questions abou 141 comm times

thehobbit

Well-Known Member
right now I have 150 hours total time and 50 pic xcountry. I currently doing my ifr part 61 but would like to do my comm part 141 for the gibill and for the lower total hour requirements. the FAR's say that I have to have 120 hours of flight training. my questions is does that 120 hours take into account previous training times or do I have to do 120 dual with an instructor just for the comm license?
 
You'll be better off doing it part 61. You'll only need 100 hours (as of right now) to get the commercial.

Under part 141, you'll have to complete that specific school's approved training course. That (most likely) means 120 hours. Something like a minimum of 55 with an instructor, a bunch of solo stuff, some instrument, some cross country, etc.

If you started a 141 commercial course today, you could finish with 270 hours TT (assuming you already had an instrument rating).

Bottom line - do it part 61 unless it's still cheaper with the GI Bill than saving the hours part 61.

-mini
 
my questions is does that 120 hours take into account previous training times or do I have to do 120 dual with an instructor just for the comm license?

Yes and no

Your previous hours will not count towards the 120, but you have to do 55 hours dual and 65 SOLO for the 141 comm.

You might want to sit down with a calculator because even with the GI bill it might be cheaper to just go 61.
 
thats what I'm thinking, it's the reason I went part 61 for the ifr instead of 141. damn gibill I writing my congressman and the va, after a get my certs.
 
put the cost of both options down on paper and compare. Getting 60% paid by the VA is a nice kicker. You can always train under pt. 141 and then once you meet pt. 61 requirements you can drop out of pt. 141 and take a pt. 61 checkride. That is what I did.
 
Pardon my ignorance,

I did part 61 PPL, then 141 IFR and COMM, and never had to worry about those times? Someone mentioned that the previous times do not count, I didn't do that much on part 141, but you have to do 55 hours dual and 65 SOLO for the 141 comm. , maybe 32 hrs, to have that req of hours for comm and my comm was only 20 or so flights, doubt it was that many hours either. I finished comm at 185 hours total time. Is that a new req? I got my ratings back in 02, 03.
I'm a Vet and understand why doing it part 141. Do you have any Aero Clubs in the aerea? It may end up being cheaper this way, and either way all that time will count towards getting a job down the road.
 
I'm also doing commercial part 141 with GI bill...I've already done instrument pt 141, I wonder since my instrument was taken 141 at the same school would that count into comm req.?
I understand why anyone wants to use GI bill, but there's also another thing to consider (at least in my case) GI bill gives you 60% back...so even if you spend 10k or more, you will get 6 grands back (and you will have more hours of experience) Now you can do it in 50 hours and still pay 4-5 grands...so unless you keep your GI bill for some grad school I say burn the darn money :) if you don't...it's gone in 10 years.
 
I'm also doing commercial part 141 with GI bill...I've already done instrument pt 141, I wonder since my instrument was taken 141 at the same school would that count into comm req.?
Nope.

It's all about what is required in the school's approved TCO. You have to do that.

I doubt that the school's commercial program says that the instrument counts towards the 120.

The big thing you'll want to do is check with the school. The basics for 141 Commercial is 120 hours, however (there's an exception to every rule, eh?), that's the minimums for a normal commercial program. That means the school can require 150 or 200 or 900 hours for their commercial program if they want to. I'm not sure what the benefits would be, but they can do it if they get it approved.

Also, they can get a special curricula approved. Airman Flight School in Norman, OK had a "short commercial" approved. I don't remember how many hours it was, but it wasn't the 120 for the commercial. Like anything, there's a catch. For their Private, Instrument and CFII they could self-examine (they had the authority approved after their first 2 years - mandated "waiting period" for 141 schools) but not for the commercial. That means that the students that graduated from that course had to use a DPE or Fed (and not the "in-house" DPE/Chief Flight Instructor either) as part of the approval.

So, while you can have less than 120 hours it's not common. Most common is going to be the 120 hour commercial program but you could theoretically have more than 120. I know of a school that has a 40 hour instrument vs. the "normal" 35. While it isn't common, it does happen.

-mini
 
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