Hour Building Guide · ATPL Guide

What this guide covers: How to use your 200-hour modular hour-building block strategically — so that every flight is purposeful, your skills develop in sequence, and you arrive at the CPL Skills Test ready to pass first time.

1. The Purpose of Hour Building

Most student pilots treat the hour-building phase as time they have to fill before they're allowed to sit the CPL. That mindset is the reason so many people arrive at their CPL Skills Test with 200 hours in their logbook and skills that barely exceed PPL standard.

The right mindset: hour building is CPL pre-training. Every flight should develop one or more of the specific skills you will be tested on. Done well, you will arrive at the CPL test not just hours-legal, but genuinely ready.

This guide is structured around the CPL Skills Test syllabus. We work backwards from the test, identify every manoeuvre and skill you'll be assessed on, and build a training programme around developing them to test standard during your hour-building flights.

2. The CPL Hours Requirements

Before you can sit the CPL Skills Test, you must hold a logbook that satisfies the following minimum requirements (UK CAA / EASA basis):

Requirement	Minimum
Total flight time	200 hours
Pilot-in-command (PIC) time	100 hours
Cross-country PIC	20 hours
Qualifying cross-country (solo PIC)	540 nm, 2 full-stop landings at 2 different aerodromes
Instrument time (actual or simulated)	10 hours (5 of which may be on approved FFS/FNPT)
Night flying (if night rating held)	5 hours total (3 dual incl. 1 hr XC, 5 solo T/O and 5 full-stop landings)

Note: You must also hold a valid Class 1 Medical, a Night Rating, and have completed ATPL theory (or be progressing through it) before the CPL Skills Test.

3. The CPL Skills Test: What You'll Be Assessed On

The CAA CPL Skills Test (based on AMC1 FCL.320) assesses the following areas. Every exercise in this guide maps directly to one or more of these:

Section 1: Pre-flight procedures and departure

Mass and balance calculation
Performance planning (TODR, LDR, climb performance)
Navigation planning to a destination
Pre-flight inspection to professional standard
Departure procedures including SIDs (where applicable)

Section 2: General handling

Steep turns (45°) at cruise speed
Stalls: clean, take-off configuration, landing configuration
Incipient spin recovery
Slow flight and minimum controllable airspeed

Section 3: En-route navigation

Use of radio navigation aids (VOR, NDB, DME)
Map reading and dead reckoning
Diversion to an unplanned alternate
Lost procedure / position fix

Section 4: Instrument flying

Straight and level flight on instruments
Timed turns to headings
Rate-one turns, climbing and descending on instruments
Recovery from unusual attitudes

Section 5: Emergency and abnormal procedures

Forced landing without power (PFL) — approach and simulated landing
Precautionary landing — selection and judgment of field
Simulated engine failure and drills
Fire drills, system failures

Section 6: Arrival and circuit

Instrument approach (ILS or VOR/NDB approach)
Precision and flapless landings
Short-field and soft-field technique (where applicable)
Go-around execution

4. Aircraft Selection

The aircraft you build hours on will significantly affect how well prepared you are for the CPL test. Consider:

High-wing vs low-wing

Most CPL tests are conducted on low-wing touring aircraft (PA28 Cherokee variants, DA40/42, Beechcraft Musketeer/Sundowner). If you have a choice, build the majority of your hours on the type — or at least the category — you'll use for the CPL test.

Complex aircraft

A "complex" aircraft for CPL purposes has a variable pitch propeller, retractable undercarriage, and flaps. Hours in a complex aircraft are not strictly required before CPL, but the test itself may be conducted on a complex type depending on your school. Confirm with your school early and factor this into your aircraft booking strategy.

Instrument panel quality

For the instrument section of the CPL test, you need to be comfortable under the hood. Building hours in an aircraft with a functioning vacuum system, a working attitude indicator, DI, and AI is essential. Check the aircraft's technical state before paying for it.

5. The Hour-Building Programme

Below is a structured 100-hour programme that assumes you have a PPL and Night Rating and are building toward CPL minimum hours. Tailor the sequence to your own starting point — if you're already competent in one area, compress it and spend more time on weak points.

