Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

2 Answers

Helicopter commercial add on cross country requirements

Asked by: 2323 views , , , ,
Commercial Pilot, FAA Regulations, Flight Instructor, Helicopter

I have my fixed wing multi engine ATP and private helicopter and am training for instrument and commercial helicopter add on ratings. My school wants to integrate the commercial cross country requirements into the instrument training so that by the time I finish the instrument training I will be ready to take the commercial check ride. So far I see there are three different cross countries required for the commercial add on. Day 2 hour cross country over 50nm, night 2 hour cross country over 50nm, and 3 point /50nm cross country.

My questions are:
1. I already fulfilled the 2 hour day/ 3 point cross country requirement when I did the 100nm 3 point solo cross country for the private add on, do I have to do it again specifically for commercial training?

2. Can I combine the 2 hour day cross country with the 3 point cross country?

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

2 Answers



  1. HelicopterTrainingVideos.com on Mar 06, 2021

    Hi Lnaa,

    Answer to question 1:

    Yes you do need to do it again.

    My understanding is that you can not use the long solo XC as you were performing at a student helicopter pilot level in your planning and execution of the flight. My reference for that is the FAA’s Letter of Interpretation (LOI) [Murphy – (2011)] and the other LOI it references [Theriault – (2010)]

    The Murphy LOI essentially says that the FAA do not permit a pilot to use experience acquired while training for a private pilot certificate to satisfy commercial pilot requirements “because a student pilot who is training for a private pilot certificate is not expected to perform at commercial-pilot-level standards…”

    Here are the direct links to those two FAA Letters of Interpretation

    Murphy – (2011) https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/agc/practice_areas/regulations/interpretations/Data/interps/2011/Murphy%20-%20(2011)%20Legal%20Interpretation.pdf

    Theriault – (2010) https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/agc/practice_areas/regulations/interpretations/Data/interps/2010/Theriault%20-%20(2010)%20Legal%20Interpretation.pdf

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. HelicopterTrainingVideos.com on Mar 06, 2021

    Answer for question 2:

    My gut feeling in no, because for an instrument rating XC you would be under the hood, flying solely by instruments, using navigation aids, on an IFR flight plan (if able), with terrain and traffic separation and altitudes assigned by ATC, flying instrument approaches to the airports. But for a commercial XC, you would be VFR, using pilotage as well as navigation aids, not under positive ATC control (although you may be getting flight following), eyes outside for traffic, picking your own VFR altitudes, making your won way to the airport, avoid the flow of FW traffic, probably landing direct to the ramp, etc. It just seems a very different flight using different skills, IMO.

    I couldn’t find a Letter of Interpretation to say either way, but maybe someone else knows of one.

    On the plus side, an extra 2 hr XC experience can’t be bad for you…

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.