Commercial pilot certificate

If you want to be paid to fly in any capacity, a commercial pilot certificate is required. Training for the certificate takes a pilot back to the basics of airmanship, and away from the rigors of instrument training.

A pilot must obtain ratings for each category and class of airplane she wishes to be paid to operate. For example, if a pilot aspires to fly skydivers in a Cessna 182 and cargo in a King Air C90, she must have commercial certificate with a single engine and a multiengine rating.

To obtain a commercial certificate in an airplane under FAR Part 61 rules a pilot must have:

• 250 hours of flight time, 100 hours of which must be in powered aircraft, and 50 must be in airplanes.
  
• 100 hours of pilot-in-command time, 50 of which must be in airplanes.
  
• 50 hours of cross-country time, 10 of which must be in an airplane.
  
• 20 hours of training, including 10 of instrument, 10 of complex or TAA, and a smattering of cross-country and practical test preparation.
  
• 10 hours of solo training, including a smattering of cross-country and night.
  

Additional class ratings, such as adding a multiengine rating to single-engine commercial pilot certificate or adding a single-engine rating to a multiengine commercial pilot certificate, will take additional training in that class. FAR 61.129 has all the specifics.