It’s many people’s dream to fly a jet at several hundred miles per hour high in the sky. That’s certainly been my dream for quite some time and still is to this day. Becoming a pilot can be kind of a confusing process since there are several different licenses and ratings that you can obtain to do certain things in aviation. A common question is can you fly a jet with a private pilot’s license?
A private pilot’s license won’t certify you to fly jets. In almost all situations you’ll also need an instrument rating, commercial license, multi-engine rating, and a type rating for the type of jet you’ll be flying.
In the rest of this post we’ll run through those ratings and talk about the route to being able to fly jets (whether professionally or personally).
What You’ll Need to Fly a Jet
Working up to a jet takes a lot of learning and experience, and it’s not as simple as just obtaining one particular rating or license. We’ll walk through each of the requirements you’ll need to meet before you start flying high and fast.
Step 1: Private Pilot’s License
Difficulty: Medium to Hard
This is the base of all future ratings you will get. The private pilot’s license is the “entry” point to becoming a jet pilot. There are other ways of becoming a pilot such as getting your sport pilot’s license, but ultimately this won’t qualify you in the long run to fly jets.
The private pilot’s license will certify you to fly just about any single engine piston (non-jet and non-turbo prop powered) airplane in basic good weather (VFR, or visual flight rules) conditions under 18,000 feet. There are certain airplanes that do take an additional rating or logbook endorsement, such as seaplanes and taildraggers, but for the most part the private pilot’s license will get you flying most common single-engine airplanes.
Our post “How much does it cost to get a private pilot’s license” covered the average cost of obtaining your private pilot’s license in another post so be sure to check that out if you want the deep dive on specific training costs to becoming a private pilot.
Step 2: Complex Airplane Endorsement
Difficulty: Easy
The complex airplane endorsement is not a separate rating or license, but rather just an endorsement in your logbook from an instructor indicating that you have received training in an airplane with flaps, a constant speed (variable pitch propeller), and retractable landing gear.
If you are planning on getting more than you private pilot’s license, usually you’ll receive this endorsement naturally in your training as your flight school will put you in an airplane for a few lessons that meets this requirement, such as a Beechcraft Bonanza, Cessna 172/182 RG, Piper Arrow, etc. You’ll need at least 10 flight hours in a complex airplane to get your commercial license (covered later in this post) as well.
So in other words, getting experience in this type of airplane and receiving your endorsement will usually naturally happen as part of your training. If your flight school is smart they’ll try to combine this with your high-performance endorsement, which we’ll cover next.
High Performance Endorsement
Difficulty: Easy
If you want to fly airplanes with more than 200 horsepower, you’ll need a high performance endorsement. There is no flight hour requirement for receiving this endorsement but just an instructor indicating that you have received instruction in that type of airplane.
Ideally you can double-dip your flight hours in a complex and high performance airplane to get both endorsements at the same time, or at least do some of the complex airplane hours in a high-performance airplane. Not all complex airplanes are high performance and vice versa.
So for example it would be great to get your complex airplane hours needed for your commercial rating in perhaps a Piper Arrow or Cessna 172 RG which have less than 200 horsepower and will cost less to rent, but for a few hours jump up to a Cessna 182 RG to get the high performance component. A Cessna 182 (with 230 horsepower and non-retractable gear) will count towards your high performance endorsement but not towards a complex airplane.
If you plan it correctly you can save some money and double dip appropriately to get your experience at the lowest possible cost.
If you are enrolling in a flight school, ask how they plan ahead into future ratings and be efficient from the start in situations such as these. They can take advantage of you if you aren’t careful so asking about optimizing the complex and high performance endorsements together is something to ask about.
Instrument Rating
Difficulty: Medium to Hard
This isn’t another license, per se, but rather a particular rating that is added to your current license and permits you to fly without seeing outside the airplane such as in clouds or low visibility conditions. Without an instrument rating and an instrument flight plan, you aren’t allowed to fly into instrument flight conditions. Furthermore, 18,000 feet MSL and above is considered Class A airspace which requires an instrument rating even in perfectly good weather.
Jets fly high in large part for fuel efficiency reasons, which means you’ll need to be able to fly higher than 18,000 feet. Practically speaking though this isn’t the only reason you’d need an instrument rating in the context of flying jets, but it’s definitely a reason.
