Q: I am 45 years old with a multiengine rating and single-engine commercial certificate and instrument rating. I have roughly 900 hours total time and 500 multi with 100 hours of turbine experience. I have been flying for the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, fixed-wing operations. Does this qualify me for the 750-hour rule as prior military? Under Coast Guard regulations, once I am on orders, my aircraft and I are considered on active duty. I have run out of training money, and it would be a shame to stop my quest now.—John
A: What a creative thought! You are referencing the following provisions in the new ATP rule. In essence, the regulation permits a pilot to earn an airline transport pilot certificate (restricted) without the stipulated 1,500 hours in these situations:
- Military pilots with 750 hours total time as a pilot;
- Graduates holding a bachelor’s degree with an aviation major with 1,000 hours total time as a pilot;
- Graduates holding an associate’s degree with an aviation major with 1,250 hours;
- Pilots who are at least 21 years old with 1,500 flight hours.
I am thinking that flying for the USCG Auxiliary or the Civil Air Patrol does not make you a military pilot.
FAR 61.160(a)(1)(2) says:
U.S. military pilot or former U.S. military pilot may apply for an
airline transport pilot certificate with an airplane category multiengine class rating or an airline transport pilot certificate concurrently with an airplane type rating with a minimum of 750 hours of total time as a pilot if the pilot presents:
(1) An official Form DD-214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) indicating that the person was honorably discharged from the U.S. Armed Forces or an official U.S. Armed Forces record that shows the pilot is currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces; and
(2) An official U.S. Armed Forces record that shows the person graduated from a U.S. Armed Forces undergraduate pilot training school and received a rating qualification as a military pilot.
You are a civilian providing a service to your country. You may be flying an authorized mission, but I suspect that the term “career military pilot” does not apply here.
Anyone who purports to interpret a regulation that is ambiguous—and this includes FAA inspectors—is walking that proverbial slippery slope. The best way to acquire a legal interpretation of an FAA regulation that will hold up in court is to solicit an opinion directly from the FAA’s Chief Counsel’s Office in Washington, D.C. You can find a database of opinions on the FAA website (www.faa.gov).
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