The Commercial Pilot Licence

What is the Commercial Pilot Licence?

The SACAA Commercial Pilot Llicence is an ICAO accredited pilot licence. It is a Professional Licence, which allows an individual to make a career out of flying. This means that you can get paid to fly. Wonderful!!!! I can do a job, which I enjoy and get paid for it.

What is involved in obtaining a Commercial Licence?

A Commercial Licence involves an individual first attaining their Private Pilot Licence with a Night Rating. This is followed by completing 100 hours of Pilot-in-Command time (Solo Hours) towards the issue of the Commercial Licence. These 100 hours must included a minimum of 10 hours at night of which at least one flight was greater than 100nm. Also included in the 100 PiC hours is a minimum of 50 hours Cross-Country flying (if completing a commercial licence with an instrument rating) or 20 hours Cross-Country flying (if complete a VFR commercial licence). One of these Cross-Country flights must be greater than 300nm with two full stop landings at away airfields.

If an individual is completing a commercial licence with an Instrument rating then a minimum of 40 hours Instrument Training must be completed for the rating. However, because 10 hours was already done in the Night Rating, this only leaves a minimum of 30 hours to complete. It must be noted that we will not start your Instrument Rating training until you have completed all of the Theory Based Examinations.

As part of the commercial licence training we will do a minimum of 10 hours of Comm Preparation on a Single Engine Variable Pitch Retractable undercarriage aircraft. This will help you get ready for the Practical General Flight Test that must be conducted by a Designated Examiner from SACAA.

A Mock Test flight with the Chief Flight Instructor must be carried out before you can be recommended to a Designated Examiner from the SACAA for your Flight Test.

There are also 8 Theory Examination which must be written towards the issue of the Commercial licence. These exams should only be attempted once you have attended a Commercial Ground School held at an Authorised Training Organisation. At present this attendance is not compulsory and Self Study towards these exams can be done. However, this will require a lot of hard work and self discipline. The examinations can either be written in Durban (on selected dates only) or in Johannesburg at the offices of the SACAA. The Durban exams are currently paper based and you have to wait some two weeks for your results. The Johannesburg exams on the other hand are Computer Based and you receive your results immediately.

Do I need to get a different Medical for the Commercial Licence?

You will be required to obtain a CLASS I Aviation Medical Certificate for the Commercial licence. The requirements for the CLASS I medical are far more stringent than for the CLASS II medical you did you the Private Pilot Licence.

Do I need to get a different Radio licence?

Part of attaining a Commercial licence is that you must have a General Radio licence. However, you no longer can get a physical General Radio licence from ICASA. The “licence” is merely endorsed in your Commercial licence when issued. The “licence” as such is obtained in two parts. The first part, being the theory, is done as part of the Radio Aids examination, which you write with SACAA. The second part is a Practical Skills Test, which is conducted by a Designated Radio Examiner. The examiner will issue you with a certificate, which will be added to your Commercial licence Application to SACAA.

Is there a Minimum Age for the issue of a Commercial licence?

You need to be 18 years old to obtain a Commercial Pilot licence.

Is there a Maximum Age for the issue of a Commercial licence?

There is NO maximum age limit for the Commercial Pilot licence as long as you are medically fit. However, that said, there are certain limitations that have been placed on individuals who are older than 65 years of age. These limitation depend on under which part of the Civil Aviation Regulations you operate.

How long does it take to complete the Commercial Pilot licence?

Once you have your Private Pilot licence and completed you Night Rating, and assuming you will do the training on a full time basis, you can expect to complete your licence in 9 to 12 months. This will require considerable hard work on your part and a high level of self-discipline.

What aircraft will be used for my training?

Our flight school has an extensive training fleet of aircraft. From basic trainers to the more advanced aircraft utilised for the Commercial licence.

We recommend you do most of your hour building for you Commercial licence on either the Cessna C150 or C152’s. Your night flying can be done on either the Cessna C172 or Piper Cherokee 160’s.

For the advanced training we utilise the Cessna C172RG or the Piper Arrow 200.

We also have access to a Cessna C310 and Piper Seneca II Turbo for Twin Engine training.

When is the Commercial Ground School held?

We offer a Commercial Ground School in association with AeroNav Academy. It is held over 9 weekends and is designed to assist you in preparing for the 8 written theory examinations. However, it must be stressed that the Ground School does not fully prepare you for these exams. Considerable hard work and about 40 to 50 hours per subject of Self Study is required to get ready for these examinations.

Please contact the school for more detailed information on when the next Ground School is due to start.

What are the Costs involved with the Commercial Pilot licence?

Please contact the school for the latest ESTIMATED COSTS and different options available for the Commercial licence.