FAA flight training hour minimums: Part 61 vs Part 141, by certificate and rating
The minimum flight-time and training-hour requirements for each FAA pilot certificate and rating, under Part 61 and under an approved Part 141 course, side by side, from the eCFR text of both parts. Answers 'how many hours for a private pilot license', 'part 61 vs part 141 hours', 'commercial pilot minimum hours part 141', and 'instrument rating hour requirements'. The pairs are easy to confuse and constantly mixed up by flight-school marketing pages: private 40 h (61.109) vs 35 h (141 Appendix B), commercial 250 h (61.129) vs 190 h (141 Appendix D), instrument 40 h instrument time (61.65) vs 35 h of instrument training (141 Appendix C). Both columns come from the same publisher (eCFR) but different parts — no single CFR page states the comparison, and the assembled versions online are flight-school lead-gen pages with no citations. The audience is someone choosing a training path for a purchase that runs $15k-$100k.
Records23
Sources3
Verified
Review by
Licenceunknown
The data
| Certificate or rating | Part 61 minimum | Part 61 section | Key sub-requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial pilot — airplane multiengine | 250 hours of flight time as a pilot | 14 CFR 61.129(b) | 100 hours in powered aircraft, of which 50 hours must be in airplanes. ( 2 ) 100 hours of pilot-in-command flight time, which includes at least— ( i ) 50 hours in airplanes; and ( ii ) 50 hours in cross-country flight of which at least 10 hours must be in airplanes |
| Commercial pilot — airplane single-engine | 250 hours of flight time as a pilot | 14 CFR 61.129(a) | 100 hours in powered aircraft, of which 50 hours must be in airplanes. ( 2 ) 100 hours of pilot-in-command flight time, which includes at least— ( i ) 50 hours in airplanes; and ( ii ) 50 hours in cross-country flight of which at least 10 hours must be in airplanes |
| Commercial pilot — airship | 200 hours of flight time as a pilot | 14 CFR 61.129(g) | 50 hours in airships. ( 2 ) Thirty hours of pilot in command flight time in airships or performing the duties of pilot in command in an airship with an authorized instructor aboard |
| Commercial pilot — balloon | 35 hours of flight time as a pilot | 14 CFR 61.129(h) | 20 hours in balloons; ( 2 ) 10 flights in balloons; ( 3 ) Two flights in balloons as the pilot in command |
| Commercial pilot — glider | 25 hours of flight time as a pilot in a glider and that flight time must include at least 100 flights in a glider as pilot in command | 14 CFR 61.129(f)(1) | |
| Commercial pilot — glider (applicant with 200 hours in heavier-than-air aircraft) | 200 hours of flight time as a pilot in heavier-than-air aircraft and at least 20 flights in a glider as pilot in command | 14 CFR 61.129(f)(2) | |
| Commercial pilot — gyroplane | 150 hours of flight time as a pilot (of which 5 hours may have been accomplished in a full flight simulator or flight training device that is representative of a gyroplane) | 14 CFR 61.129(d) | 100 hours in powered aircraft, of which 25 hours must be in gyroplanes. ( 2 ) 100 hours of pilot-in-command flight time, which includes at least— ( i ) 10 hours in gyroplanes; and ( ii ) 3 hours in cross-country flight in gyroplanes |
| Commercial pilot — helicopter | 150 hours of flight time as a pilot | 14 CFR 61.129(c) | 100 hours in powered aircraft, of which 50 hours must be in helicopters. ( 2 ) 100 hours of pilot-in-command flight time, which includes at least— ( i ) 35 hours in helicopters; and ( ii ) 10 hours in cross-country flight in helicopters |
| Commercial pilot — powered-lift | 250 hours of flight time as a pilot | 14 CFR 61.129(e) | 100 hours in powered aircraft, of which 50 hours must be in a powered-lift. ( 2 ) 100 hours of pilot-in-command flight time, which includes at least— ( i ) 50 hours in a powered-lift; and ( ii ) 50 hours in cross-country flight of which 10 hours must be in a powered-lift |
| Instrument rating — airplane | 50 hours of cross-country time as pilot in command, of which 10 hours must have been in an airplane; and ( 2 ) Forty hours of actual or simulated instrument time | 14 CFR 61.65(d) | 50 hours of cross-country time as pilot in command, of which 10 hours must have been in an airplane |
