After you earn your Private Pilot License, you can continue to learn and grow as a pilot, as far as you desire. At Horizon Aviation, we routinely train people in a number of advanced licenses. Whether you want to fly in the clouds, learn about Technically Advanced Aircraft, or fly a twin engine airplane, we can help get you there. Here are some of the additional licenses you can earn with Horizon Aviation.

Instrument Rating

This license allows you to fly with friends or family in the clouds. Suppose you want to fly to Washington D.C. for the day. If there is a thin cloud layer at 1,000 feet, you won't be going because it is neither safe nor legal. However, if you have your instrument license, you can take-off, climb through the layer in a couple of minutes, and cruise to your destination in the clear blue sky above the clouds. Once there, you will have the ability to perform an "instrument approach" where you descend through the clouds by reference to your instruments. Ultimately, you will pop out of the clouds with the runway straight ahead of you and land. The IFR requires the following: the Private Pilot License; 50 hours as pilot-in-command cross country (unless you train at Horizon Aviation or another 141 school in which case this requirement is waived); 40 hours actual or simulated instrument instruction; a written exam and a practical test.

Technically Advanced Aircraft

This training is not an FAA license. However, the hi-tech revolution has finally made it to general aviation and we're starting to see computer screens in the cockpit. These aircraft place unique demands on pilots. They are not very different to fly when looking out the windows but they have much more sophisticated instrument panels with more complex systems. To operate these aircraft safely and with confidence, you should take this course to understand how to get the most out of them.

Commercial Pilot License (CPL)

The CPL allows you to be paid to be a pilot. Some jobs include flight instructing, towing banners, spotting fish, crop dusting, flying sight-seeing flights, and serving as an airline copilot, but not as pilot-in-command. The purpose of the CPL is to increase your proficiency in performing more complex maneuvers, gaining experience navigating greater distances, and learning the regulations that govern commercial flight operations. The CPL requires an instrument rating and 250 hours' total time at a Part 61 school or 120 hours in a CPL program at a Part 141 school like Horizon Aviation.

Multi-Engine Rating

This rating adds multi-engine privileges to a PPL or CPL. There is no minimum flight time requirement, nor any written test. Many consider this one of the most fun licenses because it is all about the flying and the aircraft is one of the biggest and most complex a pilot will fly until they're in a jet.

Flight Instructor Certificate, Instrument, and Multi
(CFI, CFI-I, MEI)

These are three separate certificates allowing instruction at the indicated level. You will be able to teach others to fly. For nearly all pilots, this is the principle way to build flight time and experience necessary to get to the airlines. The CFI requires a CPL, the CFI-I an Instrument Rating, and the MEI a Multi-Engine Rating. Each certificate requires both a written and flight test in a complex aircraft.

Airline Transport Pilot License (ATP)

The ATP allows the holder to act as pilot-in-command of commercial airliners as well as transport and charter aircraft. Although corporate pilots are not required to have an ATP, most do. The license requires 1,500 hours' total time; exhaustive sub-categories of flight experience (night, IFR, cross-country, etc.); a written exam; and a practical test in a multi-engine aircraft.

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