Originally Posted by
barrywhite
Hi,
I have a PPL and as much as I would like to think I can change careers and get a jet job in my 30s, its highly unlikely so I am sticking with the day job and will have fun and try and get my CPL etc on the side over the next few years and see what comes of it.....
I hear so many reports and am a bit confused on the best way to complete your licence.
Does the IMC Rating on a PPL carry over on to an IR Rating on a CPL, are they the same or 2 totally different things?
Would it be best to 1) Hr Build (quality hours) 2) Night Rating 3) IMC 4) ME 5) Exams 6) CPL, whats the realistic and best chance of success of getting my licence.
I may never use it commercially but would like to set a plan in action so can work towards it over the next few years.
Any help much appreciated!
I did something along those lines, but do work full time on the technical side of aviation, so use all the qualifications all the time - or more accurately the knowledge that sits behind them. I do get paid to fly often enough to scratch the itch, but it's probably never going to let me jump ship into being a full time pilot - I'm not even sure that I would want to.
The order I took was PPL-night-CPL-IMC-CRI, next on the list one of these days are IR and FI, in whatever order makes sense at the time.
You can do an IR on a PPL. Nowadays, you can effectively upgrade from IMCR to IR so long as you have reasonable hours IFR. Also worth noting that if you hold a CPL you don't need to take the written exam for IMCR, and then will only have to take 4 writtens for IR. Steer clear of any school for IMCR which tells you that it's really just a "get out of gaol" rating - IMCR (more properly called IR(R) nowadays) within UK airspace can be used for all reasonable purposes as a full IR - you can't fly in class A, and there's an advisory higher decision height, neither of which has any real impact on operations.
Add other differences (tailwheel, VP, glass...) when you want them, although you'll do VP and retractable as a matter of course within CPL anyhow.
Hours build themselves if you aren't in a hurry and enjoy flying. The advice to join a syndicate is sound, but look at the huge amount of advice about that on Pprune and Flyer before making a decision as joining the wrong syndicate can be painful.