How much trouble is it to get a commercial rating?

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Tom Davis
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How much trouble is it to get a commercial rating?

Post by Tom Davis »

I am 63 years old. I got my private certificate in 1975, but did not fly much after that until about 5 years ago. I bought a DA 40 and got an instrument rating. I do not want to get paid a cent for flying anyone or anything, but if a commercial rating improves my flying as much as an instrument rating, it might be worth doing if it the effort, time and cost are reasonable.

I will appreciate any comments, suggestions, etc. If this has been covered elsewhere, please send me the link.

Thanks in advance.

Tom
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CFIDave
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Re: How much trouble is it to get a commercial rating?

Post by CFIDave »

Tom:
It's not "trouble" -- In fact, it's actually a lot of fun to get your Commercial single-engine land rating! Definitely more fun than getting your Instrument Rating (where you rarely get to look outside the cockpit ;) )

I used my DA40 to get my commercial about 6 years ago, practicing all the maneuvers like lazy 8s, eights on pylons, chandelles, etc. But the most fun (and challenge) was the 180 degree power-off spot landing, where you get to combine course adjustment, when to add flaps, and when to conduct a forward slip in order to hit a precise spot on the runway with the power pulled to idle. This maneuver in particular gives you tremendous confidence that if you ever lost your engine, you'd really be able to put your plane down in a field somewhere.

You'll still have to rent or borrow a retractable-gear plane to meet the complex aircraft experience requirement and for a small part of the checkride (requiring a trip or two around the pattern just to show the examiner that you know how to operate the gear). But you can use your DA40 to demonstrate everything else.

I got my single-engine Commercial just to become a better pilot, but later it also created the opportunity to go further and become a flight instructor.
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krellis
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Re: How much trouble is it to get a commercial rating?

Post by krellis »

No doubt the additional rating will help you build your confidence and piloting skills.

An additional motivation may be that the higher ratings may also help to reduce your insurance premiums. You might want to ask your carrier if that's the case.
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Re: How much trouble is it to get a commercial rating?

Post by carym »

Tom,
I got mine in 1994 and never looked back. It was great fun (except 8's on pylons always got me sick) and the easiest of all the ratings I have earned. You should go for it.
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Re: How much trouble is it to get a commercial rating?

Post by Lou »

There's a retired physician in my hangar with an old Lake. He told me that when he was younger he would do a different rating every year, just for the learning experience: aerobatic, commercial, gyrocopter, floats, etc, you get the idea. What a great attitude. I'd say do it.
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Rich
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Re: How much trouble is it to get a commercial rating?

Post by Rich »

Tom, I glean from your description you may need to accumulate some more hours to qualify. The biggest annoyance in this area is getting retractable hours. I got my commercial in 1973 with 160 hours (part 141 school-GI Bill). In those days it was no big deal to get a checkout in a retractable (in my case a 260 HP Comanche) and get turned loose to build the necessary hours on your own. Nowadays it seems almost impossible to do in most parts of the country.

I got my PPL in '70 and Commercial in '73, as I said. I do know I passed both written and practical tests pretty easily but I actually have no memory of the physical act of taking the check rides. My Instrument and Instructor check rides ('74 and '76, respectively) I do recall. The Instructor check rides (yes, plural) were the only tough ones.
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Re: How much trouble is it to get a commercial rating?

Post by BlackMammoth »

I got my commercial multi first... so now I get to go back and do the commercial single add on in the DA40.

It's not a difficult rating to get - I say go for it.
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