TalonFool

Long story shot: nearing end of AF commitment, and I will have all Unrestrcited ATP hour requirements met with the exception of Night Hours. Knowing virtually nothing about GA and where to even start, what is the easiest way to accrue the remaining night hours I will need utilizing the GA world? Can I just rent a Cessna type and hire a CFI to burn holes in the sky with me until we run out of gas and have to land? Do I need a CPL to log flight hours? If you cant tell I dont know the first thing about GA.
Thanks for any help!

QRH Bingo

By the way you worded your question, I am going to assume you have not submitted the necessary paperwork to receive your FAA commercial pilot license with instrument rating? It is not necessarily required, but there are two different requirements for night time so that could make things a bit more challenging if you don’t have that yet. At a minimum, check 61.73 to make sure you qualify to get your ATP at least.

There are two different requirements for night time that you will need to satisfy. In general, you need 100hrs [61.159(a)(2)], of which 25 of that must have been while you were PIC [61.159(a)(5)(i)(B)].

If you satisfy the 25hrs as PIC, and all you need to fulfill is the generic 100hrs, you do not even need a pilot license, so long as you are flying with an instructor and it is logged appropriately as training. If, however, you do need to satisfy the PIC hours, you can still fly with an instructor but you will need the appropriate pilot license to log as PIC; including category and class, i.e. Private/Commercial Pilot License, Airplane Single Engine Land, for a Cessa 172.

Find a local flight school, start asking them some questions, and inform them of your intentions. They should be able to help you get what you need.

I hope this helps point you in the right direction, and please, if anyone on here finds something I have said to be incorrect, I know you won’t be shy in pointing that out

TalonFool

Thanks for the Reply. Yes, I have satisified the 25hrs as PIC time. What kind of flight time would I log if i didnt have a liscense and just hired a CFI to fly with me? Would that just be student time of some sort?

Sounds like best bet is to get in touch with a local flight school and see what they can do for me. Looks like I can also utilize the night takeoff/landing rule to build up to 100 "hours" quicker.

Thanks!

QRH Bingo

If flying with a CFI (while you are not in possession of a pilot certificate) , it would be logged as: total time, night, XC (if applicable), and instruction received.
If you can use landings to help get there quicker, absolutely. I'm not that well versed in that area and have not looked at the specifics, so I will refrain from commenting, lol.

birddog486

Depending on how short of night hours you are. Theres an exemption that states after you have 20 night landings you can use up to 25 additional night landings to count for no more than 25 hours of night flight time to qualify you for a Restricted ATP. You cannot act as PIC in the big stuff until you've flown the additionl night hours as a SIC and have the restriction removed by the FSDO or DPE

rickair7777

Assuming you don't have an ASEL CPL or PPL, then yes it would be dual recieved, total time, and all appropriate conditions of flight.