Instrument/unaided night flight time and hiring requirements

[Parafiddle]

How does IFR or unaided night flight time in FW vs. RW come into play in hiring pilots. I see jobs listed requiring 75 hrs. of unaided night time. Does it have to be in helicopters? Also, do IFR hour requirements have to be in actual IFR conditions or do simulated (under the hood in a real A/C, not in a simulator) count towards those hours. I have very little actual IFR time, but much more simulated time (all of it to minimums since that is when my instructor would let me take off the foggles and land the airplane (or sometimes go missed)). Just curious how all of this time plays out in the real-world hiring process. Any thoughts?

[Gomer Pylot]

I don't think there are correct answers to your questions. It depends on the job and the person doing the hiring. However, instrument time is generally understood to include simulated IMC time. It's hard to build a lot of actual instrument time in most jobs, even for airline pilots.

[nbit]

Not helicopters, but if you want to get lots of actual instrument time, fly airfreight in unpressurized turboprops or piston aircraft approved for flight in known icing conditions in the midwest USA. You have to fly in the weather, at night, a lot. I used to fly unpressurized turboprops that had no autopilot, so we were always in the weather and had to hand fly the aircraft for hours on end. You'll get lots of actual instrument time, believe me... Gomer is right about even airline pilots often getting little actual IFR time. True of corporate jobs as well, cause you're almost always above the weather, other than the time you're transitioning from takeoff and to landing phases of flight, and you're often having an autopilot doing your work for you, not manipulating the controls for that phase of flight... Sorry if it sounds off thread, but validating what Gomer said. Actual instrument time is often a small percentage of time, even for many experienced instrument pilots. I concur with what he said.

The employer ads often don't clearly say whether the unaided night or IFR time is all in helicopters. Probably best to contact the employer and ask, not assume, if not clearly spelled out. If you must assume, probably best to assume the time is in a helicopter. Usually the IFR time is simulated(hood) + actual. I have spoke to some employers that use a formula that limits the amount of simulated(hood) time you can count in the total time, others don't. Talk to the employer...

[Rob Lyman]

How does IFR or unaided night flight time in FW vs. RW come into play in hiring pilots. I see jobs listed requiring 75 hrs. of unaided night time. Does it have to be in helicopters? Also, do IFR hour requirements have to be in actual IFR conditions or do simulated (under the hood in a real A/C, not in a simulator) count towards those hours. I have very little actual IFR time, but much more simulated time (all of it to minimums since that is when my instructor would let me take off the foggles and land the airplane (or sometimes go missed)). Just curious how all of this time plays out in the real-world hiring process. Any thoughts?

 

The night unaided requirement is there to make sure you can takeoff, land and fly at low altitude at night without NVGs. If you think about flying a helicopter under 500' at night near the edge of a city, you are going to be going from a very bright "city lights" environment (NVGs uneffective) to a black, no visual horizon environment just by executing a 180 degree turn. This type of flying requires frequent transitions from a VMC to an IMC scan. Also, it is quite different in a fixed wing than in a helicopter. Fixed wing usually stay 1000' or above in "congested" or populated areas where as helicopters are not necessarily restricted by altitude. Also, fixed wing are going to maintain a greater minimum speed than a helicopter at night. The manuevers will be quite different between fixed wing and rotary wing. I know if I was hiring and looking for unaided night time, I would consider only about 1/4 of the fixed wing time. It's valuable, but you need the night unaided helicopter time too.