sprocket check
29th Aug 2012, 20:09
From Pilot und Flugzeug | News | Engagierter Journalismus aus Sicht des eigenen Cockpits (http://www.pilotundflugzeug.de)
and CASA is now imposing this on us... taking the EASA regs instead of FAA.
Dear International Pilots, You Are Not Welcome In Europe
For many decades, European pilots have ventured out into the world, enjoyed the beauty of private flying from Queensland to Alaska, have undergone training in all parts of the English speaking world, have validated and converted their licenses and gained valuable flying-experience in some of the most wonderful parts of the globe. We were welcomed with open arms by our international flying-friends, instructors, flight schools and authorities.
Now, as of April 8, 2012, we have decided to repay that hospitality and opportunity by effectively slamming shut our own doors and borders to all non EU pilots. By implementing new licensing regulations, that in cumbersomeness and plain old viciousness may only be surpassed by traditionally freedom-loving countries such as China or North Korea, we‘re telling our flying-friends all over the world: Stay away! You‘re not welcome in the EU!
You might have guessed it at one time or another. You may have had a feeling, that beneath our friendly and cheerful ways we Europeans are a bit arrogant in nature. Fortunately, it didn‘t matter to you. Whether you were an Australian Licensing Officer, validating our PPL effortlessly into a CASA Special Pilot Licence to allow us to see the beauty of your country from above, whether you were a Transport Canada Employee converting our SEP-Classrating in order to enable us to fulfil that livelong dream of getting seaplane-training or whether you were a US flight instructor, doing the grunt work of teaching us how to fly straight and level in the smouldering heat of the Arizona desert, you welcomed us with open arms and there was always a way to make it happen.
Yes, our Euros, our Deutschmarks, our Francs or our Guldens may have helped, but at the very core you have welcomed us into your licensing systems, training schools and aircraft cockpits and if there ever was a nagging feeling, that the guy from Germany might be some sort of a know-it-all or that the chick from the Netherlands should really lighten up a bit, you never did let us know.
However, now you have proof that we are in fact a bunch of arrogant pricks. Because after taking in your training, enjoying your country and using your aviation-system to the fullest, we have made it all too clear how much we really value your skills and your experience: Not at all. The same instructor, who patiently taught us patterns and crosswind landings in Florida will not even be allowed to fly a Cessna 152 under VFR here in Europe, thanks to our brave new licensing-system. Not without a ridiculous amount of training, exams and bureaucratic red tape.
The same flight-examiner-god who gave us our ATP checkride and typerating in the CJ or the 737 will not even be allowed to convert his certificate into a lowly PPL/IR in my country, not without writing at least 9 written exams, proving his English language skills, undergoing at least 15 hours of practical training and passing a checkride plus another barrage of bureaucratic bs.
This is how much we value your skills.
This is how much we value your certificates.
This is how much we value ICAO.
To really appreciate just what kind of tremendous clever dicks we really are, let‘s look at an example from the real world:
Take John C. He is an American Airline Transport rated Pilot with more than 20 years and many thousands of hours experience in everything from a Cessna 172 to a King Air 350. He is also an experienced and highly skilled Air Traffic Controller who worked in many of the busiest US Air Traffic Control Centers. On the invitation of a large European Air Traffic Control Agency he has come to our shores to help us out with our ATC staff shortage and train future European Air Traffic Controllers. His contract is for three years. It might not be unreasonable for someone in his profession and his position to keep up with his flying-proficiency during his time here in Europe. Any sane country or licensing system would probably trust John C. with a small General Aviation aircraft after a minimum of due process for validation or conversion.
Nevertheless, here is what John C. would have to do to fly any C172 or SR20 under IFR in his host country of Germany (no, not just a German registered rental, but even his very own US-registered aircraft if he had decided to bring it along for the three years):
Pass two written PPL exams in Air Law and Human Performance (study-time about 10 hrs each), which have to be done at one of the very few test-centers run by the authority and at certain predetermined times.
Prove your English language skills in a separate exam or assessment.