Block 1: Local consolidation (Hours 1–20)

Goal: Rebuild PPL-standard skills sharply before adding CPL complexity. Many pilots return to flying after a gap — this block eliminates rust.

Flights	Exercise	CPL Section
1–3	General handling: steep turns, stalls, slow flight	Section 2
4–6	Circuit consolidation: precision landings, flapless, go-arounds	Section 6
7–10	Local navigation: DR nav to nearby aerodromes, timing accuracy	Section 3
11–14	Radio navigation: VOR tracking, radials outbound and inbound	Section 3
15–17	Instrument time: straight-level, timed turns, partial panel	Section 4
18–20	PFLs from various positions and heights in the local area	Section 5

Tip: In every navigation flight, include at least one deliberate diversion. Pick a point on the map, estimate new heading and time, and execute it. Do not use GPS for the diversion — use map and brain. This is what the CPL examiner will ask you to do under pressure.

Block 2: Cross-country development (Hours 21–60)

Goal: Build the 20 hours of solo cross-country PIC time and develop the navigation, radio, and planning skills to CPL standard.

Flights	Exercise	CPL Section
21–30	Cross-country flights: 1–2 legs, full planning, no GPS primary	Section 1, 3
31–35	Long cross-country days: 3–4-leg routes, diversions en-route	Section 3
36–40	Radio navigation: NDB tracking and homing, ADF technique	Section 3
41–45	Cross-country with instrument segment mid-route (IR practice)	Section 3, 4
46–50	Performance planning drills: recalculate mass & balance and TODRs for each route	Section 1
51–60	Build cross-country PIC hours to 20+, with at least 3 nights away	Section 3

The qualifying cross-country: This must be flown solo, as PIC, covering at least 540 nm (roughly London–Edinburgh or Southampton–Edinburgh) with full-stop landings at two different aerodromes from the departure point. Plan it carefully. Brief a CFI before you go. File a flight plan. This flight demonstrates that you can operate as a solo cross-country pilot in the real world.

Block 3: Skills sharpening (Hours 61–90)

Goal: Bring every CPL Skills Test manoeuvre to test standard. This block is the heart of CPL preparation.

Steep turns (45°)

The examiner wants wings at exactly 45° with no more than ±100 ft altitude deviation and ±10 kt speed deviation throughout a 360° or 720° turn. This is a lot harder than it sounds if you haven't practised.

Practice drill:

Set cruise power, trim for cruise
Roll to 45° using aileron, simultaneously apply back pressure to maintain altitude
Monitor the horizon: the nose will try to drop as bank increases
At 180°, check opposite wing on horizon reference point
Roll out on entry heading ±5°
Do 6 of these per session, alternating left and right, until you can do them consistently

Stalls

The test requires stalls in three configurations:

Clean stall: Power off, flaps up, glide attitude
Take-off configuration stall: Partial flap, climbing power, at rotation attitude
Landing configuration stall: Full flap, approach power

Practice drill:

Always do a HASELL check before stall practice (Height, Airframe, Security, Engine, Location, Lookout)
The examiner wants recognition and recovery without excessive loss of height (no more than 200 ft)
Recovery: level wings, reduce AoA, apply power smoothly, retract flaps in stages
Practice recovering at the buffet (pre-stall) as well as at full stall

Slow flight

Maintain controlled flight at minimum controllable airspeed (just above stall, with warnings) through level, climbing, and descending turns. Tests your ability to fly accurately in the low-speed regime — essential for final approach and landing.

Forced landing without power (PFL)

The PFL is often the most anxiety-inducing element of the CPL test. Examiners know this and choose to simulate engine failure at the worst possible moments.

The CPL standard: After simulated failure, the pilot should be able to reach a safe landing area and be in a position to execute a successful landing. The examiner wants to see judgement, not just mechanical compliance.

