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To be allowed to touch any aircraft in FTW at all, type ratings are necessary.

Whenever an aircraft is hired in FTW, a check is made to see whether the pilot is in possession of the corresponding type rating. The individual type ratings can be divided into four classes: Light/SPA, Light/HPA, Medium, and Heavy. With a few exceptions, the classification of the individual aircraft classes corresponds to the associated wake turbulence categories. In the hangar under “Settings and Technical Data” of an aircraft you will find the required hours for the type rating.

Newly registered users have a Type Rating called SPA from the beginning. This abbreviation stands for “Small Piston Aircraft” and allows the flying of small piston powered aircraft. This Type Rating rather corresponds to a general authorization to fly aircraft of a certain size and type of propulsion. Typical examples are Beechcraft Bonanza and Baron, Piper PA28, Cessna C210 Centurion or Britten-Norman Islander.

As soon as the first 100 flying hours have been completed, the first real type ratings of the class “Light/HPA” (High Performance Aircraft) can be acquired. This includes models such as the Cessna 208 Caravan, Pilatus PC-12, Piper PA-31 Cheyenne, Beechcraft King Air and deHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otter. Prerequisite to start a type rating of this class is usually the CPL license. Pilots who do not yet have this license, but are members of an airline that owns a copy of the desired aircraft type, can start earlier. However, only after obtaining the CPL license is it possible to privately rent an aircraft of this class to fly missions on one's own account.

In the Medium class, airliners and larger turboprops are used for the first time. In terms of number of seats, this class starts at the size of a Dash 8Q-200 and ends around that of a Boeing 757-300, thus covering all models from turboprops to regional jets and narrowbodies. In order to privately rent a model in this class and fly it on their own account, pilots need an MPL license,

pilots need an MPL license. Pilots who only hold a PPL-A or CPL license must in turn be a member of an airline whose fleet includes the desired model.

The “Heavy” class includes widebodies and large cargo aircraft. This is, so to speak, the supreme discipline, in which such prominent representatives as Airbus A380, Antonov 124, Boeing 747-400 and McDonnell Douglas MD-11 are represented. To be able to rent an aircraft of this class, the pilot needs an ATPL license. But again, it is possible to sit in the captain's seat earlier if you are a member of an airline that has such an aircraft in its fleet. In that case, only an MPL license is required. In plain language, this means that anyone wishing to fly in FTW Heavies needs at least 250 flying hours.

To start training for a new type rating, it is basically sufficient to simply rent the corresponding aircraft. In the background, the system checks whether the user is entitled to do so, i.e. whether he has the necessary license, he is a member of an airline and in that case the rented aircraft is their property. As soon as the first flight with the aircraft has been completed, a new entry with the number of hours flown so far appears in the list of type ratings in the settings. In addition, a training fee is deducted from the pilot's account for each flight hour.

In most cases, a Type Rating covers several aircraft types or variants that are very similar to each other. A good example is the Airbus A320. Anyone who has this type rating in their pocket is also allowed to fly Airbus A318s, A319s and the A321 - just like in reality. Also during the training several types, which are combined under one type rating, can be flown alternately. As soon as the required number of hours has been achieved, the type rating is set to the status “fulfilled” in the user settings. Now the pilot can start a new rating if he wants to. How many hours are required for each type rating, which licenses are required and what costs are involved can be found in a separate list.

Pilot Otto has caught the FTW fever, flown 250 hours together in a few weeks and thus obtained the MPL license. Now he wants to turn to airliners and acquire a corresponding type rating. His choice falls on the Embraer E-Jets. This requires 10 flying hours, each of which costs 7,500 euros. Since Otto holds a full MPL license, he can choose whether to complete his type rating with an airline or simply rent an aircraft himself. He decides to do the latter because there is an abandoned E170 at his home airport in Hamburg. So he rents it and transports passengers to Frankfurt, for which he is credited with 80,000 euros. In addition to the other costs, he now has to pay a training fee of 7,500 euros. After that, he continues to Munich, from there to Paris and then back to Hamburg, because the deposit should not also reduce the result. Otto then looks in his settings and discovers not only the new entry “E-JET” but also the six flying hours he has just completed. So four more hours are still missing. Nevertheless, that's enough for today and a little variety is needed.

Pilot Ansgar has plenty of experience. He has already worked as a swivel chair pilot for several virtual airlines and is now turning his attention to Fly The World for the first time. Shortly after registering, the first shock follows: PPL-A and the associated Light/SPA. Ansgar, who is used to flying around the virtual globe in Airbuses, Boeings and his beloved MD11, cannot and will not accept the idea of having to switch to piston aircraft for the time being. After all, they only block valuable airspace, clog taxiways and forever occupy the glide path. What's more, the noise gets on his nerves. In short, anything that doesn't reach at least Mach 0.70 and keep aircraft noise opponents happy with 100 decibels at night is not a fully-fledged aircraft in his eyes.

Fortunately, Ansgar is one of the most serious pilots and has read the FTW manual twice in its entirety. That's how he knows that he can fly jets even as a beginner at FTW if he hires an airline to do so. He's not allowed to fly the big widebodies yet, because that requires an ATPL, but he'll settle for 737-800s and A320s for the time being. Since he does not yet have any significant assets, Ansgar quickly asks in the forum whether an airline will pay for his type rating, and just under an hour later he can choose from several offers. He decides on an airline from Stockholm, which owns a Boeing 737-900ER. After a short

agreement, he is allowed to do his type rating there. The only condition is that he must complete at least 20 CH, i.e. fly 20 hours for the airline. Ansgar accepts, rents the jet and begins his training.

After just 12 hours, he is awarded a 737NG type rating. After about 100 hours, Ansgar leaves the airline as a newly qualified first officer with a CPL license to fly in another part of the world. Out of habit, he tries to hire a 737-800, which doesn't work despite his successfully completed type rating, because he is not a member of an airline right now and doesn't yet have an MPL license. Even if he was, he could not just rent any aircraft that is not owned by them. Even the CPL license he has just acquired does him no good when it comes to airliners. So he turns to a Canadian airline whose fleet includes a 737-700. There, he signs on again and continues his career as a first officer.