WHY WE ARE QUALIFIED TO TRAIN YOU
Anthelion’s instructors bring diverse aviation backgrounds including charter and corporate flying, aerial survey and photography work, flight instruction, and airline-pipeline programs. Leadership experience includes Chief Pilot and Chief Flight Instructor roles as well as airline captain.
The program emphasizes developing safety skills and professionalism to advance your flying career. Training incorporates commercial operational simulations to reflect real-world scenarios.
HOW WE WILL DESIGN YOUR COMMERCIAL PILOT LICENSE TRAINING
We customize instruction based on your individual flight experience and goals. Design considers safety practices, regulatory requirements, future aspirations (such as an instrument rating), and the practical test standards.
Students require 250 total flight hours under Part 61 to master commercial airplane flight competencies.
COMING SOON — PART 141 TRAINING: Once our Part 141 commercial syllabus is approved, qualifying students will be able to work toward this certificate with a structured, credit-bearing curriculum — the same approach that has helped our helicopter students train efficiently for 20 years. Until then, every Commercial Pilot – Airplane student trains under Part 61.
Beyond flying mechanics, training develops planning proficiency and decision-making abilities. This flight safety decision-making skill is possibly the most important thing you will learn, supporting safe professional airplane operation.
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250 hours total flight time as a pilot, including:
- 100 hours in powered aircraft, of which 50 hours must be in airplanes
- 100 hours pilot-in-command flight time, which includes 50 hours in airplanes and 50 hours of cross-country flight (at least 10 hours of which must be in airplanes)
- 10 hours of instrument training (5 of the 10 hours must be in a single-engine airplane)
- 10 hours of training in a complex airplane, a turbine-powered airplane, or a technically advanced airplane — built right in with our Cessna 172 TAA
- One 2-hour daytime cross-country flight of more than 100 nautical miles total distance
- One 2-hour nighttime cross-country flight of more than 100 nautical miles total distance
- 3 hours of flight training in a single-engine airplane in preparation for the practical test within the preceding 2 calendar months
- 10 hours of solo flight time in a single-engine airplane (or 10 hours performing pilot-in-command duties with an authorized instructor on board), including:
- One solo cross-country flight of not less than 300 nautical miles total distance, with landings at a minimum of three points, one leg of which is a straight-line distance of at least 250 nautical miles
- 5 hours of night VFR flight with 10 takeoffs and 10 landings to a full stop (each involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport with an operating control tower
Up to 50 of these 250 hours can be credited from time in our new AATD flight simulator under 14 CFR § 61.129(i) — see our Flight Simulator page for details.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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Most pilots finish their Instrument Rating with about 100–150 hours. The rest is time building: flights you log as pilot in command, ideally cross-country trips that also meet the Commercial’s 50-hour cross-country requirement. You can rent our 172s for this through our aircraft rental program. We’ll help you plan your time building so every hour also counts toward a specific requirement.
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No. The FAA lets you replace the traditional 10 hours in a complex airplane with 10 hours in a Technically Advanced Airplane (TAA). Our TAA Cessna 172 meets that standard, so you can complete the requirement in the airplane you already know. Checkride maneuvers can be flown in it as well.
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Your helicopter hours count toward the 250-hour total. You still need airplane-specific time: at least 50 hours in airplanes, 50 hours of pilot-in-command time in airplanes, and 10 hours of airplane cross-country. If you already hold a Commercial Helicopter certificate, you usually won’t need another knowledge test to add Airplane at the Commercial level. See our add-on ratings and combined pathways.
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Simulator hours only count when an authorized instructor gives them to you in the AATD. Solo practice in the sim can’t be logged toward the 250. The best use is scenario flying and instrument work, which also sharpens the skills examiners test. Up to 50 hours can be credited under our device’s FAA authorization. Book a sim session.
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Yes. Today our Commercial Airplane course runs under Part 61, which requires 250 hours. Once the FAA approves our Cessna 172 Part 141 curriculum, the approved course will allow a lower total time. It’s worth talking to us before you start time building. Whether it pays to wait depends on how many hours you already have.
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You can take the Commercial checkride without an Instrument Rating. Without it, though, the FAA won’t let you carry passengers for hire at night or on cross-country trips of more than 50 nautical miles. That makes the certificate far less useful. Most of our pilots then go on to the CFI: it’s the most common way to get paid while building toward airline minimums.