Hour Building (General & UK)

[englishal]

www.californiaflightcenter.com

You can select from a range of exceedingly well equipped aircraft in excellent condition (some new).........I'd go for the OMF Symphony 160 if hour building with style; cheap, fun, 2002, fast, economic, comfortable for two 6' people with overnight baggage...

Can't wait for their TwinStar

[englishal]

Show me a mountain in the UK? If you are refering to those <6000' hills, then you haven't seen a proper mountain

Cheers

[FlyingForFun]

VisaGeeza, apologies - I meant to direct that comment to HandspringGuy, not to you....

FFF
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[Flyboy1980]

I am in a similar possition to Nags. Have my PPL with about 35 hours solo and need to hour build before going Modular for my CPL/IR, ME etc. However I have seen different figures quoted on what I will actually require to commence this training. Some say 70hrs PIC, others say 100hrs and one even said 150hrs PIC. Is this figure generated by the flying schools for their own reasons, or is there a specific legal requirement. And if so does anyone know exactly what it might be?

Many Thanks
FLy

PS: I drove past a huge windfarm in CA once, do you think someone should tell them that there is no wind in the USA????

[BEagle]

From LASORS 2005:
"The holder of a PPL(A) issued in accordance with ICAO
Annex 1, with at least 150 hours flight time as a pilot,
may commence an approved JAR CPL(A) Modular
Course consisting of 25 hours dual flight instruction
including 10 hours of instrument instruction (up to 5
hours may be instrument ground time in a FNPT I or II
or a flight simulator). At least 5 hours of the flight
instruction shall be carried out in a complex aeroplane
(certificated for the carriage of at least four persons and
have a variable pitch propeller and retractable landing
gear)."

That's to start a modular CPL course. But by the time you finish and apply for the licence itself, you must have achieved (amongst other things) at least 100 hours as Pilot-in-Command.

[karanou]

Twin Hour building

I am looking to build twin hours, after running a search on PPRUNE and contacting a number of places in US, and due to the fact I dont have the benefit of a load of twin hours in my log book I am getting the feeling that for pilots in my position there is no way of building these hours for a sensible cost

Can anyone make any suggestions regarding the best approach to building twin hours, (if possible without a 'safety pilot'!!!) or is the only alternative either to win the lottery or use a big gun to negotiate at the local financial institution???

..... Info on any part shares also of interest

Many thanks

[flighttime2.0]

hi karanou

To give you an idea ! At Naples air center in florida the seminol will set you back $160 per hour but you must have at least 25 hours loged on twins before they will lease it out to you .
I do know of one guy who had a deal with a privately owned senica 3 in west palm beach for $70 per hour wet ..

[Desert Budgie]

karanou,

i went to ari ben aviator in ft pierce and did a bunch of time there. i generally had a good experience there. ft pierce is a bit of a hole, but the planes were alright and i did 200 hours in 8 weeks. they have about 10 or 11 dutchesses, kitted out alright, hsi, a couple with gps, weather radar etc.

however there is a catch. it is SHARED time building. this means that for the published $7000 i think for 100 hours, you only spend about 50 actually at the controls. the other 50 you are safety pilot and a required crew member as the guy flying is under simulated instrument. in the US according to the FARs, this is perfectly good loggable PIC time. however check the lasors before committing yourself to it. i hold the faa licences and for what i needed the shared time was fine.

as far as the flying goes, they pair u up with another pilot, and generally u get the plane from 6pm to 6am. all nite flying, all cross country, all ifr. and u can shoot as many holds and approaches as you want all nite.

now its by no means the best school in the world, and to be honest, i had the odd problem but generally it was cvery good for what i needed. im sure other folk will reply with very similar views as myself. and remember, EFT (european flight training) uses the same school and leases ari ben aircraft. the same aircraft as the hour builders use. they have a pretty good rep so that might also be something to go on.

if u have any questions, pm.

cheers

DB

sorry, and the website is www.aribenaviator.com

DB

[Flying surfer]

ari ben

I personally woudl give them a miss, ask aorund on any Us forum and there are loads of stories of how they have cheated people and Mike (the owner) last i heard was being investigated by the FAA. check out www.ilsapproach.com and see what comes up about ari ben

[Flying surfer]

Hour Building

If you are going to the US and looking at hiring in CA then try www.airdesertpacific.com they use only Piper a/c but have a good fleet, a bit old but thats normal and flying in and around CA is great with lots of places to go and see. I've been twice and thoroughly enjoyed myself on both occasions. I have also flown in FL and S.Africa, in fact I am looking at going to S.Afrcia in Sep/Oct and looking for a flying partner if anyone is up for this trip?

[nosewheelfirst]

I'm off to Canada later next month to do 25hrs. Its cheap, the people seem friendly and the licence conversion is easy. I don't have to give them a copy of my thumb. I let you know how I get on.

Regards

[Fellow Aviator]

Hour building SEP or MEP?

I'm thinking of going to Florida to do some hour building. Which should I do, fly MEP or SEP? I have about 6000 euros to use for aircraft rental. Shoud I fly less twin or a little bit of more single engine?

[karanou]

Pm me if you have any success finding a suitable MEP hire arrangement

Cheers K

[AndyDRHuddleston]

MEP rentals

I can't speak for all schools in florida, but I know that the one I am at (NAC) have an insurance restriction, stopping anyone renting the seminole without 200 hrs TT. This can be waivered slightly if you have done most of your hours here.

Andy

[Fellow Aviator]

Thanks Andy for your info about NAC.

I'm going to Florida to meet relatives, and at the same to do a bit of flying while there. My total time 230h with 140 PIC (I have JAR CPL/ME/IR). Question is: Should I fly 50 hours in a twin or 100 hours in a single for the same price? Which option makes me more attractable to airlines, or does it even matter? Any opinions?

[oapilot]

Only a thought but....

A Training Captain and Recruiter once said to me if you have less than a thousand hours, there's no real difference between someone with 200 hours and 800 from a selection point of view. However, bear in mind that a twin ups the workload so might just make you that bit sharper in the sim should the chance arise in the nearish future.
Whichever you decide on, enjoy it!
oap

[Flying surfer]

time

I would say do 100 hours in a single at least that gives you more total time which is the first thing an employer is going to look at before they even starts looking at how it is broken down.

Enjoy it and try to get up Georgia there are loads of nice airfields up there to visit. I was there this time last year. The flying is more challenging up north (out side of Florida).

[Flying surfer]

I will look forward in finding out how the trip to Canada went. What the overall costs are etc.

I don't care too much about the thump print as I have nothing to hide and i'm not a criminal.

Enjoy it

[Capt. Manuvar]

Harvsair

Harvsair Steinbach, MB just SE of winnipeg is a very good school for hour building. I did my ICAO CPL Multi-IFR there. I've not Met anyone who wasn't satisfied with the service they offer. Try www.harvsair.com. They have a lot of Intl students. Very friendly professional outfit, talk to Adam the Ops manager he'll tell you all you need to know

[Fellow Aviator]

Thanks for your opinions guys! I talked with a airline capt. and his opinion was that total time is more important in this stage, than to gather up multi-engine time. I'll definitely head out of FL. to see the east coast.

Cheers,
FA