Commercial Pilot
61.129   Aeronautical experience.

(a) For an airplane single-engine rating. Except as provided in
paragraph (i) of this section, a person who applies for a commercial
pilot certificate with an airplane category and single-engine class rating
must log at least 250 hours of flight time as a pilot that consists of at
least:

(1) 100 hours in powered aircraft, of which 50 hours must be in
airplanes.

(2) 100 hours of pilot-in-command flight time, which includes at least—

(i) 50 hours in airplanes; and

(ii) 50 hours in cross-country flight of which at least 10 hours must
be in airplanes.

(3) 20 hours of training on the areas of operation listed in §61.127(b)
(1) of this part that includes at least—

(i) 10 hours of instrument training of which at least 5 hours must be
in a single-engine airplane;

(ii) 10 hours of training in an airplane that has a retractable landing
gear, flaps, and a controllable pitch propeller, or is turbine-powered,
or for an applicant seeking a single-engine seaplane rating, 10 hours
of training in a seaplane that has flaps and a controllable pitch
propeller;

(iii) One cross-country flight of at least 2 hours in a single-engine
airplane in day VFR conditions, consisting of a total straight-line
distance of more than 100 nautical miles from the original point of
departure;

(iv) One cross-country flight of at least 2 hours in a single-engine
airplane in night VFR conditions, consisting of a total straight-line
distance of more than 100 nautical miles from the original point of
departure; and

(v) 3 hours in a single-engine airplane in preparation for the practical
test within the 60-day period preceding the date of the test.

(4) 10 hours of solo flight in a single-engine airplane on the areas of
operation listed in §61.127(b)(1) of this part, which includes at least—

(i) One cross-country flight of not less than 300 nautical miles total
distance, with landings at a minimum of three points, one of which is a
straight-line distance of at least 250 nautical miles from the original
departure point. However, if this requirement is being met in Hawaii,
the longest segment need only have a straight-line distance of at
least 150 nautical miles; and

(ii) 5 hours in night VFR conditions with 10 takeoffs and 10 landings
(with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport
with an operating control tower.

[Doc. No. 25910, 62 FR 16298, Apr. 4, 1997; Amdt. 61–103, 62 FR
40900, July 30, 1997]


Last updated February 2nd 2009
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