edymonster,
Obviously being a PPL holder you should do some hour building to get to the required amount of hours to carry on with the CPL (you need 150hrs total time, either P1 or P2) to start the training for the commercial licence. BFC begin with the Multi Rating, move onto the Instrument Rating after that and then the Commercial last, however BFC is one of the few schools to do things that way round and you will find that many other places begin with the Commercial.
BFC's route would mean that you must do the 6hr Multi Rating, min 55 hr IR and then the CPL is reduced from 25 hr course to a 15 hr course (if you have passed the IR the CPL is only a minimum 15 hr course). There is no real 'right' or 'wrong' way, it's just different FTO's do things in different ways...you just have to decide which is best for you.
This route is by no means set in stone and they do get a few students at BFC who want to do the 25 hr CPL course first....this is fine with BFC and as it is entirely up to the student. Before you begin the flight training though you must first have passed all 14 ATPL theory exams.....BFC do not offer the ATPL theory so it's recommended that you contact either Bristol Ground School (
www.bristol.gs) or Oxford for current course prices and availability.
I do recommend that you start your CPL before ME/IR as the jump from simple 2 seater Cessna aircraft straight into a complex twin with associated applied instrument flying and approaches are vast. It would normally mean that a considerable number of extra hours IR training are required to reach the necessary standard. So although extra hours are required to build up to the 150 hours needed to commence CPL training, experience has shown that the transition from single 2 seat Cessna to simple 4 seat warrior to commence CPL training, the complex 4 seater Arrow to complete CPL training, then onto the ME twin for IR, is a far more achievable option if aiming to train in minimum hours.
I also recommend that you invest in a copy of LASORS 2006, available from the CAA (
www.caa.co.uk) which details all requirements for the professional licences/ratings and will tell you what experience is required to undertake the courses.
Cheers Mate
