CASA 150 hour CPL, and also a question about converting CASA PPL to FAA PPL

[triple7nz]

Hey, I'm currently doing the 150 hour CPL course, which is thankfully GST free, making it slightly more affordable.

My question is this:
If I get my PPL and then leave the 150 hour CPL course, would I have to pay back the GST that I hadn't been paying (since i was in the 150 hour GST exempt course).

I'm asking because i am thinking of finishing my PPL here in Oz, and then converting my license to an FAA PPL and completing the rest of my training in the USA. This brings me to my next question;

should i get my night VFR rating in Oz and then convert an FAA PPL 'based on' the CASA PPL, or would it be better to just get the CASA PPL (with no Night VFR rating) and then convert to the FAA PPL based on the CASA PPL with the restriction of day VFR only, and then do my night rating in the U.S and try and get the full FAA PPL (not the 'based on foreign license' one)


Thanks

[YPJT]

I don't think you can walk out on the 150 hr integrated course mid stream with a PPL. It is all or nothing. That's the way I understand it anyway. Others might know different.

[Oz Vegemite]

Hi, you can exit the 150 hour CPL course at PPL level without penalty. Or the more simpler option is not to withdraw at all - just stop your flying that way you are still officially enrolled so if it does not work in the US you can return where you left off.

I am not totally across conversion from Oz to FAA but based on what I do know I would do PPL only not NVFR. Ratings are always more problematical to convert.

Keep in mind if you are planning on returning to OZ with bare CPL you will have problems converting back to Australian CPL.

[Charlie Foxtrot India]

ITs for cases like this (and after all, who can tell if someone is able to complete the course when they haven't even started flying yet) that makes this system wrong. IMHO The GST should be paid during the course and then refunded on completion, otherwise too many people use this exemption as a scam to undercut other operators for students who have no intention, or no competency, to complete the CPL.

150 hours is the minimum can anyone tell me what the average time for completion is?

[Tinstaafl]

You can stop your training anytime you like, and resume anytime you like. Unless, of course, the syllabus by which you train specifies time limits. In which case you transfer to another school that will recognise the 150hr syllabus training you've done and apply it to their own non-time limited syllabus.

Last time I was a CFI I rewrote the ops manual & syllabi so that pretty much all students were on the 150 hr course. I included GFPT, PPL, NVFR, CSU/retract and (optionally) initial multi &/or basic aeros endorsement. I deliberately didn't specify time limits, only minimum hours & achievement standards. When students had reached whatever level they wanted they stopped. If they decided later that they wished to advance further all they did was resume training. If, when they resumed training, they had accrued sufficient hours in the intervening period that it would be cheaper to train via the 200hr CPL then that's what we did.

That was prior to GST implementation so tax issues weren't relevant. Mind you, I'm opposed to the GST so I'd still do it that way to save my students some money (and keep it out of rapacious governmental hands).

[Unhinged]

If I get my PPL and then leave the 150 hour CPL course, would I have to pay back the GST that I hadn't been paying (since i was in the 150 hour GST exempt course).

Simple answer - Yes.

CPL training does not incur GST, PPL training does. If you enrol in a CPL course and do not complete it, you are liable to the ATO for the GST as if you had been enrolled for a PPL. The ATO have enforced this in the past, and have surprisingly strong powers to do so.

I've heard of cases where students left a small amount of money in their flying school accounts as an indication that they haven't stopped CPL training, just temporarily suspended it. I would rather take on a room full of rabid dogs than a tax inspector with a sniff of a dodgy tax deal.

[Capt Fathom]

Do they have a night rating in the States? I think it's just part of the PPL syllabus, not an add on!

[Tinstaafl]

Night VFR is a required part of the US PPL training, with a couple of exceptions. The training isn't as comprehensive as Oz' N.VFR rating though.