Cheapest way to accrue flight hours for commercial?
Posted by SOULTAKER2175@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 16 comments
I’m in the beginning stage of getting into flying and after watching some videos, looking at local flight schools, and realizing it would cost around $50k for commercial, I had a thought. Is there an ultralight or another aircraft thats is cheaper than $50k to buy and which also counts towards the needed flight hours? After doing some googling, the general consensus is “Maybe?”, which isn’t very helpful. What do you guys think?
Stocomx@reddit
Are you in the USA? If so it’s very doable to get the ppl and ifr for under 10k. Is it fast? No. Is it a lot of work? Yes. Does it require some basic social skills? Yes.
Start going to every fbo that is in your area. Make friends. Talk to everyone you can that owns a plane that’s there. Preferably ones in hangers. Offer to wash planes, clean hangers, be a ride along buddy, hell even offer to do off airport activities like mow yards. It will amaze you the amount of GA owners that will go out of their way to help you if you show them a hard work ethic and determination. Plus once you get you basic ppl and a good reputation how many will let you fly so they can have a beer when they go on a 500$ hamburger run.
ltcterry@reddit
$10k for 90 (40+50) hours would be $111/hr dual. Highly unlikely. I get $70/hr...
Stocomx@reddit
I know of several people that have got both for less than 10k. 2 young men (brothers) I know personally.
Yes if you count there time it would be more. Say if they just kept the money from washing planes, doing whatever etc instead of trading it out for flight time.
They both worked their asses off anytime anyone around 3 different fbo asked either of them to do anything. Yes the had way less than 10k in their ppl and ifr. Including two free check rides from the DPE whose farm they worked at whenever he asked.
anactualspacecadet@reddit
Any airplane you can buy for under 200k is not one I would ever fly. Thats sketch as fuck, just don’t do it, low experience pilot + shit airplane = highest probability of death for a pilot
etheran123@reddit
I urge you to look and the numbers and find that the majority of the GA fleet has similar accident rates. The pilot sitting in the seat (along with the type of flying) matters far more than the type of aircraft that seat is bolted into.
I mean just look up the most common errors/failures in GA accidents and its all stuff like flight into terrain, VFR into IMC, poor flight planning, fuel starvation. All of which can happen in a 50 year old c152 or a brand new sr22.
anactualspacecadet@reddit
GA pilots just suck in general because they have low hours, but low hours plus shit aircraft is not a good combo
throwaway642246@reddit
The cheapest way by far, is to buy a reliable old airplane and fly the shit out of it for a while. Then sell it after you’ve taken care of it for a while.
Barring a catastrophic failure of some kind, all you have to pay for is fuel, insurance (if you want to), and somewhere to tie it down.
Then you can do some amount of safety piloting shenanigans with friends to split cost but too much of that starts to look…questionable.
anactualspacecadet@reddit
A “reliable old airplane” is gonna run you like $500,000
scottdwallace@reddit
$30k will buy you a Champ with the added benefit of making you a better pilot.
anactualspacecadet@reddit
I’ve never flown anything worth less than 200k and I fly just fine. You would have to pay me more than 30k to fly a 30k piece of shit though.
scottdwallace@reddit
Honestly, I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not. Assuming not, I will bite. If you are able to stay in aviation long enough, you will realize how ridiculous your statement is. I wish you the best of luck.
And for the record, I’ll take someone that was towing gliders in a clapped out Super Cub for my FO over a Cirrus Bro everyday of the week. There’s a lesson in that if you can set the ego aside long enough to hear it.
anactualspacecadet@reddit
I’m already a pilot on a half million pound jet so I don’t need your validation.
scottdwallace@reddit
Heh, well, you were never going to get my validation. Just trying to shed a little wisdom I have learned along the way. Fly safe my man.
nextgeneric@reddit
Not really, it’s not cheap, but spend some time on trade-a-plane. Lots of decent options here.
Complete_Cod_8222@reddit
Questionable?
ltcterry@reddit
The cheapest hours are the ones someone else paid for.
With some effort you can do initial Private, Commercial, and instructor in a glider in fewer hours than it takes a typical person to do Private in an airplane. You could then instruct in a glider club for a few hundred hours, go do airplane Private, Commercial, and instructor as add on training. Easier. Possibly take it off on taxes.
And as an experienced instructor have less difficulty finding the first airplane instructor job.
If in the US, "ultralight" is not a registered airplane, so it doesn't count.
If you can get from zero to Commercial in an airplane for $50k you've found a deal.