Dual Rating

[UtahHeliPilot]

So I am a helicopter CFII working on fixed wing right now. My question is do I lose any priviledges as a fixed wing pilot if I don't get a private and just go straight to commercial. As far as I have understood you would not have to get a private. Any info would be helpful

[AStarB3]

The only thing you would loose is the ability to log PIC during your training. If you do a private add on in 30 hours you can log the next 30 toward your commercial as PIC.

[ChprPlt]

I agree with response above. I'm also a helicopter CFI working on my FW. I am close to getting my private. If you go for commercial you will have to solo a bunch because that's the only way to log PIC. That is the reason I decided to get my private first.

[rick1128]

Several years ago I went in the opposite direction. I went and got my Helicopter add-on. While it was suggested to me that I get my Private helicopter first, to get my PIC time up, after a quick check of the FARs, I decided to just do the Commercial. My reasoning was that according to FAR Part 1 and 61, solo time is PIC time. Since you already hold a pilot certificate, you do not have to log it as solo. I just couldn't see doing two 3 hour preps in the previous 60 days and 2 checkrides.