Commercial rating?

So I've got my instrument rating, complex endorsement and 450 hours PIC.
So I've starting thinking about the commercial rating. But I've got some
questions:

- I understand there isn't much airwork involved and that it's mostly
about knowing aircraft systems. Is that correct?
- The requirements state I have to have made a 300nm solo flight. Does a
flight with a non-pilot count, or do I really have to have been alone?
- What can I do with it? Can I offer to fly people somewhere for money?
If I want to take pictures from the air to sell, do I need a commercial
rating?
- How different is the second class medical from the third?
- If I add on a seaplane rating later, will it automatically be commercial
or is there a separate checkride for seaplane commercial?
- Is adding a commercial rating one of the things that non-citizens need
Homeland Security/TSA approval for?

--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Reliability went through the floor, tunnelled its way to the centre of
the Earth, and perished in the magma.
-- Saundo

1) The commercial checkride is mostly airwork. There are some new
maneuvers to be done. The oral is a bit more intense than the private,
mostly with regard to aircraft systems (be ready to answer the output
of the alternator in amps and the capacity of the battery).
2) The FAA's position is that the "solo" cross country must truely be
solo. Exceptions are made for pets.
3) You can't do much with the commercial ticket. You can work at a site
seeing operation or you can go after your CFI. You can also work for a
121/135 operation. Actually taking people places for money is very
different and requires 135.
4) The second class medical is almost identical to the third
5) If you add a seaplane rating it will not automatically be commercial
but it will not be very difficult to take the commercial add-on vs the
private add-on sea checkride. As I recall the only difference is that
commercial must demostrate docing.
6) Yes, if you are a non-citizen your first stop must be to register
with TSA. That paperwork will take a bit of time. AOPA has the best
info on this. Once you decide on a CFI or flight school you will need
to work with them because your TSA approval is LOCKED to them. If you
change CFIs or flight school you must reapply with TSA, get a new
background check, pay another $130 and reshow your passport. The CFI
and FBO must already be registered as a TSA training facility.

-Robert, CFI land & sea

In a previous article, "Robert M. Gary" said:
2) The FAA's position is that the "solo" cross country must truely be
solo. Exceptions are made for pets.

Darn. So taking my wife to Chicago won't count, in spite of what a pet
she is.

3) You can't do much with the commercial ticket. You can work at a site
seeing operation or you can go after your CFI. You can also work for a
121/135 operation. Actually taking people places for money is very
different and requires 135.

I don't want to be a CFI - I am quite capable of scaring myself in an
airplane, I don't need a student pilot to do it for me.

6) Yes, if you are a non-citizen your first stop must be to register
with TSA. That paperwork will take a bit of time. AOPA has the best
info on this. Once you decide on a CFI or flight school you will need
to work with them because your TSA approval is LOCKED to them. If you
change CFIs or flight school you must reapply with TSA, get a new
background check, pay another $130 and reshow your passport. The CFI
and FBO must already be registered as a TSA training facility.

That sucks. That's almost enough incentive to go get my citizenship.


--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Like the man said: "Nothing good ever goes in /opt."
-- Tim Foreman

A commercial pilot with minimum time can be hired by any
plane owner to fly their airplane under part 91, anywhere in
the world, under IFR or VFR. They just can't carry
passengers or cargo "for hire."

You can demo airplanes as a salesman and be paid to do it.


"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...
| In a previous article, "Robert M. Gary"
said:
| 2) The FAA's position is that the "solo" cross country
must truely be
| solo. Exceptions are made for pets.
|
| Darn. So taking my wife to Chicago won't count, in spite
of what a pet
| she is.
|
| 3) You can't do much with the commercial ticket. You can
work at a site
| seeing operation or you can go after your CFI. You can
also work for a
| 121/135 operation. Actually taking people places for
money is very
| different and requires 135.
|
| I don't want to be a CFI - I am quite capable of scaring
myself in an
| airplane, I don't need a student pilot to do it for me.
|
| 6) Yes, if you are a non-citizen your first stop must be
to register
| with TSA. That paperwork will take a bit of time. AOPA
has the best
| info on this. Once you decide on a CFI or flight school
you will need
| to work with them because your TSA approval is LOCKED to
them. If you
| change CFIs or flight school you must reapply with TSA,
get a new
| background check, pay another $130 and reshow your
passport. The CFI
| and FBO must already be registered as a TSA training
facility.
|
| That sucks. That's almost enough incentive to go get my
citizenship.
|
|
| --
| Paul Tomblin
http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
| Like the man said: "Nothing good ever goes in /opt."
| -- Tim Foreman

You can demo airplanes as a salesman and be paid to do it.