Obtain an EU medical.
Pass another 7 written exams for the Instrument Rating, where you learn everything from the precise anatomy of the inner ear to the details of DME pulse-pair timing (study-time about 70-100 hrs), again only at the authority on certain dates.
Register at a flight school and undergo about 15 to 20 hours of practical IFR-training depending on the whim of the authority and the flight school.
Pass the IFR Checkride (again, you can‘t use your own aircraft neither for training nor checkride, it has to be an aircraft registered to a flight school!)
Work around a lot of red tape, starting from obtaining a security check (all German) to producing your motor vehicle drivers history file (which will be challenging without a local drivers license).
Pay the bill for all of the above, which will amount to at least 7.000 Euros ($ 10.000), depending on the amount of practical training the school and the authority deem necessary.
And please note: John C. has to do all of the above, no matter whether he wants to rent an aircraft or just fly his own US-registered aeroplane here in Europe. Why? Because as soon as you‘re a resident of this beautiful part of the world, you have to comply with all European licensing regs, regardless of the registration of your aircraft! And you can only get a validation for 12 months. Once. Thereafter you have to obtain a complete EU-license including ATP-level written tests and a significant amount of training in a flight school.
Now let‘s look at Peter S. Peter is an ATC colleague of John who will be sent to the US to gain experience there. He is also an avid GA pilot with a European PPL and an instrument rating. He as well would like to keep up with flying while overseas. Let‘s see what‘s required for the same end on the other side of the pond:
To continue GA-flying in his own aircraft (if he brought it along to the US) Peter has to do something we all do very well: Nothing. Just keep it airworthy according to the rules of the country of registration and that‘s it.
When flying local aircraft, Peter has the option of using a validation for his multiyear stay. The FAA doesn‘t restrict license-validations to just one year as EASA does. If Peter would like to rent a US-registered aircraft and fly IFR he’d had to:
Write a 40 question IR written test (study time about 1-2 days) at any of the many approved flight school in the US at any time he whishes.
Pick up his validation including his IFR rating at the next convenient FAA Office (FSDO).
Pay $150 for the written test.
Any questions?
Why we did what we did
Warum?
We could add a multitude of similar comparisons ranging from New Zealand to Canada to Chile on all certificate levels. Simple and user friendly validation- or conversion-procedures overseas compared to a multi-thousand-euro time consuming bureaucratic nightmare over here.
Some of the European requirements are understandable and reasonable. There is nothing wrong with requiring a checkride for example, provided that it can be done quickly and in the aircraft the candidate it familiar with.
Other requirements are onerous to the extreme: Requiring 9 written exams totalling more than 100 hours of study time just to convert a PPL/IR is so much over the top, that it defies explanation.
Then there’re requirements that are just plain vicious in adding insult to injury: Requiring a foreign pilot who just flew his SR22 over the North Atlantic to undergo the required IR-training in some arbitrary and expensive flight school aircraft instead of his own Cirrus is not only counter-productive from a training point of view but serves no other purpose except making a license conversion expensive and unattainable.
The neutral observer might ask himself: Why? Why did we Europeans – after decades of enjoying the openness and opportunity of other aviation nations – decide to take the piss?
Why have we allowed your democratically elected governments to hand aviation legis*lation over to a deeply undemocratic and unaccountable bureaucracy that is largely uninterested and uneducated in the needs and requirements of private flying?
Why have we aligned our licensing system towards countries and practices most frequently found in underdeveloped command-economies instead of following the time tested example of countries such as Australia, Canada or the US?
I don‘t know.
If the intention behind pulling up the drawbridge was to protect European cockpit jobs from overseas competition, this could have easily been done by the application of labour laws, without suffocating General Aviation.
If we wanted to protect European flight schools from American competitors, why not enabling our schools to compete on the cost base by reducing bureaucratic burdens and infrastructure costs instead of raising enormous de facto tariffs on the import of a pilot‘s license?