| Instrument rating — helicopter | 50 hours of cross-country time as pilot in command, of which 10 hours must have been in a helicopter; and ( 2 ) Forty hours of actual or simulated instrument time | 14 CFR 61.65(e) | 50 hours of cross-country time as pilot in command, of which 10 hours must have been in a helicopter |
| Instrument rating — powered-lift | 50 hours of cross-country time as pilot in command, of which 10 hours must have been in a powered-lift; and ( 2 ) Forty hours of actual or simulated instrument time | 14 CFR 61.65(f) | 50 hours of cross-country time as pilot in command, of which 10 hours must have been in a powered-lift |
| Private pilot — airplane multiengine | 40 hours of flight time that includes at least 20 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor and 10 hours of solo flight training | 14 CFR 61.109(b) | at least 20 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor and 10 hours of solo flight training |
| Private pilot — airplane single-engine | 40 hours of flight time that includes at least 20 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor and 10 hours of solo flight training | 14 CFR 61.109(a) | at least 20 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor and 10 hours of solo flight training |
| Private pilot — airship | 25 hours of flight training in airships | 14 CFR 61.109(g) | |
| Private pilot — balloon | 10 hours of flight training that includes at least six training flights with an authorized instructor | 14 CFR 61.109(h) | includes at least six training flights with an authorized instructor |
| Private pilot — glider | 10 hours of flight time in a glider | 14 CFR 61.109(f)(1) | has not logged at least 40 hours of flight time as a pilot in a heavier-than-air aircraft |
| Private pilot — glider (applicant with 40 hours in heavier-than-air aircraft) | 3 hours of flight time in a glider | 14 CFR 61.109(f)(2) | logged at least 40 hours of flight time in a heavier-than-air aircraft |
| Private pilot — gyroplane | 40 hours of flight time that includes at least 20 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor and 10 hours of solo flight training | 14 CFR 61.109(d) | at least 20 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor and 10 hours of solo flight training |
| Private pilot — helicopter | 40 hours of flight time that includes at least 20 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor and 10 hours of solo flight training | 14 CFR 61.109(c) | at least 20 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor and 10 hours of solo flight training |
| Private pilot — powered-lift | 40 hours of flight time that includes at least 20 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor and 10 hours of solo flight training | 14 CFR 61.109(e) | at least 20 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor and 10 hours of solo flight training |
| Private pilot — powered parachute | 25 hours of flight time in a powered parachute that includes at least 10 hours of flight training with an authorized instructor, including 30 takeoffs and landings, and 10 hours of solo flight training | 14 CFR 61.109(i) | at least 10 hours of flight training with an authorized instructor, including 30 takeoffs and landings, and 10 hours of solo flight training |
| Private pilot — weight-shift-control aircraft | 40 hours of flight time that includes at least 20 hours of flight training with an authorized instructor and 10 hours of solo flight training | 14 CFR 61.109(j) | at least 20 hours of flight training with an authorized instructor and 10 hours of solo flight training |
Where this came from
Every record above links the page it was taken from and quotes the sentence that states it. These are the 3 sources this dataset was assembled from.
- ecfr.govhttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-61/subpart-F/section-61.129
- ecfr.govhttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-61/subpart-B/section-61.65
- ecfr.govhttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-61/subpart-E/section-61.109
Machine-readable
- data.jsonThe whole dataset — every record with its source URL and source quote.
- Open Knowledge Format bundleOne JSON object per line — every record's frontmatter and quoted span exactly as it is held here, in one fetch.
- How this is made and checkedWhat "verified against source" does and does not mean.