Quickest time to build 100 hrs
 

Hi all,

am currently trying to plan ahead with the whole pilot training thing and am currently looking at options for hours building. I'm 99% decided on going to the US, most likely florida. My question is basically how quickly can I build 100 hours PIC over there during april? Would a month be over optimistic?

3 weeks flat out! I'd leave 5 for a bit of a boredom/Wx cushion though!

Regards

CR

If you plan to do any night flying, you could do even more hours in a day, the weather has usually calmed down at night, giving fantastic flying conditions,

oh, yes, flying at night actually good idea for HB!

I personally think 1 month is a bit optimistic. I would say about 6 weeks is more realistic.

just an aside, if you're hour building, dont do too many hours in a day as the UK CAA frown upon it I believe! Maybe it's true.

You are going down a very dangerous road.
It is not advisable to set a time limit on building 100 hours as Murphy's Law will invariably mess things up for you.

Weather, aircraft going tech and other problems may build up in the early phases, causing you to feel that you have to stuff more flying hours into the day.

"Press-on-itis" has seen many a student pilot left as a smoking hole in the ground.

Go and read up on the human factors elements, especially around transient and cumulative fatigue.

Give yourself all the time you need to get the flight time in. Do not push it. Chances are you'll not live to regret it.

Farrell

Safe hour building
 

As the owner of a company that leases aircraft to hours builders I don't like to see guys doing more than an average of about three hours a day.

Over a week block I normaly contract 20 hours and this seems to work for most people and keep the operation safe and I think that I would draw the line at a low time pilot doing more than 25 hours a week.

After more than two weeks of this fatigue is likely to set in and if you did 50 hours in two weeks I would insist the you take a break before I let you fly one of my aircraft.

100 hours a month is the leagal limit for A.O.C. operations and after a month of airline flying at that rate I am ready for a break.

Flying a light aircraft is far more likely to induce fatigue than sitting in a jet airliner a FL350 most of the time on autopilot drinking tea. Anyone who lets you fly 100 hours in four weeks either is very short of cash or has the aircraft very well insured.

Superpilot
 

If you did 35 hours in 6.5 days you and did not feel tired then this is the perfect example of fatigue.

Fatigue creeps up on you, most people don't think that it is affecting them and it is only an observent by-stander that will recognise this. Unfortunatly somtines the very fatigue that a person is suffering prevents them from understanding that this fatigue is setting in.

From a business point of veiw I would love a customer that would put 35 hours on my aircraft in a week safely, however I know that the risk to my aircraft increases once the pilot goes much past 20 hours.

If you are building hours you are new to this and probably have not had much in the way of HF training perhaps when you are sitting in the class room on the ATPL course it will dawn on you that you were showing the first symptoms of fatigue but did not have the training to see this.

I know that about 95 hours a month is my upper limit when flying a jet airliner, your Arizona hour building equates to a rate of 140 hours a month and flying at that rate cant be safe in the short term, in the long term it would without doubt kill you.

Do you still log P1 with autopilot? Silly question maybe but i genuinely don't know.

Cheers

Phil

Yes, you do.

Super pilot, you are a nutter! 6.5 hrs a day.

Have had a think about this and personally I don't think I could take much more than 4 hrs in a cessna in 1 day. My arse would be killing me if nothing else. Plus I think the best benefit in terms of gaining experience will be achieved through flying whilst fresh and not pushing myself to the point of boredom.

Im gonna plan for 4 hrs a day, = 25 days flying, with say 2 days off every 5 days, comes to 33 days, or basically 5 weeks. How good is the weather in Florida in April, would it be wise to factor in an extra week for potential delays?

6 to 8 hrs a day, maybe
 

Phyisiologically speaking, I would suggest low altitude cruise. Sure, you will rent an aircraft, maybe "dry" (paying for fuel/oil) and might be tempted to go for economy liter/gallon per hour. I would say, go for 1,500 ft AGL at best. At 8,500-9,500 ft, you save on fuel ok... but you get tired.
xxx
I have flown light planes 6 to 8 hrs a day (in cruise), call it 4 hrs sectors, landing and refuel, in Piper Super Cub, not exactly a comfortable airplane. A more modern Cessna C-150/152 or Piper Cherokee has better seats, consider to borrow a pillow for your back and "behind". You are looking for hours, not speed. Take a flying companion with you for conversation, to hold your maps, and keep you awake. Sleep well and full nights, watch your food, light meals before flying, a good dinner before going to bed.
xxx
Avoid drinking coffee (emergency landings for your bladder) but take snacks and some fruit juices for the flight. When tired (if you are), land and take a day OFF... Schedule yourself day by day, do not try to force yourself to a tight program. If you like to get up early, or late, do your flying when you are at your best. You can chat "plane to plane" on 122.9 and frequencies that are close to that one (read the US/AIM about which ones). If I remember well, anything with 122.8 through 122.97 is usable.
xxx
Generally, April is fine in Florida, as well as most parts of the Southern USA, but watch out for cold fronts and severe weather at times, although storms are of short duration. The Southwest is great too, from San Antonio, Texas through California, along the Mexican border but that area would require higher altitudes because of terrain.
xxx
And dont forget a torch (the Yanks call them "flashlight") if you fly at night.
And enjoy your flying - Probably will take you 3 weeks to do 100 hrs...
:)
Happy contrails

