Addendum – EASA Part-FCL & Part-MED — Page 548, Lesson 737

Let's pick this up right where the numbers get interesting. We're inside the CPL/IR integrated course for aeroplanes, and I want you to see the structure here — this course is a carefully layered build-up of flight time, and each layer has its own minimums and its own credit rules. First, the entry conditions. You can be admitted to this training either as an ab initio entrant — that means someone starting with zero experience — or as a holder of a PPL(A) or PPL(H). Now, if you come in holding a PPL, the regulator gives you credit for what you've already flown. 50% of the hours you flew prior to the course get credited, but there's a cap: up to a maximum of 40 hours of flying experience. And there's a bonus — if you've obtained an aeroplane night rating, that credit ceiling rises to 45 hours. Of that credited time, up to 20 hours may count towards the requirement for dual instruction flight time. So the credit isn't unlimited, and it's split between total experience and dual instruction. Now the flying training itself. The course shall comprise a total of 180 hours, and within that total, up to 40 hours may be instrument ground time. That's a key distinction — instrument ground time counts toward the 180, but it's not flight time in the air; it's time in a ground training device. Within that 180-hour total, you must complete at least four separate blocks. First, at least 80 hours of dual instruction, of which 40 hours may be instrument ground time. Dual instruction means you're flying with an instructor on board. Second, at least 70 hours as PIC — pilot in command. That includes VFR flight and instrument flight time which can be flown as SPIC. Now, SPIC is a term you need to know: it stands for student pilot in command under instruction. The instrument flight time flown as SPIC shall only be counted as PIC flight time up to a maximum of 20 hours. So you can't pad your PIC time indefinitely with supervised instrument flying — the regulator caps that credit at 20 hours. Third, at least 50 hours of cross-country flying as PIC. And within that, there's a specific qualifying event: a VFR cross-country flight of at least 540 kilometres — that's 300 nautical miles — in the course of which you must make full stop landings at 2 aerodromes different from the aerodrome of departure. So it's not just distance; you have to actually land and stop at two different airfields that aren't where you started. Fourth, 5 hours of flight time at night. That breaks down as 3 hours of dual instruction, and that dual portion must include at least 1 hour of cross-country navigation, plus 5 solo full stop landings. So the night block has both an instructional navigation element and a solo landing element. Then we have the instrument time block — 100 hours of instrument time in total. And this is where the credit structure gets really specific. Within those 100 hours, at least 20 hours must be flown as SPIC. And at least 50 hours must be instrument flight instruction. Now, of those 50 hours of instrument flight instruction, up to 25 hours may be instrument ground time in an FNPT I — that's a Flight and Navigation Procedures Trainer, level one. Alternatively, up to 40 hours may be instrument ground time in an FNPT II, an FTD 2 — that's a Flight Training Device — or an FFS, a Full Flight Simulator. And within that 40-hour allowance, up to 10 hours may be conducted in an FNPT I. So you see the hierarchy: the more capable the device, the more credit you're allowed. A basic FNPT I gives you less credit; a full flight simulator gives you more. That's the logic of the whole course — every hour is accounted for, every credit is capped, and the devices are ranked by how faithfully they replicate real flight.