Traveling long distances in jets means that you could cross over multiple separate weather systems and while it was sunny when you left Chicago, it could be rainy and foggy in Dallas when you land. You’ll need an instrument just for practicality and also for your safety. If you’re trying to go to the airlines, having your instrument is non-negotiable.
Interested in your instrument rating? See our posts on how long does it take to get an instrument rating and how much does an instrument rating cost?
Commercial License
Difficulty: Easy to Medium
In order to be paid to fly (with a few exceptions such as glider and banner towing, neither of which involve jets), you’ll need your commercial license. The commercial license is fairly quick and easy and just involves slightly more detailed knowledge of the private pilot’s license curriculum and more strict tolerances on your flight maneuvers (less tolerance for altitude deviations, etc. while performing certain maneuvers).
Note that single engine commercial and multi-engine commercial licenses are separate licenses. If you have your multi-engine rating but your commercial rating for only single engine airplanes, you can’t get paid to fly multi-engine airplanes.
Also note that if you aren’t planning on flying a jet (or any airplane, for that matter) for hire, you don’t technically need a commercial license. You will need one if you want to become an instructor, though. So for the lucky few out there that are reading this article and planning on buying a jet and flying yourself (and not for an airline), then you can go ahead and skip the commercial license. Cheers to you!
Interested in your commercial rating? Here’s how long the commercial rating might take.
Multi-Engine Rating
Difficulty: Easy
Airplanes with more than one engine require a multi-engine rating (with only a few exceptions, such as the Cessna 337 Skymaster; there are a few reasons for this but it’s the exception and not the rule). The vast majority of jets have two or more engines (cue the Cirrus Vision Jet, pioneering single engine civil jet flight) and so plan on getting the multi-engine rating leading up to your jet experience.
This isn’t a lengthy rating to get and in some cases can be done in a week’s time or less (all depending on how often you fly and can demonstrate the required maneuvers). Really the only thing you are learning is what to do when one of the engine quits and you have asymmetric thrust from one good engine.
Airline Transport Pilot
Difficulty: Easy to Medium (but flight hour requirement can be a challenge for newer pilots)
If you’re going to fly for the airlines in the United States, you will almost always need your ATP (airline transport pilot) license (or at least be eligible to get it from a flight hours standpoint). The minimum flight hours to qualify for your ATP is 1,500, so it can take a while for new pilots to achieve this milestone if they are starting from scratch.
If you are flying your own jet (lucky you!) then you won’t necessarily need an ATP (although it would make you a better pilot to go through the training).
The ATP is mostly about flight maneuver mastery. It has extremely small tolerances for altitude deviations while demonstrating flight maneuvers in the check ride and so the point is to be able to show you have complete mastery over the handling of the aircraft.
Note that the ATP, like the commercial rating, is split into both single engine ATP and multi-engine ATP. You can have one but not the other. It’s not uncommon for airline pilots to have a multi-engine ATP but not a single-engine ATP because it wasn’t useful or economical to get the single engine ATP during training.
For more reading on this, see our article on private, commercial, and ATP certificates compared.
Type Rating
Difficulty: Medium to Hard
At this point you’ve received a lot of licenses and ratings… private, instrument, complex high endorsement ratings, commercial, and multi-engine certifications. That’s a lot of training. But you’re not quite yet ready to fly a jet.
The FAA puts one more thing in your way, and it’s called a type rating. A type rating is required for any airplane that has a turbojet powerplant (regardless of weight) OR weighs more than 12,500 pounds.
For example, the new single engine Cirrus Vision Jet only weighs 3,700 pounds but still requires a type rating. A King Air 350, although it does not have jet engines (but rather turboprop engines) does require a type rating because it weighs 15,000 pounds. On the other hand, its smaller counterpart the King Air 90 weighs about 9,600 pounds and does not require a type rating.
Type ratings are not inexpensive but do provide fantastic training specific to that airplane. Note that you can have a type rating for say a King Air 350 and that will not certify you to fly a Lear Jet 45. Some type ratings allow you to fly more than one variation of the same kind of airplane (like 737’s which have many different models).
Conclusion
All of this to say, you cannot fly a jet with just a private pilot’s license. While there are many steps you have to take and many licenses, ratings, and endorsements you have to obtain before you are ready to fly jets, the journey can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life. Flying has personally changed my life and is one of the best things I’ve ever done. If you are determined to fly jets, now you know the path, so don’t let anything slow you down!
