Undertaking IR in Malta

[dn88]

Hello, I have recently found out that my company will move me from the UK to Malta in 2014. Before I move, I will have the following:

- EASA ATPL exams complete
- EASA CPL
- MEP

All of the above have been undertaken/issued in the UK. I therefore need to do my EASA IR in Malta, something which I have only had to plan recently.

Now, considering plenty of people go to Spain/Poland etc, I'm assuming that in general sitting an IR in another EASA country in order to add it to my UK issued CPL should not be an issue?

However, I'm having real difficulty in establishing the exact protocols. One school in Malta has told me that I would have to sit a Maltese Class 1 medical before I can start, and quoted me the local examiner fee's for the Maltese CAA. However, when I contacted the Maltese CAA they said that a medical would not be necessary unless I'm applying for a Maltese issued EASA CPL.

Another school, Hub-Air (who I believe are based in Malta but approved by the Belgian CAA) have told me that I can conduct all of my training in Malta, but that a UK examiner would have to sit my exam. This sounds daunting, surely the costs of flying a UK examiner out to Malta could be huge, and what if the weather isn't good on test day?!

In theory, aside from the whole examiner issue, are there any other potential stumbling blocks with regards to having a Belgian CAA approved IR course applied to my UK issued CPL? One thing I noticed is that all UK schools quote a minimum of 35 hours sim time + 15 hours in the aircraft, whereas Hub-Air is quoting 35 hours sim time + 10 hours in the aircraft. Despite searching CAP 804 I cannot for the life of me find reference to minimum course hours requirements!

Any advice from others who have sat their IR in other EASA countries (whilst having a UK issued CPL) would be much appreciated.

[VORTIME]

Is NDB still required in Malta or have they moved past that?

p.s. check out Diamond Aviation - flew there earlier this year and they are an excellent outfit.

[OhNoCB]

Okay here is a generic version of what I know, and I do not know how closely this will be to the way Malta does it.

Firstly, to say that I had a UK PPL, I went to Portugal and changed my state of licence issue to Portugal, I then got all my ratings and licenses issued under their authority before returning to the UK and changing state back again.

It is an EASA requirement by law that the state of licence issue MUST hold the applicants medical records. When I went to Portugal they said that the UK medical was good enough for them and they didn't care about my medical records. This is wrong as far as I can see but I wasn't going to argue with them about it, so perhaps in Malta they want you to do a Maltese class 1 to constitute holding medical records, or maybe they want you to do it and then will want your existing records sent from the UK if you intend to hold a Maltese licence.

If you want to retain your UK licence, you can do all the training in Malta, but the school is partly correct saying you need a UK examiner. You either need one OR you need a Maltese examiner who has been briefed by the UK. The UK will then accept a test completed by him. I think there may be a small fee for this, which I imagine you would have to bear the brunt of but you would have to ask someone else (possibly the UK CAA) for more information.

lastly, the minimum time you can complete an IR in is 50 hours for a Single engine IR. The split between sim and aircraft will depend on what the FTO has been approved for and the type of sim etc. I personally did 20 hours sim and 30 hours aircraft for the SE/IR and then did 5 hours of aircraft for the ME/IR.

[BillieBob]

CB is correct. The examiner must either have had his examiner certificate issued by the UK or have completed the UK CAA's on-line briefing and must also be 'designated' by the UK CAA to conduct the test. As it happens, the Maltese authority has on its books at least two IR examiners who hold UK-issued IRE certificates the first two names on this list (http://live.transport.gov.mt/admin/uploads/media-library/files/Certified%20Examiner%20exercising%20privileges%20in%20Malta% 20%20131129%20v%201.pdf_20131204093042.pdf)

[dn88]

Thank you for the helpful replies, it puts my mind at rest!

I intend to maintain my UK issued CPL, and so presumably I will not need to re-do my medical in Malta if the flying school do not mention it.

This also means that I will need an examiner designated by the UK CAA, thankfully (according to BillieBob's list) it seems that there are a couple based in Malta. Any idea how I may go about contacting either of them in order to double check everything?

I will be training for a ME/IR, I understand that this is minimum 45 hours if I already have a CPL. OhNoCB, are you saying that there is no specific requirements in terms of the time split between sim and aircraft? As mentioned, the Maltese-based/Belgian approved school is suggesting 35 hours sim time and 10 hours on the DA-42, whereas most schools I've seen in the UK have at least 15 hours on the DA-42.

[OhNoCB]

Yes, 45 is the minimum if you already hold a CPL, I assumed you did not, sorry.

I do not know what the exact regulations are around sim time and aircraft time split for the course, all I know is that it varies a lot and I believe the strongest factors are the type of sim and what the local authority approve. The split is different at different FTOs in the same country.