Before starting a CPL course, you must have 150 flight hours, and by the time you apply for your CPL you must have 200 hours flight time, including at least 100 hours as PIC. ‘Hour building’ is the term used to describe the accumulation of this flight time after your PPL course. 

Hour building is not regulated flying - leaving you, the PIC, to decide on the routes, activities and aircraft you fly. This is the time during which you will greatly mature as a pilot, so getting your hour building strategy correct is a perfect way to give yourself a fantastic foundation on which to build your entire flying career. If done optimally, it is a great way to improve your flying skills ready for CPL and IR training. 

We’ve had lots of discussions on hour building with student pilots in the past, and here are five of the main topics of conversation when it comes to hour building...

1. Don’t burn holes in the sky  

Did you fly 100 hours? Or did you fly the same hour 100 times?

It may seem easy to stay in and around the local area, the circuit or the area that you learnt to fly in. Gaining experience further afield will allow you to become a much more rounded pilot, as you will experience the many different procedures used at other airfields, radio services, airspace and so on. It will also help you to improve your situational awareness, a key skill that can distinguish you later on in your career.

2. Challenge yourself  

As easy as it may be travelling from point-to-point in Class G airspace from familiar airfields in the same aircraft type, you will learn much more by presenting yourself with various new challenges on each flight you take.

There are many things you can try out to make for a much more well-rounded logbook, such as zone transits, flying to busy airports, sea crossings, grass strips, short-fields and even learning to fly new aircraft types. Do you have a personal development plan? And why not team up with a fellow student to have an accountability partner?

3. Find a ‘mentor’ 

Find a mentor or fly with a more experienced CPL holder if possible, who can help you with things such as weather decisions, procedures, flight planning and so on. It’s also hugely beneficial to have someone like this who you can rely on to answer any questions you may have.  

4. Find a ‘co-pilot’ 

There are many other hour builders out there on the same journey as you, so why not buddy up with one of them?

Not only will you learn a lot from each other and be able to share experience, you may also be able to share some of the costs. Some cities have organised groups of private pilots (for example, the ‘Flyouts from London’ group you can find on meetup.com) that help you connect with the right people.   

5. Avoid developing bad habits 

It’s tempting to follow the pink line on SkyDemon, or do a rough, improper fuel plan on some scrap paper, but falling into bad habits like these will negatively affect you when it comes to your CPL and further training.

Be strict with yourself; always complete thorough pre-flight planning, and debrief yourself after each flight. Keep a good checklist discipline and asses your performance on general handling and flying abilities such as heading and time keeping, approach speeds and so on – all of which will be getting tested again once you commence your CPL. Even though not the most cost effective solution, you may want to consider an hour or two every once in a while with an instructor to check your progress.

One final thing to mention before we bring this article to a close is; have fun. You’ll go through lots of different experiences during hour building, some fun and some not so fun. It's a steep learning curve. If you don't have any interesting stories about your hour building, you were probably too timid with it.

We look forward to seeing some of you hour-builders on one of our APS MCC courses in the near future!

Learn more about our ‘whitetail’ AirlineReady® APS MCC and Ryanair Mentored APS MCC.