FAA - JAA Conversions, AND Atpl ground school

[Therighthorse]

If anyone can help me with their opinions on what particular route I should take, it would be greatly appreciated.

Im a British national, having obtained an FAA CPL me/se, with a current FAA instrument rating. Ive got 340 hours total due to a brief stint as a CFI in the U.S (though currently looking to increase this with an intended return in the next few months).

My question is really what to do next regarding conversions and the ATPL ground school. Am I right in thinking I will need to obtain my JAA CPL ME with instrument rating (conversion) BEFORE I can take the ATPL exams and get a frozen ATPL? Or, can I go straight into the ground school and get that out the way?

My planned return to the U.S to build hours is dependent upon being issued an H3 visa, something that I will have to wait up to 3 months in order to have an answer for, so currently my time is limited. I would ideally like to get moving in at least one area, be it converting licences or starting the ATPL theory, i'm just currently unsure when, and where to begin.

I've been thinking alot about Bristol Groundschool, they seem to be recommended having read around this forum. Is the flight training in Bristol any good? I was thinking about Oxford for that, if all goes well.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Im based in the south-east of England, so if anyone knows of any other decent (and cheap) institutions please do let me know.

Many thanks!

[tingtang]

The procedure for the conversion is to do the ATPL exams first. Bristol ground school is very good, I can personally recommend it or check the posts on here.

Then you will need to do the flying part of the conversion. You can combine the CPL with the ME into one flight test. This test is VFR. Then you do the IR test (also in ME a/c).

To be able to take the CPL test, you will need to do training as required, so no minimum hours of training. For the IR test, you will need to do a minimum of 15hrs of training, 10hrs of which can be in a sim so you save money.

I did my flying conversion with Stapleford, which was also very good. If you are in the South-East, why not go and see them to discuss it.

[Therighthorse]

Thanks TingTang, much appreciated! I will probably look to do things that way. The one other factor is that going back to the U.S would hopefully provide me with 1500 hours total (im concerned about not being able to get anything with 340 total time), and an FAA ATP, as training towards the ATP is what my Visa is based on. Having spoken to Bristol Ground School, they told me having the FAA ATP would mean that I would not have to sit the required classroom lessons, and it could be all done as self-study with their DVD (though whether that is a good idea is another question..) THOUGH, that would save alot of money....

Im thinking ill get the bristol DVD and make a start on that while im in the UK for at least the next 2-3 months, hopefully go to the U.S and get the FAA ATP and the hours, come back after 1-2 years and take the exams and do the flight portions. If within 3 months the visa has fallen through, I can then go to the classroom in bristol, having done the self study section already.

If theres any other way you'd recommend then please do let me know, I'd really appreciate it.

P.S if anyone knows how the new European Aviation authority coming in will effect situations like my own (conversions etc) please let me know, as the last thing I want is to find out the game has changed, and it could all have been done alot easier and cheaper.

many thanks

Tom

[hst145]

CATS online is in Texas, Florida and California and offer the cheapest answer for the ATPL www.catsground.com (http://www.catsground.com)

Depending on where in the states you are going is importnat as the only exam centre seems to be in Florida

[Tinstaafl]

There are two flight tests that are needed: A flight test for the initial issue of a professional licence - commonly a CPL but it can be for an ATPL if you meet the experience requirements, and a flight test for the initial issue of an IR.

Although technically they're two separate flight tests, it's possible to do them in a single 'event' ie as a single flight using multiple sectors for the different tests. That's how I did it when I converted to a UK ATPL. Interestingly my first two legs were the IR portion and the last sector ticked the boxes for the professional licence issue. The professional licence issue tick boxes wree all for a CPL even though the licence for which I applied was an ATPL.

Whilst there have been changes with the move to JAR eg the need for a multi-pilot type for an ATPL, as long as those changes are accommodated you should still be able to knock over both flight tests as a single flight. It can save quite a bit of money. Some portions of each test are common, so doing the exercise for one test meets doing the same thing for the other test.

My flight consisted of an IFR x-country to do an ILS, then another IFR leg to an NDB + some circuits. Land, change gear for the VFR portion then a navex to find a place, a diversion to part way there and then some air work to eventually arrive back at our original departure point.

NB: My total flight time to convert to a UK ATPL + IR was 9.5 hrs, including the flight test. Obviously the JAR requirement to do a minimum of 15 hrs training for the IR screws that a bit but who says you couldn't include some VFR work within the 15 hours and then do both tests in one?