I beg to differ Bel.

Lawn Mower.....

Only you will be able to make the final decision on whether to go slowly or cram it all in.

The poster with the autopilot.......I would not recommend that low hours students use this. The whole point of hour building is "hands on" experience.

If you are looking to build hours with the autopilot in then you might as well just find a quiet corner on an airfield somewhere and sit there for 100 hours with the Hobb's meter running and read a good novel.

Where on earth has "serving your time" gone!? :rolleyes:
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And just to add... don't make the mistake that training captains are thick.
A guy who has flown his training course with crammed hours will stick out like a sore thumb in comparison to one who has flown a well planned and well flown training package.

Dear Farrell -
xxx
That is the reason I wrote -
"Schedule yourself day-by-day, do not try to force yourself to a tight schedule"... and added other non-sensical advice...
xxx
Agreed - these "thick training captains" are completely out-of-tune.
So, no need to "beg" - to differ. -
I deal with a few "thick know-it-all" new-hires all the time, at my desk.
Respectfully yours,
xxx
:)
Happy contrails

Just got my logbook out to double check, and i did 85 hours in 13 days last year in florida around april. I started the hourbuilding literally the day after getting my ppl.

I know that will be frowned upon by people and probably rightly so - but your target of 100 hours in a month is very achievable.

However i would reccommend you dont do it, it was very tiring and i found myself just cruising around alot of the time, when i could have been practicing manouevers - if you were doing 3 hours a day you'd probably spend more time perfecting steep turns, stalls etc.

I'd reccommend you take 6-8 weeks to do the 100 hours.

Oh and in terms of advice id agree with pretty much everything BelArgUSA said - bring snacks/water (dont drink too much or youll have to land to piss!) and i tried to schedule my flights when my mates were taking off so we could meet up on empty frequencies and have a bit of a laugh (kept us sane during the looooong flights)

Hola Mark -
xxx
Yes, forgot about these days of being together in the air...
xxx
Long ago (past century) when I had a PPL, used to go with flying buddies in formation flights of a pair og J-3Cs... One did the navigation, the other followed... was fun.
xxx
In the USA, what you can even do, is fly "formation" and using a radio, for approach and landing, you just call "XXX Approach - Cessna 1234A - Flight formation of two - Inbound from the East at 1,500 feet, for landing"... it is fun. The "leader" is the only one who needs to communicate. Second can even squawk "STBY" if XPDR is used/required.
xxx
To be careful, decide of your speeds for landing... The one up front at 65 KIAS, the other at 60 KIAS, one guy on the left side of the centerline, the other on the right-hand side... Perfectly legal.
xxx
Good old days of having fun -
:)
Happy contrails

superpilot
 

I know that it is very safe to assume that most aircraft that you can hire in the UK are "battered out spamcans" but some of us do offer a quality product at prices that are equal to the cost of the average hours building trip to the USA. Having the G1000 is very nice but following the magenta line for 35 hours is hardly going to improve your navigation skills and put you in a good position for the skills test on an average european VFR day.

As for the European weather . . . . this is the enviroment that you are going to be working in so better to get aquanted with it sooner rather than later.

i did a lot of hours in a 3 week period, including a couple of very long day-out day-back flights, and i ended up a worse pilot than i started. :\

you do get tired, and as people said it creeps up on you, you lose discipline in flying headings, accurate radio calls etc etc. If you get back to the UK with too many bad habits then you'll end up paying more on your CPL/IR course because you'll need extra hours. And in a twin boy does that bite into your bank account. [Disclaimer: This was my experience but as their are many, many better pilots out there than me so I apologise if I've made too many assumptions about your plan etc. ]

Just make sure you enjoy EVERY minute of it, some of the most enjoyable flying you do before you get an FI back in "barking instructions"!! :eek: