Truckie Co-pilots doing their civvy licenses - PIC time

[Alex Whittingham]

To have a CPL issued you need 100 hours pilot-in-command including 20 hours PIC cross country including at least one 300NM trip doing full stop landings at two other aerdromes apart from your departure and destination airfield.

I understand that it is not unusual for otherwise quite experienced RAF pilots who have done one or two co-pilot's tours and not yet got a command to have as little as 20 hours logged PIC. If that is the case they would be advised to hold off doing their civvy licenses until they are within spitting distance of a command. The exams are valid for three years from the last pass so you would want a reasonable expectation of a command in that time, or plan to build some civvy PIC hours as a PPL holder.

[juliet]

PIC requirements are often waived depending on the experience of the applicant.

If you are a Co wanting out speak to the CAA about your specific situation.

Cheers,

Juliet

[Redcarpet]

If you are a co who doesn't want out, speak to a trickcyclist! ;)

[BEagle]

The CAA is not empowered to waive JAR-FCL (or EASA part-FCL) licensing requirements. Military accreditation minima are already outlined very clearly in LASORS D3.3 et seq.

You can fly any number of hours as a co-pilot, but they won't be worth a hill of beans for licence issue unless you also have the requisite PIC time. Given that the RAF gives you the square root of cock all PIC time during training these days, the most cost-effective way to amass PIC time is to join your local RAFFCA flying club and putter about in an aged spamcan powered by a 1950's combine harvester motor, whilst watching the countryside moving past at a sedate rate of knots..... You can also take your chums flying and, within laid down requirements, share costs.

A few years ago, young co-piglets could expect a UAS tour consisting of about 1000 hrs PIC time, lots of time impressing nubile young ladies with tales of derring-do flogging creaking C-130s across the pond, plus (if they were sensible) picking up a R/BCPL with FI rating whilst also working towards their A2. Sadly no longer possible - so the RAFFCA route is probably your best bet.


And before anyone accuses me of trying to drum up trade for any specific RAFFCA club, I'm taking a break right now.

[juliet]

[QUOTE]The CAA is not empowered to waive JAR-FCL (or EASA part-FCL) licensing requirements/QUOTE]

And yet they have on at least two occasions that I am aware of.