One reason for the giant middle finger the EU shows to the aviation-world is certainly the popularity of operating US-registered aircraft under FARs here in Europe. Between 12 and 18 percent of our GA fleet has been operated on the US-register and with US-licenses. These are mostly very old aircraft that were never certified in Europe, as well as very new aircraft that are not yet certified by EASA and private IFR-operations, due to the hideous cost of obtaining a European IFR-rating.
There is not the slightest safety case to be made that US-pilots in US-aircraft in Europe are any less safe than their JAR-licensed counterparts. Not the slightest.
Nevertheless, such operations of foreign registered aircraft have been annoying European aviation authorities for years. And rightfully so. Because these aircraft, and their impeccable safety-record, are incontrovertible evidence that all the multitudes of special and expensive rules we Europeans have added to the already strict ICAO-standards do nothing in the way of increasing safety, but go a long way in imposing unnecessary costs and keeping people out of General Aviation.
To throw out the baby with the bath
So behind the chauvinistic impulse of „European skies for European aircraft under European rules“, these foreign registered aircraft had to go. That was a political certainty.
But instead of alleviating the underlying concerns and addressing the reasons why people choose the US-flag as a flag of safety, reason and economic sense, we killed almost all non EU flight-operations in Europe. We effectively closed our borders to everyone except commercial airlines and transient aircraft.
We insult our aviation-friends all over the world by rendering their certificates worthless, we repay the openness extended by nations such as Canada, Australia or the United States by pettiness and arrogance.
To anyone who knows how to fly an aircraft, we‘re presenting Europe at it‘s very, very worst.
There are proposals circulating in the world of agencies and committees that would alleviate at least a few of the grievances pointed out here. Currently these proposals are buried deep in the bureaucracy and the situation described here is the law of the land at the time of this writing.
We can only hope that the EU will come to their senses and allow free and simple conversions or validations between our realm and the other great GA-nations of the world. At least on the Private Pilot and IR level.
As a commercial pilot and flight instructor, licensed in Europe as well as in the US, having undergone training in many parts of the world and having enjoyed General Aviation on all continents of the globe, this blinkered vulgarity of my people towards my international pilot-friends and colleagues is a source of deep personal shame.
and CASA is now imposing this on us... taking the EASA regs instead of FAA.
Dear International Pilots, You Are Not Welcome In Europe
For many decades, European pilots have ventured out into the world, enjoyed the beauty of private flying from Queensland to Alaska, have undergone training in all parts of the English speaking world, have validated and converted their licenses and gained valuable flying-experience in some of the most wonderful parts of the globe. We were welcomed with open arms by our international flying-friends, instructors, flight schools and authorities.
Now, as of April 8, 2012, we have decided to repay that hospitality and opportunity by effectively slamming shut our own doors and borders to all non EU pilots. By implementing new licensing regulations, that in cumbersomeness and plain old viciousness may only be surpassed by traditionally freedom-loving countries such as China or North Korea, we‘re telling our flying-friends all over the world: Stay away! You‘re not welcome in the EU!
You might have guessed it at one time or another. You may have had a feeling, that beneath our friendly and cheerful ways we Europeans are a bit arrogant in nature. Fortunately, it didn‘t matter to you. Whether you were an Australian Licensing Officer, validating our PPL effortlessly into a CASA Special Pilot Licence to allow us to see the beauty of your country from above, whether you were a Transport Canada Employee converting our SEP-Classrating in order to enable us to fulfil that livelong dream of getting seaplane-training or whether you were a US flight instructor, doing the grunt work of teaching us how to fly straight and level in the smouldering heat of the Arizona desert, you welcomed us with open arms and there was always a way to make it happen.
Yes, our Euros, our Deutschmarks, our Francs or our Guldens may have helped, but at the very core you have welcomed us into your licensing systems, training schools and aircraft cockpits and if there ever was a nagging feeling, that the guy from Germany might be some sort of a know-it-all or that the chick from the Netherlands should really lighten up a bit, you never did let us know.
