Best way to build hours?

[epic!]

Switch to part 141. The hour requirements are drastically reduced. For your Instrument you will not need the 50 hours X-country PIC. For Commercial you will only need I believe 190tt. Im just throwing that number out so check the part 141 regs for your commercial requirements. If I had the book in front of me I'd verify it for you. Many schools offer both 61 and 141 training. I would look into it though and see if your school is one of them. It doesn't sound like it though.

yea its a 61 school, being a full time student wouldnt it be hard to work through a 141. i dont know much about them but i assume i can 'work at my own pace' as i did with the school i was at previously

 

[Midnight Flyer]

Don't forget PFT programs, they're really good for this industry. There's always KeyLime Air in Colorado.

 

[mddg3581]

Part 141 in many cases still allows you to go at your own pace. The school I teach at people are coming in whenever they have time..sometimes a little too unfrequently for my preference. The big difference besides the hour requirements are that 141 has to have a syllabus and there are stage checks involved. These things do not necessarily make 141 any better or worse and many 61 programs use the same types of things.

 

[troy]

yea its a 61 school, being a full time student wouldnt it be hard to work through a 141. i dont know much about them but i assume i can 'work at my own pace' as i did with the school i was at previously

Find a part 141 FBO. You can still work at your own pace, same as 61. 190TT I believe is correct. You will get to that number by flying all of the lessons in the recomended time put forth by the inventor of the sylabus (even though you may have completed a lesson in 1.5 hrs, keep flying till the recomended X number of hrs). By the end of all the lessons, you will have the perfect number (usually). This way, you are not just "building time".

 

[MFRskyknight]

Well, renting is the obvious answer... Unless you know someone that owns an airplane.

Do you have your instrument rating? If not, get that...you'll need it anyways and you will log PIC time... Get a high-performance or tailwheel endorsement... The bottom line is don't rent just to "build time"... Get something along the way.

Good advice, that's basically the boat I'm in too. I'm only at 120 hours TT or so right now w/ the instrument. Just got my HP signoff in a Comanche the other day, going to see a man with a Taylorcraft next week about the tailwheel...

It gets expensive, though, so I'm trying to find a second job (already working 40+ hours a week) and another pilot who'd like to fly safety/under the hood.

MFR