Instrument Rating
Without a doubt the hardest rating to acquire. Unlike the private or commercial, all of it is flown on instruments — little or no “outside the cockpit” work. It's unlike anything you've done in aviation and demands tremendous concentration.
The regs require 40 hours of instrument training, some of which can be done in a procedure-training device. We fly in complex airspace, explore every failure scenario we safely can, and fly in real instrument weather. If your written is done, I can have you checkride-ready in 10 days or less.
Commercial Rating
Just plain fun — mostly “out the window” stick-and-rudder flying that teaches you to take the airplane to the edges of its performance envelope.
You'll need 250 hours total time, including 100 hours PIC and 50 hours of cross-country. Like the others: a written exam, flight training, and a check ride.
Multi-Engine Rating
Learn to fly twin-engine airplanes. A VFR-only rating runs about 10 training hours; add instrument privileges and plan closer to 20, depending on how current and competent you are on instruments.
There's no written exam for the multi — just flight training and a check ride, plus a roughly 5-hour ground school I've prepared for the rating.
Type-Specific Training
If your aircraft requires insurance-mandated recurrent training, you can attend a sim-based school or train in your own airplane. Sims are valuable, but most don't match your panel, your switches, or how your plane actually flies. If your only annual air work is recurrent training, I advocate doing it in the airplane.
Insurance-accepted training I provide:
- Cessna 300–400 series twins (all)
- King Air 90–200
- Pilatus PC-12
- Beech BE-60 Duke
- Piper PA-46 series (all)
- Cessna P-210
- All non-pressurized piston singles & twins