Building the skill:

In every hour-building flight that passes suitable farmland or fields, identify your emergency landing field and briefly note whether you'd make it
Practice at least one full PFL per session in the local area — close the throttle, choose a field, fly the approach to circuit height, then go around
Develop your own 'PFL circuit': high key, low key, base leg, final — aiming for consistency of position, not perfection of field
Practice from different altitudes: a PFL from 3,000 ft is very different from one at 1,500 ft
Common errors: turning too early (arriving too high and too fast), turning too late (undershooting), forgetting emergency drills while flying the aircraft

The field selection checklist:

Into wind (roughly)
Longest available run
No obstructions on approach or overshoot
Surface: avoid crops (especially standing), slopes, soft or flooded ground
Accessible for rescue (near a road if possible)

Precautionary landing

This differs from a PFL: the engine is still running, but you have elected to land away from an aerodrome (medical issue, weather, fuel, system problem). The examiner expects:

Low-level inspection pass (assess the field — 500 ft AGL, assess surface)
Circuit to landing at a higher standard than a PFL (you have power, so precision is expected)
Briefing of a notional passenger

Building the skill: During cross-country flights, identify potential precautionary landing fields from cruise altitude and make a mental assessment. This is the habit that makes you good at it under pressure.

Block 4: Instrument and approach consolidation (Hours 91–100)

Goal: Bring the instrument and approach elements to CPL standard.

Flights	Exercise	CPL Section
91–93	ILS approaches: full procedure from IAF to DH	Section 6
94–95	VOR/NDB approaches: procedural approaches with holds	Section 6
96–97	Unusual attitude recovery under hood: all four quadrants	Section 4
98–99	Combined flight: IR session mid-route, diversion, PFL, circuit	All
100	Mock CPL Skills Test with instructor	All

The mock test: This is non-negotiable. Fly a full mock CPL Skills Test with a qualified instructor (ideally a Grade 1 examiner or CFI) at least once before the real thing. Use the official test routes if your school has them. Brief to the same standard as the real test.

Navigation in the CPL test is conducted without GPS as primary. The examiner expects map reading, DR navigation, and radio navigation to a standard well beyond PPL.

Dead reckoning accuracy

Your planning should be accurate enough that you're within 2 nm of track and ±2 minutes on your ETAs consistently. This takes practice.

Drills:

Pre-flight: always plan in full, including WCAs for every leg, even if you know the route
In-flight: revise ETAs every 15 minutes based on actual GS
Log your actual times at turning points and compare to planned
After every flight, review where you were wrong and why

VOR tracking

Exercise	Detail
Tracking outbound on a radial	Identify the station, select the radial, track with correction
Intercepting a radial inbound	Fly intercept heading, identify capture, roll onto radial
DME arcs	Advanced — used in some instrument approaches
VOR position fix	Cross two VORs to establish position on the chart

NDB/ADF technique

The NDB (Non-Directional Beacon) and ADF (Automatic Direction Finder) system is older than VOR but still tested on the CPL. Many students who are GPS-native find NDB technique confusing.

The basics: The ADF needle always points at the beacon. Homing (flying toward the needle) will get you to the station but will cause you to crab in wind. Tracking (correcting for drift and flying an accurate track) requires practice.

Drill: Set up a position 20 nm from a known NDB. Track inbound with a steady crosswind. Establish the wind correction angle that keeps the RBI at the same angle. Repeat from different starting positions.

7. Mass, Balance, and Performance Planning

The CPL test starts with a planning phase — the examiner provides a scenario and you produce a full navigation log, mass and balance calculation, and performance data. This is often where candidates lose marks through careless arithmetic or misreading of graphs.

Practise this on every cross-country flight:

Fill out a full mass and balance sheet before every flight
Calculate TODR and LDR for your departure and destination using the aircraft's POH graphs
Calculate climb performance and fuel burn from the cruise tables — don't guess
Practice from the charts until you can read them accurately and confidently under pressure
Time yourself: the examiner wants to see efficient, organised planning, not hours of deliberation

Tip: Make a laminated card of the standard planning checks you use at your school. Pre-flight calculations done to a checklist are faster, more accurate, and look professional to an examiner.

8. Instrument Flying: Building Hours Efficiently

You need 10 hours of instrument time before the CPL test. Five of these can be in an approved simulator or FNPT II. Using sim hours for the instrument element is almost always better value — the sim is cheaper per hour, you can pause, reset, and repeat scenarios, and it doesn't depend on weather.

