhere or something and make the best of it.

[mike123]

Appreciate all the responses. I think night, commercial then MIFR makes the most sense at this point but not completely convinced. Both ways have there merits. If you decide to do your commercial first, what is the best way to train between 105ish to the 150 hour mark. Isnt that much more time than you need to prep your commercial ride? What else would you being doing during that time? Assuming your done your 50 xc hours

If you are at 65 hours after PPL, you will be at 80 hours after night rating and at 130 hours after 50 xc hours. If you are ready for the flight test in less than the remaining 20 hours, you can start your multi rating, which takes about 10 hours on average.

[Doc]

Get the CPL. Build time. Lots of night. Get a ME after you have a few hours, the IFR is a waste of money till you have 1000 hours. Nobody's going to hire your sorry ass with MEIFR and 250 hours, because you know NOTHING! Seriously. I'd pick up an instructor rating and get some air under your ass time before spending the big bucks.....

[Big Pistons Forever]

Before you can be a good, no make that semi decent, IFR pilot you have to be a good VFR pilot. I feel strongly that the emphasis on the journey from PPL to CPL should be perfecting your basic flying skills and developing the pilot pilot decision making skills that only come from going somewhere you have never been before and dealing with the Navigation/weather/airspace/aerodrome procedures on your own.

I don't think guys who do the MEIFR before the commercial save any money as the extra speed and complexity of MEIFR operations almost invariably means extra training hours at 6 bucks per minute. Get good at the basics before you take on that fist full of levers.

If you are planning on being an instructor then I especially recommend waiting until you have a couple of hundred hours of instructing. That is what I did and I found the MEIFR pretty easy after 350 hrs of instructing which was all aircraft basic handling and having to teach VOR and NDB made me pretty comfortable with radio aids. As a result I was able to do the ME and IFR in 11.0 hrs dual.

[ogc]

Get the CPL. Build time. Lots of night. Get a ME after you have a few hours, the IFR is a waste of money till you have 1000 hours. Nobody's going to hire your sorry ass with MEIFR and 250 hours, because you know NOTHING! Seriously. I'd pick up an instructor rating and get some air under your ass time before spending the big bucks.....

If he goes the ramp route they will.

[Krimson]

I would buy block time on someone else's aircraft. You don't have to come up with all the money at once to buy a plane, you're not stuck with the maintenance or anything else that can go wrong (and there is a lot that can go wrong on an older plane). Still get to know what should be done, what kind of paperwork is involved, you'll learn a lot about maintaining it as if it was your own, just without the financial burden. Get some time on a plane where the owner doesn't care if you go off for a week or two with it. Fly around the country, build some time for your CPL. Get as much night flying as you possibly can now, you'll need 100 hours for your ATPL which can hold you up later on. Bring resumes with you when you go out there. Many people will go on a road trip to the smaller airports once they have their CPL. Why not fly there and hand off your resume and give them a date when you will be available. Do your research, know where to stop, plan your cross country. It will be a lot of fun.

[lostaviator]

Get your PPL
Get a job at an airline (you'll have to be a ramp rat eventually may as well get it over with and be up next for flight line when you finish)
CPL
Time build (at night)
IFR.

Instructor is not for everyone. And yes, you can get a job with 250 hours (if you do step two). Working the ramp for 1-2 years for minimum wage sounds a lot better then renting a plane for 1000 and being in debt 100k with loan sharks.

[5x5]

One word of caution about getting an Instructor rating prior to the Multi/IFR. I've seen a number of folks go this route and most of them struggle. Not with the learning, but with the time. Once you're instructing you need as many bookings as possible to make a living. As well, instructing isn't as easy as just showing up and sitting in the right seat. At least not if you are doing a good job.

You need to prepare for each student, every flight. Hopefully where you teach has a strong syllabus but you still need to tailor it for the specific student's learning style and personality. That's a lot of extra time. Trying to add your own training on top of that is pretty tough.

Also, most people tend to procrastinate a bit and wait until they have the PIC time from instructing and would like to do some Multi instructing at the school. But wait - they don't have the rating. And some other lower time instructor gets the gig. Or, they hear about a terrific charter job they'd like but they don't have the MIFR. Either way, now they are in a panic and their own training becomes their focus. So they give their students second class service while they devote most of their energy to their own studies. Not only are their students annoyed, but the CFI isn't very happy either. Not good for their position at the flight school.

As BPF said, it can be done but my own observations over the years is that it isn't the best way.

[Big Pistons Forever]

One word of caution about getting an Instructor rating prior to the Multi/IFR. I've seen a number of folks go this route and most of them struggle. Not with the learning, but with the time. Once you're instructing you need as many bookings as possible to make a living. As well, instructing isn't as easy as just showing up and sitting in the right seat. At least not if you are doing a good job.

You need to prepare for each student, every flight. Hopefully where you teach has a strong syllabus but you still need to tailor it for the specific student's learning style and personality. That's a lot of extra time. Trying to add your own training on top of that is pretty tough.

Also, most people tend to procrastinate a bit and wait until they have the PIC time from instructing and would like to do some Multi instructing at the school. But wait - they don't have the rating. And some other lower time instructor gets the gig. Or, they hear about a terrific charter job they'd like but they don't have the MIFR. Either way, now they are in a panic and their own training becomes their focus. So they give their students second class service while they devote most of their energy to their own studies. Not only are their students annoyed, but the CFI isn't very happy either. Not good for their position at the flight school.

As BPF said, it can be done but my own observations over the years is that it isn't the best way.

All I can go by is my experience. I started my IFR in December and I never felt I short changed any of my students because the reality of Winter bad weather made many days unsuitable for PPL instruction so I used those days for my study and training.

[AEROBAT]

Your MIFR will make the commercial look like childs play, if that matters. Bede's advice is the best.

[Big Pistons Forever]

Your MIFR will make the commercial look like childs play, if that matters. Bede's advice is the best.

I found the MIFR the easiest rating or license I have ever done. The instructor rating which was taught by a very crusty ex RCAF QFI was by far the hardest.