However, now you have proof that we are in fact a bunch of arrogant pricks. Because after taking in your training, enjoying your country and using your aviation-system to the fullest, we have made it all too clear how much we really value your skills and your experience: Not at all. The same instructor, who patiently taught us patterns and crosswind landings in Florida will not even be allowed to fly a Cessna 152 under VFR here in Europe, thanks to our brave new licensing-system. Not without a ridiculous amount of training, exams and bureaucratic red tape.
The same flight-examiner-god who gave us our ATP checkride and typerating in the CJ or the 737 will not even be allowed to convert his certificate into a lowly PPL/IR in my country, not without writing at least 9 written exams, proving his English language skills, undergoing at least 15 hours of practical training and passing a checkride plus another barrage of bureaucratic bs.
This is how much we value your skills.
This is how much we value your certificates.
This is how much we value ICAO.
To really appreciate just what kind of tremendous clever dicks we really are, let‘s look at an example from the real world:
Take John C. He is an American Airline Transport rated Pilot with more than 20 years and many thousands of hours experience in everything from a Cessna 172 to a King Air 350. He is also an experienced and highly skilled Air Traffic Controller who worked in many of the busiest US Air Traffic Control Centers. On the invitation of a large European Air Traffic Control Agency he has come to our shores to help us out with our ATC staff shortage and train future European Air Traffic Controllers. His contract is for three years. It might not be unreasonable for someone in his profession and his position to keep up with his flying-proficiency during his time here in Europe. Any sane country or licensing system would probably trust John C. with a small General Aviation aircraft after a minimum of due process for validation or conversion.
Nevertheless, here is what John C. would have to do to fly any C172 or SR20 under IFR in his host country of Germany (no, not just a German registered rental, but even his very own US-registered aircraft if he had decided to bring it along for the three years):
Pass two written PPL exams in Air Law and Human Performance (study-time about 10 hrs each), which have to be done at one of the very few test-centers run by the authority and at certain predetermined times.
Prove your English language skills in a separate exam or assessment.
Obtain an EU medical.
Pass another 7 written exams for the Instrument Rating, where you learn everything from the precise anatomy of the inner ear to the details of DME pulse-pair timing (study-time about 70-100 hrs), again only at the authority on certain dates.
Register at a flight school and undergo about 15 to 20 hours of practical IFR-training depending on the whim of the authority and the flight school.
Pass the IFR Checkride (again, you can‘t use your own aircraft neither for training nor checkride, it has to be an aircraft registered to a flight school!)
Work around a lot of red tape, starting from obtaining a security check (all German) to producing your motor vehicle drivers history file (which will be challenging without a local drivers license).
Pay the bill for all of the above, which will amount to at least 7.000 Euros ($ 10.000), depending on the amount of practical training the school and the authority deem necessary.
And please note: John C. has to do all of the above, no matter whether he wants to rent an aircraft or just fly his own US-registered aeroplane here in Europe. Why? Because as soon as you‘re a resident of this beautiful part of the world, you have to comply with all European licensing regs, regardless of the registration of your aircraft! And you can only get a validation for 12 months. Once. Thereafter you have to obtain a complete EU-license including ATP-level written tests and a significant amount of training in a flight school.
Now let‘s look at Peter S. Peter is an ATC colleague of John who will be sent to the US to gain experience there. He is also an avid GA pilot with a European PPL and an instrument rating. He as well would like to keep up with flying while overseas. Let‘s see what‘s required for the same end on the other side of the pond:
To continue GA-flying in his own aircraft (if he brought it along to the US) Peter has to do something we all do very well: Nothing. Just keep it airworthy according to the rules of the country of registration and that‘s it.
When flying local aircraft, Peter has the option of using a validation for his multiyear stay. The FAA doesn‘t restrict license-validations to just one year as EASA does. If Peter would like to rent a US-registered aircraft and fly IFR he’d had to:
Write a 40 question IR written test (study time about 1-2 days) at any of the many approved flight school in the US at any time he whishes.
Pick up his validation including his IFR rating at the next convenient FAA Office (FSDO).
Pay $150 for the written test.
Any questions?
