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Commercial Rotorcraft to Commercial ASEL

Asked by: 9482 views , , ,
Commercial Pilot, FAA Regulations, Helicopter, Instrument Rating

I have a student who is a Commercial Rotocraft Pilot, with an instrument rating, and it wishing to pursue an add on Commerical ASEL with Instrument Airplane rating.  I dont know for sure what the layout of what hours he will need, and the exact process to get him what he woud like.  Any help would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks!!

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4 Answers



  1. Wes Beard on Nov 21, 2011

    From reading the regulations, the rotorcraft pilot will need 70 hours of airplane time to qualify for the rating.
    1.  50 hours of PIC time – since they are not properly rated… this must be solo with an endorsement from an authorized instructor
     
    2.  20 dual training on the operations for a commercial pilot.
     
    Under the 50 hours of solo time are requirements for a commercial airplane rating.  This also assumes the helicopter pilot has at least 180 hours of flight time in an aircraft.

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  2. Kris Kortokrax on Nov 22, 2011

    Most of the cross category training I have done is in the opposite direction, airplane to helicopter.
    What I usually suggest to people is that they add on the Private first.  This allows them to build the PIC hours while taking passengers with them and having some fun on the way.  It also allows logging PIC hours while accomplishing the dual for the Commercial.  Only extra expense incurred is the cost of the Private practical test.
     
    Some things to consider:
    The trainee is not a student pilot.  For solo operations, endorse him under 14 CFR 61.31(d)(2).  For the practical test, endorse him under 61.63(b).  I strongly advise placing an expiration date on the 61.31(d)(2) endorsement, as there is not regulatory expiration timeframe as with student pilots.  You may specify any other limitations as you see fit.
    The trainee does not need any endorsements for cross country flights.
    The trainee will need to be reminded to use the rudder pedals for coordination.  As there are no ailerons on helicopters, there is no adverse yaw and we do not use pedals in turns.
    The trainee may not be used to flying traffic patterns, as they are only required for airplanes.
    You may need to pay particular attention to airspeed on approach.  During approach, helicopters are constantly decelerated from around 60 K to a hover.  He may tend to get too slow on approach.

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  3. Cameron on Jun 17, 2012

    Hi! (first post here!)

    I’m in the same situation. I have a commercial pilot: rotorcraft-helicopter; instrument helicopter. I have around 1300tt, all helicopter.

    I want to get a conventional gear Pacer but I think I’m reading too much into 61.63 and confusing myself with interpretation between it and 61.109 or 61.129. What is the best (also factoring cost and time) route to go about an airplane category add-on and what are the no-kidding requirements?

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  4. Cameron on Jun 18, 2012

    So, I re-read everything again and it looks like the best method is going to be adding a private ASEL then after some time (50 hours, it seems) upgrading to commercial like Kris said.  It looks like I can take my current rating, logbook and medical down to a local CFI and start some flight training.  From 61.109 I added up to 16 minimum training hours with some categories seeming to combine well.  Get proficient then a checkride and I should be good to hook.

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