Single or Multi Commercial?
 

Spend (finance) $10k on single commercial
or $18K on Multi commercial

my thoughts.....

single engine is cheaper and after completion CFI and earn a little money and make lower monthly loan payments while earning much needed PIC and TT.

whereas the multi is needed anyway so why not go ahead and get it?

ultimate goal is airlines, regional then major...

any/all advice appreciated.


I searched for this topic but came up short, sorry if I am beating a dead horse.

forgot to mention... have 180TT, if that's pertinent

thanks again

There are pros and cons to both approaches, but I followed the standard path of getting my CSEL (commercial single engine land) first, then added on multiengine later which caused me to then also have a CMEL. That's just the way it works. You then have CMEL and a CSEL for the price of one, whereas if you only get a CMEL initially and skip CSEL you will not have a CSEL and you will have to go back and add it individually. As it turns out, the CSEL was useful to me for banner towing and skydivers and I have yet to use my multi commercial, but I am just a hobby pilot and your mileage may vary.

Little known fact on getting your commercial tickets... there is somewhat of a loophole that allows you to at least do the checkrides, not necessarily the training.. here was my scenario

Got my instrument rating and immediately went to Action Multi Ratings in CT to get my multi (hence making it a Private Single and Multi Engine Land Instrument ticket)..
few weeks later, I took my commercial ride. I did most of the airwork in a Warrior such as the Chandelles, lazy 8's, and the works. Came back, jumped into a Seneca and did many of the same maneuvers and also proved compitency in the complex airplane, as per the PTS.

any thoughts on this? im running with a CSEL and CMEL right now, so apparently no issues.

Thats fine, it's always gonna be two checkrides for multi comm and scom. I waited till I had my single commercial before I even got my multi so I only had to do one checkride for mel.

so I take it the downside of getting the multi after the commercial would be you have to get the magic 100hrs multi PIC (for regionals) some other way...

Spend the extra money and take a private multi checkride before you get the commercial multi. You'll have the PIC mutli you'll need for the MEI. Also, do the commercial ratings and all three instructor ratings (if that's your desired course) as fast as your finances allow. The longer you wait in between ratings the longer you'll need to complete each one (and the greater the expense).

DPEs are running $200-400 right now. All that time after will be PIC. It's much more affordable than 13 or so hours of multi at $200-300 an hour later just trying to get to the requirements for the MEI.

I thought the MEI checkride was a joke, easiest one I've ever taken. The training required is minimal if you've been teaching for a little bit. Taking a multi private will tack on an extra couple thousand dollars that isn't even necessary because you have to have a multi comm anyway. Paying any more than you have to for training is a waste. There's no reason to pay for multi time once you have the rating and you're commercial rated. Hang out at the fbo and find somebody to safety pilot or whatever to get some hours in your book. Its not as hard to get that time as you might think unless you attend a big school that makes you pay for it and won't let you fly anything but a school owned airplane. If that's the case then I guess you might as well get a private multi because they will make you pay for your time anyway I guess. PIC multi isn't as important as total multi anyway.