Commercial Pilot Requirements
A person applying for a commercial certificate (single-engine class rating) must have logged at least 250 hours of flight time, including:
- 100 hours in powered aircraft, of which 50 hours must be in airplanes.
- 100 hours of pilot-in-command flight time, which includes:
- 50 hours in airplanes
- 50 hours in cross-country flight (where at least 10 hours is in airplanes)
- 20 hours of commercial flight training, including:
- 10 hours of instrument training
- Includes partial panel, unusual attitudes, intercepting and tracking
- 5 of these 10 hours must be in airplanes
- 10 hours of training in a complex, a turbine, or a technically advanced airplane (TAA)
- One 2-hour cross country flight in the daytime
- With a total straight-line distance of more than 100nm from departure point
- One 2-hour cross country flight in the nighttime
- With a total straight-line distance of more than 100nm from departure point
- 3 hours with an instructor within the 2 months proceeding the checkride
- 10 hours of instrument training
- 10 hours of solo flight time (or acting as PIC with an instructor)
- One cross-country flight of not less than 300nm total distance
- with landings at a minimum of three points
- one of which is a straight-line distance of at least 250 nautical miles
- 5 hours in night VFR conditions
- with 10 takeoffs and 10 landings at an airport with an operating control tower
- One cross-country flight of not less than 300nm total distance