I think you can do that with a private though 61.117(f)

"(f) A private pilot who is an aircraft salesman and who has at least
200^M
hours of logged flight time may demonstrate an aircraft in flight to
a^M
prospective buyer. "

-Robert, CFI

A salesman may demo his airplane (consignment) but a private
pilot may not be hired to do the demo.


"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...
| You can demo airplanes as a salesman and be paid to do
it.
|
| I think you can do that with a private though 61.117(f)
|
| "(f) A private pilot who is an aircraft salesman and who
has at least
| 200^M
| hours of logged flight time may demonstrate an aircraft in
flight to
| a^M
| prospective buyer. "
|
| -Robert, CFI
|

"Jim Macklin" wrote in message
news:Tf3Pf.116007$QW2.78328@dukeread08...
A commercial pilot with minimum time can be hired by any
plane owner to fly their airplane under part 91, anywhere in
the world, under IFR or VFR. They just can't carry
passengers or cargo "for hire."


They can't? Please explain. §61.133 says you can. I am curious about the ins
and outs of this myself. And could somebody explain, maybe by example, what
'holding out' means?

Mike

You need to read Parts 119 and 135 to see what is required and what is
exempted.

"Holding out" means indicating to the public at large that you are in the
business of providing air transportation...the FAA has said that merely
putting a notice on a bulletin board is holding out. The rationale is that
the uninformed public needs some assurance that the person they are flying
with has met standards higher than those required of a private pilot, that
his/her plane is maintained to a higher standard than a simple annual
inspection, and that his/her physical condition is checked regularly and
exceeds that required of private pilots. Don't you feel safer knowing that
the captain of your airline flight has a checkride and a physical every six
months instead of a biennial flight review and a physical every three years?

Bob Gardner

"Michael Ware" wrote in message
...

"Jim Macklin" wrote in message
news:Tf3Pf.116007$QW2.78328@dukeread08...
A commercial pilot with minimum time can be hired by any
plane owner to fly their airplane under part 91, anywhere in
the world, under IFR or VFR. They just can't carry
passengers or cargo "for hire."


They can't? Please explain. §61.133 says you can. I am curious about the
ins
and outs of this myself. And could somebody explain, maybe by example,
what
'holding out' means?

Mike

"Michael Ware" wrote in message
...

"Jim Macklin" wrote in message
news:Tf3Pf.116007$QW2.78328@dukeread08...
A commercial pilot with minimum time can be hired by any
plane owner to fly their airplane under part 91, anywhere in
the world, under IFR or VFR. They just can't carry
passengers or cargo "for hire."


They can't? Please explain. §61.133 says you can. I am curious about the
ins
and outs of this myself. And could somebody explain, maybe by example,
what
'holding out' means?

What Jim means is that having a commercial certificate isn't a *sufficient*
condition for carrying passengers or cargo for hire. That's actually
slightly inaccurate, because there are some narrow exceptions, but generally
speaking carriage of passengers or cargo for hire requires not only a
commercial certificate, but compliance with other regulations (Parts 119 and
135, as Bob mentions, are the most common ones to run into, though you could
of course do it under Part 121 as well).

You can't use a Private Pilot certificate to work for a commercial
operation -- you need a Commercial or ATP -- but having a Commercial pilot
certificate is not sufficient to make a commercial operation legal. There
are other rules that need to be complied with as well.

As far as what "holding out" means, the FAA has failed to provide a concrete
definition. However, generally speaking if a pilot demonstrates a
willingness to fly the general public, they are "holding out". A pilot with
a commercial certificate can do very limited passenger or cargo flying for
people with whom they already have an existing relationship, and where they
are not providing the aircraft, but even there anything more than the
occasional contract job is likely to run afoul of an FAA inspector.

Pete

If you are advertising a service, you are holding out. A
private pilot may share the total cost of a flight that is
the private pilot's purpose, a trip that would be taken even
if there was no one to share the costs with. A commercial
pilot may do that same as private part 91 operation. But a
commercial pilot may be hired, as the employee of the
aircraft owner to fly the airplane. But that airplane can
only carry the owner and his cargo and passengers, no person
who is charged for the flight because that would be "for
hire."


"Michael Ware" wrote in message
...
|
| "Jim Macklin" wrote
in message
| news:Tf3Pf.116007$QW2.78328@dukeread08...
| A commercial pilot with minimum time can be hired by any
| plane owner to fly their airplane under part 91,
anywhere in
| the world, under IFR or VFR. They just can't carry
| passengers or cargo "for hire."
|
|
| They can't? Please explain. §61.133 says you can. I am
curious about the ins
| and outs of this myself. And could somebody explain, maybe
by example, what
| 'holding out' means?
|
| Mike
|
|