PPL (JAR) flight training in Los Angeles

[John B]

I am very new to the forum and would love to obtain my PPL.
My friend is moving to LA and I was hoping to go out for about 5 weeks in Fed/March 07.

I have started to study Air Law (Bought Two Books) and would like to have passed my exams here in the UK and get my medical before I go out. I have joined a School here in Cumbernauld (Glasgow) and will do some flying here.

As I will have somewhere to stay I woundered if anyone has used any schools in Los Angeles.

Also what would I need to do with regards the differance in the US to UK PPL.

[drauk]

Rainbow Air at Long Beach do JAA licenses; it's a busy school but the location is great - several long runways and in the middle of LA, but only a few minutes flying to the training area. You'll need a car to get there.

Don't forget you'll need to get a visa - not difficult, just a bit of hassle.

[acuba 290]

UKFT

www.ukft.com

[B2N2]

You don't necessarily have to do a JAA PPL either.
You can also do an FAA PPL, pass the JAA written exams and do a skill test with a JAA examiner.
Will give you more flexibility in where to go.

[IO540]

What an excellent idea.

[drauk]

Neither Rainbow Air nor UKFT hold approval to conduct training for the JAA PPL(A).

Interesting. Is their website wrong or outdated or misleadingly vague? It says: "We also offer professional internship programs and JAA licenses."

[Aeronut]

AirNav is your friend

http://www.airnav.com/airports/

[172driver]

Well, at the very least, Rainbow got the cheapest 100LL - by far :E

Great site, btw, Aeronut :ok:

[potkettleblack]

Refer to the link below for the list of CAA JAA approved FTO's in the US. UKFT's marketing practice of a JAA "compliant" licence has been well documented over the years here on pprune. In a nutshell its an FAA licence with the JAA groundschool. In essence they charge you way more than what you could get an equivalent FAA licence for at any of the thousands of FTO's over the US.

Standards Document 31 (http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?categoryid=33&pagetype=65&applicationid=11&mode=detail&id=1211)

From what I can see the list of overseas approved FTO's is getting smaller and smaller each year. There is Anglo American, Cabair (Moncton (Canada), OFT (FL) and Treasure Coast(FL)), EFT (FL), OBA (FL), Sunrise Aviation (FL).

[IO540]

Perhaps I am missing something, but isn't it the case that if you do an FAA PPL, plus

a) any extras which are in the JAA PPL and not in the FAA PPL (not many of those; I have done both), and

b) sit all the JAA PPL ground exams

then you can return from the USA with your standalone FAA PPL (which alone entitles you to fly a G-reg worldwide VFR) and you can walk into any UK flying school, do perhaps a few hours' familiarisation training (needed for both the radio phraseology and the very likely different plane) and have your JAA checkride. Then you have a JAA PPL also, which is relevant if you want to fly EU-reg (non-G-reg) planes elsewhere in Europe.

So, the benefit of going to a CAA-approved JAA flying school in the USA is essentially that you have to do the checkride in the UK rather than in the UK.

It's like doing things the other way round: if you want to do an FAA PPL or the FAA IR in the UK, you can do virtually all the training over here (despite what nearly everybody tells you) but you more or less have to go to the USA for the checkride. (recent developments at Elstree is a possible exception)

[Chilli Monster]

IO540, a FAA PPL will only allow you to fly a G reg within the UK. You cannot legally take it to France let alone wordwide.
You need to match 2 of the 3 requirements - in this case UK aircraft within UK airspace.

Incorrect - the "2 out of 3" is an oft quoted, incorrect old wives tale which people keep trotting out.

The UK CAA validate your ICAO compliant licence for use in any G Reg, anywhere in the world, for flight in VMC/VFR. It's contained in the ANO (don't have the reference to hand)

For the FAA cert with an IR to be valid in the UK would require a N reg aircraft to fly IFR.

This part is true.

[Chilli Monster]

The relevant part of the latest edition of the ANO is Article 26 (4) which validates licences of ICAO states with certain conditions. Nowhere within this does it state 'purely within the UK'

Your FAA certificate is just such a licence.

[FairAir]

My niece also did here JAR at Long Beach; it wasn't Rainbow, but another outfit with lots of UK instructors. Check out the site for others.