CPL contact hours

[The_Pharoah]

hi all

another question - whats the normal 'contact hours' during the CPL and ME/CIR phase full-time? ie. if I was going to a flying school in YRED, would I be there 8 hours a day (from say 8am to 5pm, 1 hr lunch) or is it flexible? Are you able to do a weeks' worth in say 3 days?

Thanks

Pharoah

[ZappBrannigan]

There are no "normal" contact hours - unless the school has an attendance requirement, and this would only be the case for a pay-up-front course, which I wouldn't recommend at all. I did my CPL part-time but managed to do it quicker than most full-time students I've seen - and apart from pre and post-flight briefings, did very little study time at the school itself (I study for exams better in my own space around no distractions - i.e. at home).

Same with the MECIR - if you're the kind of person that needs a full-time classroom theory course to pass the IREX (no problem with this, everyone learns differently), then you'll be spending quite a few contact hours at the school. I was the opposite - just self-studied the whole thing away from the school - the only "contact" time was for briefings and flight planning/prep.

Signing up for a full-time course doesn't mean you get anything quicker - the only thing it normally guarantees is the flight school getting a huge wad of cash off you up-front. If the school has a pool of generally servicable aircraft, and enough instructors that they can fit in with your requirements, the speed at which you progress through the training is entirely dependant on your ability to absorb the information and not do too much in too little time. For instance, after passing the IREX, there's nothing stopping you completing the MECIR from start to finish in a few weeks "part-time" if it's not information-overload, and the instructors and aircraft are available. Conversely, I've seen full-time students take 9 months to complete the MECIR due to U/S aircraft, lack of instructors, lack of motivation and interest etc.

[The_Pharoah]

Thanks Zapp

I've read enough posts to know that you pay as you go with aviation. I'm intending to do my CPL/MECIR at Redcliffe, but work part time (say 2 days a week) to keep my $$ coming in, but I wanted to get the CPL/MECIR done ASAP so I can start looking for actual flying jobs (hello Pacific Sun!).

I've always been a study-at-home sort of person anyway so this works out in my favour.

Cheers

Pharoah

[777WakeTurbz]

The MECIR is probably not a necessity right now if you want to save yourself some money, since initially the only chance you may get to use it is after 12months when you have to do a renewal, then you will have to spend more money to refresh on how to fly approaches etc before even doing the renewal.
It may come in handy if down the track you go for a multi gig what requires several renewals, but of course not many require the 3 or more renewals from what ive seen in the past.
My first full time twin gig was 6months after i did the initial issue, but 2-3 years into my working aviation career and having the MECIR any earlier would not have helped me except to drain my bank accounts for little gain.

Others will no doubt disagree, but thought id pass on my thoughts if you wanted to save some cash.

Good luck in the future with whatever you decide! :ok: