PPL licence lapse

[Mister-Sheep]

Hi there

Could somebody please point me in the right direction of information reagrding how many hours one must do per year to keep a ppl(a) valid. Im quickly approaching a year since passing my ppl skills test

Cheers

Mister-Sheep

[BEagle]

This was something you should have learned for your Air Law exam!

Have a look in the text book - or consult LASORS.

[Darth_Bovine]

The license is valid (or rather the type rating is valid) for 2 years after your PPL pass.

So to keep your SEP valid you need to do 12 hours in the second year of your license. In other words you can do nothing in your 1st year if you want and your license remains valid. The second year you must fly at least 12 hours (for experience revalidation). One complete hour must be with an instructor. I think 6 hours need to be solo.

You can also revalidate by taking a flight test, instead of the 12 hours, which I believe is an abbreviated version of the PPL flight test (i.e. only the upper air work). I've not gone down that route so stand to be corrected.

I'm sure your local friendly flying school can tell you all this! :ok:

As BEagle points out this is all in the manuals and LASORS, but I'm off on holiday today, so I'm in a helpful mood! :)

-DB

[Mister-Sheep]

Thanks
Yeah I thought it was that, and I remembered reading that somewhere, must have been the air law book!

Cheers

Mister-Shep

[Paris Dakar]

Mister-Sheep,

Just to add to Darth_Bovine's helpful post - I think that you can expect to get some Nav to do if you go down the route of needing a 'flight test'. Nothing too onerous, plot a route, fly said route and expect a diversion along the way.

PD

[theresalwaysone]

Interesting how some people are genuinely helpful but others see a request for help as an opportunity to be critical.!

[DaveW]

Mr S, you may find this validity chart (http://www.flyer.co.uk/jar/ppl_valid_single.php) handy.

[BEagle]

Had this been a question from someone who hadn't flown for years and was coming back to PPL flying, I would have happily provided full information - as I frequently do.

But such a question from someone who only passed their PPL Skills Test less than 12 months ago will not get a spoon-fed reply from me. NO excuse for not knowing the answer himself - or for not knowing where to find it.

You learn Air Law for more than just passing an exam!

[SAR Bloke]

Is the '1 hour with an instructor' a requirement for everyone no matter what their experience?

What is the point of this? If a PPL holder has more hours than his instructor what purpose does this serve? I can't think of anything that you can practise with an instructor that you can't practise on your own.

I know this may only cover a minority of people but it seems a bit 'over regulated' to me.

[theresalwaysone]

Ah Beagle we have a difference in instructional technique then! I will try and help anyone at anytime regardless of their experience or ability to retain knowledge.

[foxmoth]

If a PPL holder has more hours than his instructor what purpose does this serve?
Often it is the pilot with lots of experience that has picked up bad habits along the way so it helps there. Anyway you can always use that hour for something new - Aeros,formation etc. no need for it just to be the "GFT" style trip.
Another point I like to make here is that if you can afford to fly enough hours that you do not need a check flight then you can afford the extra hour for that flight - if you do not do that many hours then you need the hour with an instructor.:}

[SkyHawk-N]

Ah Beagle we have a difference in instructional technique then! I will try and help anyone at anytime regardless of their experience or ability to retain knowledge.

That's very generous of you theresalwaysone. Can you let me have your mobile number just in case I have problems when airborne? :E

[SKYYACHT]

I always use the one hour flight with an instructor to get differences training onto a new type that I havent flown before. This year, I am planning to get checked out on the Diamond Star.

If you have to pay to have an instructor sit with you, then gain some additional benefit, rather than a plod round the circuit, and a quick flight to the nearest airfield for a cuppa, in a tired and clapped out old Warrior/C152.

Either that, or as suggested, learn Aerobatics, Go practice PFLs and Fanstops, and flapless landings etc.

Remember too, that passing a check ride for the award of an additional rating negates the need for the one hour instructional flight. I have managed to co-ordinate my SEP renewal with my eyesight test, medical, and my IMC renewal, so I make it all as economic as possible.

Do a tailwheel course..... DO an IMC rating.... Night Rating.....Complex Aeroplane.... its all there. You are limited only by your own imagination.


Cheers


:)

[pembroke]

Skyyacht, A revalidation can be by "test" plus hours in the last year of the two years, but of those mentioned, only the IMC rating test would substitute for the instructor dual flight. A night rating or diferences training are not tests and do not require an examiner. Also the instrutor dual should be an opportunity to demonstrate acquired skills, not an abinitio flight on a new aircraft for the puposes of differences training.

[theresalwaysone]

That's very generous of you theresalwaysone. Can you let me have your mobile number just in case I have problems when airborne? :E

Don't mention it old chap but my generous advice is that you do not use your mobile phone while airborne, wait till you get back in the clubhouse!

[SKYYACHT]

Hi Pembroke,

Not sure that I entirely agree with you on that one. The instructional flight is not intended to be a "test" as such. According to the CAA the FI should make clear the objectives of the flight, in order "to ascertain the applicants knowledge and skills, and interject if necessary to improve on these" . The CAA goes on to say that if the flight was for some other form of training, then the FI should se;ect suitable items of general handling to fulfil the putposes of the JAR-FCL requirements.

I would also refer you to Section F of LASORS Para 1.4, which states that "The training flight may be replaced by any other proficiency check, or skill test for an instrument, class or type rating, as defined by JAR-FCL with a JAA qualified examiner, OR by a flight test for the issue, revalidation, or renewal of a UK IMC rating.

As far as I can see a proficiency check could be conversion onto a new type of aeroplane.... as long as the instructor includes some basic general handling during the flight.

Please feel free to correct me if you feel that I have mis interpreted the JARs.


Cheers

M

[Stan Evil]

Skyyacht

"Please feel free to correct me if you feel that I have mis interpreted the JARs."

Indeed I shall . . .

A 'proficiency check' is a precisely defined test in relation to JAR-FCL. It can only be carried put by a JAA examiner (FE, CRE, TRE or IRE) for the purpose of revalidating a class, type or instrument rating.

A flight with an FI to check someone out on a new type of single-engine piston could well count as the 'one hour training flight' as long as it's at least an hour long as it will cover the sort of things that should be done like PFLs, stalls etc. However, the one hour training flight must be in a SEP (or TMG if a TMG rating is held).

[foxmoth]

Unless the rules have changed that is not correct because my Airbus OPC can be used for this, the rules certainly do not specify SEP AFAIK.

[BEagle]

Correct - any other skill test or porficiency check for a licence or rating will count in lieu of the one hour training flight. As will a military test or check carried out as a required part of normal military flying duties.

An A320 OPC may indeed count. But 2 x 30 minutes in a SEP Class aeroplane won't....:rolleyes:

[On the Spot]

The hour with an instructor does not necessarily have to be instruction. I have used check rides in other JAA countries as the qualifying hour. Of course having an instructor available one should make use of their presence to the maximum.