How to use sim time productively:

Ask your instructor to give you unusual attitudes to recover from without warning
Practice timed turns to headings in IMC — the compass lag catches many candidates
Fly instrument approaches to DH in degraded conditions (1/4 mile vis, 200 ft ceiling) repeatedly
Practice partial panel: cover the AI and DI and maintain straight-level, then execute a turn using standby instruments only

In-aircraft instrument time:

Always have the foggles (view-limiting device) available on cross-country flights
Request a 20-minute hood session with your instructor mid-route
Log actual IMC time if you encounter it — even short encounters in climb-out are loggable

9. Night Flying

If you completed the Night Rating as part of your modular training sequence, your 5 hours of night time are likely already logged. If not, you must complete the Night Rating before sitting the CPL Skills Test.

Night flying is not directly examined in the CPL Skills Test itself, but the 5-hour requirement must be in your logbook. Use night cross-country flights to build toward your 20 hours of cross-country PIC time — night navigation is an excellent exercise in radio nav and dead reckoning, since map reading is limited.

10. Managing Your Logbook

Your logbook is a legal document and will be inspected before the CPL test. Common issues that cause test delays:

Missing signatures from instructors
Maths errors in running totals
PIC time logged incorrectly (you must be the handling pilot, not just logged PIC while dual)
Cross-country entries without point of departure or destination recorded
Night time not correctly separated in the night column

Logbook hygiene:

Update your totals after every flight
Have your instructor sign dual entries at the time — do not batch-sign later
Keep a running cross-country PIC total separately so you can confirm you've hit 20 hours before the test

11. The Week Before the Test

What to do:

Fly two or three consolidation flights focusing on your weakest areas
Brief the test route in full — if your school provides standard CPL test routes, practice them
Review the mass, balance, and performance charts for the test aircraft
Refresh your memory on emergency drills — fire, engine failure, loss of comms
Brief the ATC phraseology for the departure procedure and expected approach

What to avoid:

Flying new exercises you've never done before
Flying more than 3 hours in the two days before the test (fatigue)
Cramming charts late at night before the test day

On test day:

Arrive with enough time to plan without rushing
Show the examiner a clean, complete navigation log and mass/balance document
If you're uncertain about something during the test, use your training — don't freestyle
The examiner expects you to be professional, not perfect. Mistakes that you recognise, verbalise, and correct show better airmanship than a perfect flight where you say nothing

12. Common CPL Test Failures and How to Avoid Them

Reason for failure	How to prevent it
PFL field not reachable, or selected field unsafe	Practise PFLs from various positions in every local flight
Diversion poorly executed — wrong heading, wrong ETA	Practise deliberate diversions with timer and compass on every XC
Instrument section — altitude deviations over ±100 ft	More hood time, and focus on instrument scan, not outside
Steep turn altitude loss	Practise anticipating back pressure at roll-in and roll-out
Nav log errors or performance graph misread	Calculate full planning for every cross-country before you go
Mass and balance error	Practice mass and balance from the POH on every flight
Rushed or incomplete HASELL checks	Develop the habit — do it every single time, not just when assessed
Emergency drills recalled from memory rather than followed	Learn the drills to the level where they're instinctive but always verbalise

13. Recommended Resources

Resource	Purpose
CAA CAP 804 — Flight Crew Licensing	Official licencing requirements
Aircraft POH (Pilot's Operating Handbook)	Mass and balance, performance charts — know this document inside out
Air Pilot's Manual Vol 4 (Instrument Flying)	Instrument theory and technique
Air Pilot's Manual Vol 7 (Unpublished Routes)	Navigation exercises
AOPA UK	Cross-country route ideas, airspace briefings
SkyDemon / AutoRouter	Planning tools — useful for XC, but practise without GPS for test prep
Your school's CPL test brief	The most important document — ask for it early

14. Summary: The Hour-Building Mindset

Every flight has a CPL Skills Test element. Before you start the engine, ask yourself: what am I practicing today, and what does "test standard" look like for that exercise?

The pilots who pass first time are not the ones with the most hours — they're the ones who flew every hour with a purpose.

Requirements and test syllabuses are subject to CAA amendment. Always verify current requirements at caa.co.uk/licences before committing to a training schedule.