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The CPL cross country requirements often cause some confusion as to what is required, so I wanted to detail the main milestones here and share some of the things I learnt trying to achieve and meet my UK Commercial Pilot Licence cross country requirements and hour building.
Quick links to what is in this post:
1) CPL Cross Country requirements
- VFR cross country flight of at least 540km (300NM) cross country which should include landings at two different aerodromes (different to departure aerodrome)
- If only doing CPL, 20hours cross country Pilot in command (PIC)
- If wanting an instrument rating, 50hours cross country PIC
2) CPL requirements for night flying (part of your night rating):
- 5 hours flight time at night including a:
- 3 hours of dual instruction, with at least 1 hour of cross-country navigation
- At least one dual cross-country flight of at least 50 km (27 NM) and 5 solo take-offs and 5 solo full-stop landings
3) Other CPL hours requirements:
- Prior to commencing your CPL course, you will need 150hours Total Time
- You will need to have achieved 200hours Total Time before you will be allowed to complete your CPL skills test (Modular)
- If you are modular route, you will need 100hours PIC prior to your CPL course
- If integrated, you will need 70hours PIC prior to your CPL course
4) Your qualifying cross country flight needs to be completed on the same day.
The spirit of the 300nm cross country requirement flight is that you complete it on the same day. This adds to the challenge and complexity of executing the flight effectively.
5) Your CPL qualifying cross country is supposed to be completed VFR and PIC
The spirit of the CPL qualifying cross country is that PIC is supposed to do the flying so be cautious if, for example, you have a passenger, that you are the one actually doing the flying! Some of you may have an IMC rating – the qualifying cross country is supposed to be completed VFR.
If you wish to learn more about flight Training for CPL and beyond, check out my best-selling Pilot Training Guide on Amazon.
Listen to the Pilot Training Guide FREE with Audible here
If you have any questions on CPL hour building, please leave a comment in the section below – I would love to hear from you!
Kudzi Chikohora is a B737 captain with over 3,000 hours of flying in Europe. He holds a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, is a chartered engineer, and is a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
Kudzi completed his pilot training via the self-funded modular pilot training route and created kcthepilot.com to share pilot training and aviation content.
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