The basics please!!!...

[Speedbird20]

Please can some one tell me the absolute basics about how to get the right license to become a commercial airline pilot, the self funded way! All I see on this site is ATPL this and JAA/CAA modulated PPL that... it means nothing to me! Well actually no, I tell a big lie it does mean something to me but what I really need is the whole thing laid out for the beginner as there is nothing in the Wannabes section of PPRuNe... not that I am slating it or anything this site is wonderfull but can anyone help me?...please! :confused:

[genius-747]

briefly---

start training..45hrs in air flight training and pass 4 written exams (air law - met - aircraft general - flight performance & planning) sit a flight test and you have your ppl (private pilots licence).. within your training there will be certain requirments that must be met before you are eligable to sit the flight test.. such as min amount of "p1" pilot in command, and solo hours, long navigation with diversions tryangular eoutings of over 150nm (150 nauticle miles) and a few other bits and pieces.... all no problems.

after your ppl comes your cpl (commercial pilots licence) 7 written exams and again min amount of hours must be flown anong with some other requirments such as instrument time, and certain specified navigation exercises.

after your cpl comes your atpl (airline transport pilots licence)-- YOU NEED THIS TO FLY PASSENGER JETS. 14 exams, similar to cpl with much more detail and alot more work.

On reaching the min amt of hrs, passing the 14 exams and passing the flight test you will be issued with a frozen atpl... which will rthen soon become un-frozen when you are offered a JOB AS A 1ST OFFICER WITH AN AIRLINE. In addition to your atpl you will also need an instrument rating and a mcc (multi crew co-operation cert) and a crm (crew resource management cert) although they are not a legal requirement.. all airlines require them.


thats it....... ion its simplest form... (very brief)

[foghorn]

Sorry, genius, got to correct you as there are quite a few mistakes in what you've said. In particular you do not need to do the CPL theory exams as the ATPL theory exams supercede these.

Apologies if this is too simplistic for you, Speedbird, but given that there are often misconceptions on this site I thought I'd go back to first principles.

The licence that you need for employment as a first officer with an airline is a CPL/IR with ATPL theory passes and multi-engine priveledges on the IR. This is commonly referred to as a frozen ATPL.

There are two routes to this.

The first is the integrated route. You pay the likes of BAe, Oxford or Cabair £50,000 - 60,000, go on a 15 month residential course, and hey presto, you've got your frozen ATPL.

The second is the modular route. You do a PPL (Private Pilot Licence - minumum 45 hours and 7 theory exams). The PPL gives you the right to fly single-engine aircraft not for reward under Visual Flight Rules (VFR - bascially see and avoid other traffic). With your shiny new PPL you then hire aircraft and fly yourself, family and mates around until you have got at least 150 hours total time and 100 hours in command - referred to as 'hour-building'.

In parallel with this you can get the ATPL (Airline Transport Pilot Licence) theory exams done - either by full time course or distance-learning (allow up to 1 year for distance learning).

Then you do the Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) - minimum 25 hours flying. This gives you the right to fly for reward.

Then finally you do the Multi-Engine IR (Instrument Rating) - minimum 50 hours flying split between simulator and aircraft. This gives you the instrument-flying skills necessary to operate a single-pilot multi-engine aircraft under Instrument Flight Rules in all airspace (IFR - allowing flight in cloud and poor visibility).

The benefits of the modular route are:
- it can be all in theory be done part-time whilst working (although in practice few attempt the CPL and IR part-time)
- it's cheaper than the integrated route
- you can do some modules overseas in cheaper flying environments (US, SA, Oz, NZ etc.) and even get foreign licenses and bring them back to convert - mnay people do at least their hour-building overseas which reduces the cost of is route even further. £30,000 is the current absolute minimum cost for this route, but plan for more.

The downside of modular is that airlines often prefer integrated students over modular - much of the reasoning behind this is to do with shortcuts that modular people could take in the old licensing system that are no longer available, and so it is expected that this pro-integrated prejudice will wane.

At the end of each course you will have the basic licence that the airlines are looking for. You then have to find a way to make your CV shine through the hundreds of others that airlines receive for each vacancy. This usually done by increasing your hours tally to up above the 1,000 mark, often by instructing. Other people go overseas again and buy blocks of multi-engine time, oreven go on schemes where they get turbo-prop or jet-time for paying a certain amount of cash - there is a variety of schemes in this arenaranging from decent to downright scam. Some people even pay for their own type rating (the aircraft-specific qualification that an airline usually pays for after you have been hired) but many regard this as an expensive lottery.

An MCC (Multi-Crew Co-operation) course is an optional extra that many airlines look for. Therefore most integrated courses have an MCC built into the course, modular people can go on a standalone MCC module. The MCC course combines and replaces the old LOFT and CRM courses (which genius mentions).

Note that there are many permutations on the modular route - for instance you can get VFR-only multi-engine priveledges added to your licence earlier than the IR if you want. I have also ignored the complications of the UK-only IMC rating which many PPLs and instructors use to give them basic IFR priveledges but is meaningless to an airline.

hope this helps,
foggy.

[ 07 October 2001: Message edited by: foghorn ]

[Send Clowns]

If you are still confused email me with any questions, Speedbird! I work for one of the ATPL schools (the best one, of course) and have recently completed the (JAA) course. Email address is in my profile.

Foghorn is basically right, though I have to correct the point that airlines don't like modular courses. This was the case under the CAA as they were not approved, but now all courses are approved any full-time course is treated equally. The prejudice he said will fall away has already fallen away, as shown in the BA Citiexpress requirements for example.