[FAA]Commercial Pilot without instrument rating
 

Hello folks.

I know that the carriage of passengers for hire on cross-country flights in excess of 50 nautical miles or at night is prohibited.

But does it actually says that on the limitation portion of certificate?

14 CFR 61.133 says

No you just follow the rules like everyone else

And no there is nothing stamped on your license

This commercial pilot without an IR rating issue came up recently when i was in ground school for my FAA IR written, I asked the instructor why on earth would someone go to the trouble of getting a commercial rating without getting an IR, he said it was kind of crazy as he doubted that an insurance policy would be written for a commercial operation using non instrument rated pilots.

I have read on the ntsb air crash investigations site where a non IR guy in a twin Cessna in Texas killed himself and his fee paying passengers when he ran into trouble that would probably not have been an issue if held a current IR. I think it is a pretty bull**** deal that the FAA allows this as the average member of the public with little or no aviation knowledge would have a reasonable and legitimate expectation that the air taxi/charter flight they are climbing aboard is piloted by someone competent enough to handle routine weather and visibility deficiencies.

I would be really pissed off if I was a paying passenger and some ******** in the left seat announced during the flight that he held basically a VFR ticket with a few bells and whistles that taught him how to fly to stricter tolerances but we were SOL if we ran into weather. Its kind of like jumping in a taxi and finding out the drivers only got a moped licence and training.

Crop Dusters, banner and glider tow, meat bomb drivers, none of them should ever get near a cloud in the course of their work.

The ones above do not routinely carry pax. To me it looks like it was designed to allow pleasure flying - why would you need an IR for that, the 50 mile limit makes sense then.:ok:

Aerial photography; Aerial baptism; Reconnaissance and Observation;
Oh and flight instructing, right ? All of these can be ways to get your hours from 250 to 1500, and I know a few people who were above the 400 hour mark when they started on their IR.

The fact that you are a commercial pilot also assumes that your knowledge of weather is better.

No-one would hire you for any kind of corporate charter flying, even if it is just for hopping across the Mississippi River. And an air taxi requires rather more than a commercial pilot to get an operators license.

I fail to see the problem here. In Europe we think we need to regulate and restrict everything. The result is a diarrhea of legislation, general confusion, sloppy compliance (flown in Spain recently ? How about Slovenia then ?) and an overall diminished business friendlyness that will cost us dearly.

Also used for sightseeing flights, which don't happen in poor weather.
You do need your instrument rating prior to earning the instructor rating, except in gliders.
Bryan