Debonair

[Prophead]

Im thinking of going to the USA in a couple of months to do some hour building. I have been thinking of going to Debonair. Has anyone any reccomendations?

I will be going over with my wife who will be a passenger and I am going for two weeks and will be doing about 25 hours so this will also be a holiday. I am therefore not interested in accommodation transportation etc as i will be making my own arrangements.

I have not yet finished my PPL but just have my skills test to do which will hopefully be in the next couple of weeks. I would like to go as soon as possible but am unsure how long my ppl and then visa will take to come through. Will i need a visa to hire or will my FAA conversion be classed as training?

Any comments/help would be much appreciated

Regards

Prophead

[Charlie Zulu]

Hi Prophead,

If you are obtaining an FAA PPL that is based on the validity of your JAA PPL then you will not require a visa.

On the other hand, if you plan on obtaining a full unrestricted FAA PPL that is not linked in anyway to any other licence that you currently hold then you will require a little training in ground reference maneouvers, a written test and a checkride. In this case an M1 visa.

All FAA PPL's must have a valid and current BFR (Bi-annual Flight Review) that you take with an instructor. This includes FAA PPL's that are issued under 61.75 (based on your JAA PPL). However a BFR is NOT classed as training and thus the visa is still not required.

For hour building or just simple hiring of an aircraft you do not require a visa. You can enter the USA on a visa waiver scheme (I expect you're from the UK) in this case.

As always check with the US Embassy in London for the official word on visa's before travelling.

Best wishes,

Charlie Zulu.