Commercial Pilot License

The Commercial Pilot license is a goal for many pilots as it is an excellent way to upgrade your abilities. It is a basic requirement should you ever wish to be paid for your piloting skills.

The minimum requirements for issuance of the Commercial Pilot license are as follows:

1. You must hold a valid Private Pilot license
2. You must hold a Class 1 medical certificate
3. You must attend at least 40 hours of Commercial Groundschool and pass a Transport Canada written examination
4. You must meet the minimum flight experience requirements and pass a practical flight test.

Once you have a Private Pilot's license, you will need to obtain the following flight experience under direction of a certified instructor:

Minimum flight times are:

65 hours total flight time consisting of:

1. Dual Flight Time: 35 hours including:
   1. 5 hours night, including 2 hours night cross-country
   2. 5 hours cross country which may include the cross-country from a:
   3. 20 hours of instrument time in addition to a: and b:
      
      
2. Solo flight time: 30 hours including:
   1. 25 hours emphasizing improvement of general flying skills, including a cross-country flight to a point at least 300 NM radius
   2. 5 hours of night flight

As an additional requirement, before making application for the Commercial license, you will need to have accumulated 200 hours total flight time of which at least 100 hours was as pilot-in-command including 20 hours cross-country pilot-in-command time. All of the hours gained during your Private and Commercial training will count towards these final totals.

A typical Commercial course would include the following. For the current course rates, please consult the Rates section of the website.

• 80 hours Ground school instruction (books and supplies)
• 5 hours pre-flight briefing
• 35 hours dual flight instruction
• 30 hours solo flight time

The course outlined above does not include the necessary build-up time to reach 200 hours total time or 100 hours pilot-in-command. The Commercial course includes, however, all instruction for the Night Rating and the VFR Over-The-Top Rating.

Typically, you would begin the Commercial course shortly after obtaining your Private Pilot license. Initially, you would be given instruction for, and obtain, the Night Rating and VFR OTT Rating. This additional training extends the usefulness of your Private license and further develops your skills... good things to have while building pilot-in-command time and working towards the required 200 hour total time. During this period, most students attend the Commercial Groundschool and prepare for the written exam. At approximately 160 hours total time, you would recommence your Commercial flight training to complete the Commercial requirements and to prepare yourself for the Commercial flight test.

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