PPL(A) Renewal After 3 Yrs? - Help Please!

[Strobin Purple]

Gents

I have the opportunity of doing some recreational civvy flying round the States for a month starting 12 Jul (in between some hot and high RW trg) and am in the process, albeit tardily, of reinvigorating my PPL(A). I've done a bit of a search but most of the threads relate to people who are far more organised than I, and consequently are talking about recent renewals. May I pick your collective training brains and tell me whether I am getting the right end of the stick?

My stats:

1. JAA PPL(A) expired 03/06/06, issued 04/06/01 in UK.
2. SEP Rating expired 05/09/02, date of last check 06/09/00.
3. Class 2 medical in process of re-issue, my service SMO able to rubber stamp my existing Class 2 and re-issue.


If I read LASORS and my search results right I need to:

i) Complete the Skill Test in accordance with Appendices 1 & 3 to JAR-FCL 1.240 with a JAR Authorised Examiner.
ii) Pass an oral theoretical knowledge examination conducted by the Examiner as part of the Skill Test.
iii) The LST/LPC form, completed as a renewal, should be sent to CAA PLD for endorsement, together with the appropriate fee as per the Scheme of Charges- £65?
iv) The Examiner should make no licence entry.


If I can get someone at my club to do i) and ii) quickly enough, do I still have enough time to get the licence turned around by the CAA in time for my US deployment and if not is there a facility where you can go down to Gatwick in person to expedite issue of some form of UK JAA documentation that will allow me to rent an ac in the US?

Questions, questions...appreciate the help especially Beags as he seems to be some form of GA guru?

Rgds

SP

[flybymike]

Some would say Guru, others, anorak....;)

[Duchess_Driver]

As it isn't initial issue I am fairly sure you can pitch up at the deli counter at Gatwick, pick a number the wait in line. The day is devided into 1/2 hour slots so first come first served usually picks up the 9-30 to 10 slot and so on - so the earlier you get there the better chance you have of getting in and out in reasonable time.

[BEagle]

1. To renew your SEP Class Rating you will need to pass the renewal LST (not the whole PPL Skill Test) with an Examiner, including some oral questions. Complete form SRG\1119 http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/srg1119.pdf .

2. Revalidate / renew your JAA Class 2 medical. A service bollock-fondler may be able to do this, but check that he/she is also empowered to issue the actual certificate. If not, find a suitable civilian AME.

3. You also need to have your licence re-issued. As long as you have a valid medical, this is a paperwork exercise (a form to fill and money to the CAA...). Complete form SRG\1102 http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/srg1102ff.pdf .

4. Complete payment form SRG\1187 http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/srg1187%20revised%20feb%2009.pdf .

5. For a foreign licence holder to fly a private aeroplane in the US, the paranoid Spams now require yet another piece of paper from the CAA validating that your licence is OK for them to issue their approval (I think it's still called a FAA Temporary Airman's Certificate?). The form is SRG\1160 http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/srg1160ff.pdf and it must be completed by you and sent direct to the UK CAA. Upon receipt of both the SRG\1160 and the official request from the overseas National Authority, a verification will be issued directly to that Authority. This is normally sent by e-mail or fax to keep delays to a minimum.

6. For your PPL(A) reissue and SEP Class Rating revalidation, you can use the CAA's Public Counter Service, see Public Counter Service Details | Personnel Licensing | Safety Regulation (http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=137&pagetype=90&pageid=10154) . Ask them to clarify the SRG\1160 procedure whilst you wait for them to process your paperwork.

Good luck!!

[englishal]

You know what I'd do SP?....

Forget the JAA PPL and go to a US school who will arrange a US visa for you and TSA approval. Get a FAA medical, either here for about £100 or there for about $80 then "revalidate" you PPL there - you current training and hours will count, you'd just need some brush up and take the FAA skills test. Probably take you no longer than it would in JAR land and cost you bags less. Get moving now and you could have all the paperwork sorted by the end of the month.

The beauty is then you have a never expiring PPL, valid and usable anywhere, you DO NOT need to meet time requirements every two years, just need to do a Biennial Flight Review (1 hr flight and 1 hr ground school) with an FAA INSTRUCTOR (tons in the UK) ever 2 years to be able to fly. If you miss it, no big deal just can't fly until you have done the flight, then you are good to go again for another 2 years.

[englishal]

Oh yea. Still a $90 test fee. Read the books the week before and you should be ok ;)

[BEagle]

englishal, he didn't ask about FAA PPLs.

Brave indeed to rely on flying on some foreign licence when he gets back to EASA land.....

[Strobin Purple]

Hmmm, I'll try Beags' route.

I've been issued a Temporary Airman's Certificate before in LA when doing a bunch of flying from Long Beach. I'll be an hr or so from San Diego so there should be an FSDO in that city I'd have thought. US medical is a pain but what I spend there will be saved in the ability to travel further afield at weekends. I've done quite a bit of flying around the western states and as far as Texas so I'm relatively happy with their FAA rules and testing procedures.

Main thing is that it would appear that my Skills test is quicker than I thought. The SMO at EGUB can do CAA Class 2s (£110!!) so I've got that squared. Need to book the test now at the club, I'll deal with the bureaucracy after!

Thanks for the steers.

SP

[Strobin Purple]

Thanks SoCal top tips, I've always found your namesake to be very helpful!

My FAA Temp Airman's SEP Land Certificate dates from Jun 01 so I assume it's well dead now (no expiry date on it).

Am I being naive in thinking that the CAA would issue me with a different licence no upon renewal (or is it re-issue)?

TaVM

SP

[BEagle]

Your CAA reference number will not change with your new licence.

Technically, it's a licence re-issue. But poor attention to detail at the CAA in the early days of JAR-FCL now means that they term it (quite wrongly) a licence 'renewal'.

Revalidation, renewal, re-issue and reauthorisation all have specific meanings under JAR-FCL. Unfortunately total bungling incompetence at the Belgrano now means that these terms have become confused..... They released some real Sir Humphrey-esque bolleaux trying to worm the way out of that error.

Because you will have flown a renewal LST quite recently, there's a good chance that it will be recognised by the paranoid Spams, so you may not need to fly yet another check flight.

It's a good job that they aren't so picky when it comes to UK pilots flying in their wars......:mad:

[Strobin Purple]

Beags, ta

Yanks are far far far less bureaucratic on ops. I mean, ROE....what ROE? S'pose I shouldn't use that argument in SoCal?!

SP

[BEagle]

Yanks are far far far less bureaucratic on ops.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a341/nw969/Internet/zxzxz.jpg

Yes, funny how things change when it's someone else's country....

I once went to Gatwick to get a Temporary Airman's Certificate (as one could in those days) from the FAA field rep. All went fine until it was time to pay...

Pounds? No sir, we can't take those.
OK - a sterling cheque? No sir, we can't take those.
A Eurocheque then? No sir, we can't take those.
OK, then cash. Look, here you are, genuine Yankee greenbacks, your money. Left over from my last military trip across the pond! No sir, we can't take cash...
OK - WTF do you accept? Uh, sir, you need an American Express Bank Draft.
That's not what you told me when I rang you yesterday! Uh, sir, you need an American Express Bank Draft.
Well, I'll have to send you one then, I suppose... Uh, sir, you need an American Express Bank Draft. It has to be sent to the US.

So I had to go to the bank, sort out the draft and send it to somewhere in the US. Eventually, after several weeks, a tatty piece of cardboard turned up...

I never did bother to use it though.

However did they get to the moon?