Why we did what we did
Warum?
We could add a multitude of similar comparisons ranging from New Zealand to Canada to Chile on all certificate levels. Simple and user friendly validation- or conversion-procedures overseas compared to a multi-thousand-euro time consuming bureaucratic nightmare over here.
Some of the European requirements are understandable and reasonable. There is nothing wrong with requiring a checkride for example, provided that it can be done quickly and in the aircraft the candidate it familiar with.
Other requirements are onerous to the extreme: Requiring 9 written exams totalling more than 100 hours of study time just to convert a PPL/IR is so much over the top, that it defies explanation.
Then there’re requirements that are just plain vicious in adding insult to injury: Requiring a foreign pilot who just flew his SR22 over the North Atlantic to undergo the required IR-training in some arbitrary and expensive flight school aircraft instead of his own Cirrus is not only counter-productive from a training point of view but serves no other purpose except making a license conversion expensive and unattainable.
The neutral observer might ask himself: Why? Why did we Europeans – after decades of enjoying the openness and opportunity of other aviation nations – decide to take the piss?
Why have we allowed your democratically elected governments to hand aviation legis*lation over to a deeply undemocratic and unaccountable bureaucracy that is largely uninterested and uneducated in the needs and requirements of private flying?
Why have we aligned our licensing system towards countries and practices most frequently found in underdeveloped command-economies instead of following the time tested example of countries such as Australia, Canada or the US?
I don‘t know.
If the intention behind pulling up the drawbridge was to protect European cockpit jobs from overseas competition, this could have easily been done by the application of labour laws, without suffocating General Aviation.
If we wanted to protect European flight schools from American competitors, why not enabling our schools to compete on the cost base by reducing bureaucratic burdens and infrastructure costs instead of raising enormous de facto tariffs on the import of a pilot‘s license?
One reason for the giant middle finger the EU shows to the aviation-world is certainly the popularity of operating US-registered aircraft under FARs here in Europe. Between 12 and 18 percent of our GA fleet has been operated on the US-register and with US-licenses. These are mostly very old aircraft that were never certified in Europe, as well as very new aircraft that are not yet certified by EASA and private IFR-operations, due to the hideous cost of obtaining a European IFR-rating.
There is not the slightest safety case to be made that US-pilots in US-aircraft in Europe are any less safe than their JAR-licensed counterparts. Not the slightest.
Nevertheless, such operations of foreign registered aircraft have been annoying European aviation authorities for years. And rightfully so. Because these aircraft, and their impeccable safety-record, are incontrovertible evidence that all the multitudes of special and expensive rules we Europeans have added to the already strict ICAO-standards do nothing in the way of increasing safety, but go a long way in imposing unnecessary costs and keeping people out of General Aviation.
To throw out the baby with the bath
So behind the chauvinistic impulse of „European skies for European aircraft under European rules“, these foreign registered aircraft had to go. That was a political certainty.
But instead of alleviating the underlying concerns and addressing the reasons why people choose the US-flag as a flag of safety, reason and economic sense, we killed almost all non EU flight-operations in Europe. We effectively closed our borders to everyone except commercial airlines and transient aircraft.
We insult our aviation-friends all over the world by rendering their certificates worthless, we repay the openness extended by nations such as Canada, Australia or the United States by pettiness and arrogance.
To anyone who knows how to fly an aircraft, we‘re presenting Europe at it‘s very, very worst.
There are proposals circulating in the world of agencies and committees that would alleviate at least a few of the grievances pointed out here. Currently these proposals are buried deep in the bureaucracy and the situation described here is the law of the land at the time of this writing.
We can only hope that the EU will come to their senses and allow free and simple conversions or validations between our realm and the other great GA-nations of the world. At least on the Private Pilot and IR level.
As a commercial pilot and flight instructor, licensed in Europe as well as in the US, having undergone training in many parts of the world and having enjoyed General Aviation on all continents of the globe, this blinkered vulgarity of my people towards my international pilot-friends and colleagues is a source of deep personal shame.