Your licence gets you in the air. Ratings & endorsements expand what you can do up there: fly at night, in cloud or down low, step up to bigger aircraft, go upside down or teach others to fly.
Ratings are the bigger additions, such as flying at night or in cloud. Endorsements are usually specific to an aircraft design feature, like retractable undercarriage or a constant-speed propeller. Some cover a type of flying, such as aerobatics or formation.
You don’t need all of them & we’re happy to tell you which ones you can skip. Here’s what each one adds.
Night VFR Rating (NVFR)
The night VFR rating lets you fly under the visual flight rules after dark. You’ll need a PPL or CPL first. At night you have fewer visual cues & fewer options when something goes wrong. That’s why we take your training well beyond the city lights, out over remote & unlit country.
Instrument Rating (IR) & Private IFR (PIFR)
The instrument rating lets you fly under the instrument flight rules (IFR): in cloud, at night & when the weather isn’t good enough to fly visually. Most career pilots need one sooner or later.
Only flying privately? The private IFR rating is a more targeted option. It covers private flights only & you add endorsements for just the procedures & approaches you need.
Low Level Rating & Aerial Mustering
The low level rating lets you fly below 500 ft above the ground. Add the aerial mustering endorsement & you can muster stock from the air. There’s very little margin for error down low, so it takes real personal & technical discipline.
We’re one of the few organisations in Australia offering Aerial Mustering (Aeroplane) training & assessment. We also run regular training for pastoral companies.
More about low level & mustering
Class & Type Ratings
Your licence comes with a class rating for the aircraft you trained in, usually single-engine aeroplanes. To fly multi-engine aeroplanes you’ll need a multi-engine class rating. More engines mean more seats, range & speed, plus more to manage when one of them fails. Our instructors fly twins daily in air transport operations & you’ll train in a Beech Baron or Cessna 310.
More about multi-engine training
Multi-crew aircraft, jets & some other complex aircraft need a type rating for that specific aircraft. We can do your type rating too. We also offer type-specific training, assessments & flight reviews on turboprops such as the Beech 1900, King Air, Conquest, Caravan & Metroliner.
Flight Instructor Rating
Want to teach? Most instructors start with a flight instructor rating & a Grade 3 training endorsement. That lets you teach students towards the RPL, PPL & CPL. Our course goes further, so you’ll also be able to teach design feature endorsements, conduct single-engine flight reviews & teach basic instrument flight. You’ll finish job ready.
You’ll usually need a CPL, though a PPL is enough to teach design feature or flight activity endorsements. We also tailor instructor courses for operators & aero clubs.
RPL Endorsements
Flying on an RPL? Endorsements let you go further: recreational navigation (beyond 25 nautical miles), controlled airspace, controlled aerodromes & flight radio. Add them during your RPL training or whenever you’re ready.
Design Feature Endorsements
Some aircraft features need extra knowledge & handling skill, so you need a design feature endorsement to fly an aircraft that has them. Retractable undercarriage & manual propeller pitch control (a constant-speed propeller) are essential for commercial pilots. They’re usually covered during CPL training, in our Cessna 172RG. We also train for tailwheel, gas turbine engine & pressurisation endorsements, depending on aircraft availability.
Spinning & Aerobatics Endorsements
Aerobatics are a lot of fun & they’ll make you a better pilot. Spinning comes first, along with upset prevention & recovery training. From there you’ll progress from the loop & aileron roll to the barrel roll, slow roll & stall turn, at your own pace.
Formation Flight
Flying close to another aircraft takes patience, anticipation & teamwork. You’ll learn echelon & line astern formations, pairs & stream take-offs & landings, breaks, rejoins & emergencies. Our military-inspired approach focuses on leading a formation. It’s most cost-effective when two pilots train together.
Other Useful Training
Not everything worth learning is a rating or endorsement:
- Upset Prevention & Recovery Training (UPRT): recognising & recovering from stalls, spins & unusual attitudes. It isn’t part of the CASA licence syllabus, but it’s a sound investment.
- General Competency Training: for a new aircraft, new avionics, turbocharging or an instrument flying refresher.
- Aircraft Type Familiarisation: tailored training when you move to a new aircraft type.
- Land & Hold Short Operations (LAHSO): used at only a few Australian airports, including Darwin International. Employers value the qualification.
- Airspace Familiarisation: for pilots new to flying around Brisbane, Darwin or Perth, or nervous about controlled airspace.
Theory & Exams
The instrument rating & flight instructor rating each have a theory exam (IREX & PMI). We run theory courses for both.
Flight Tests & Flight Reviews
Most ratings finish with a flight test. After that, they need regular checks to stay valid. An instrument rating needs a proficiency check every year & a low level rating needs a flight review every year. Night VFR, private IFR, class & type ratings need a flight review every two years.
We arrange flight tests, flight reviews & proficiency checks with in-house & external examiners across Australia.
Which Ones Do You Need?
Flying for fun? Night VFR lets you keep flying after dark & design feature endorsements open up faster, more capable aircraft. Aerobatics & formation will sharpen your handling.
Flying for a living? Retractable undercarriage & manual propeller pitch control are a must. Most career pilots then add a night VFR rating, an instrument rating & a multi-engine class rating. Our Pilot Career Pathway builds the multi-engine class rating, instrument rating & a Beech 1900 type rating into around 24 months of training.
Still not sure? Call us on 1800 435 946 to talk through your options. We train in Brisbane, Darwin & Perth.
