FAA to EASA conversion with prior 121 experience

[Johnny Bekkestad]

I have a buddy of mine who is working in the US for a 121 carrier, he is thinking about moving back to Sweden and was wondering what the new regulations are.
With the old regulations i think that he did not need to do all 14 exams. But now i think that he needs to do all of them, but he does not need to do an official ground school.
Am i right?

/Johnny

[banjodrone]

Someone more knowledgeable than me will chime in I'm sure but afaik, that is correct once they meet all the hours etc, requirements. However it's probably advisable to get some sort of study package to prepare because of the way the exams are structured (it's not what you know, it's how you say it in EASA-ish). There are cheaper non-official study options available but I don't know how they stand in terms of quality.

As for type ratings, ATP's etc, that's a whole other area and they're better off getting that sort of information straight from the source.

[ersa]

No formal ground school needed.....But still has to pass al 14 exams....

[paco]

If you have 1000 hours multi-crew, you don't need formal training, but as mentioned, this is not a good idea, at least for another year until the system changes - you won't pass the exams on knowledge alone. You do have to take all 14 exams for the ATP. Download a document called CAP 804 from the UK CAA for the best explanations.

Phil

[NEDude]

Others have mentioned the regs so I will not rehash them.

I am about halfway through the process now and here is my take on it. I am exempt from the formal ground school requirement. I do not think it is possible to take the exams without some sort of training (with the possible exception of the IFR and VFR communications exams). There are enough differences between the FAA way of doing things and the EASA way of doing things that it is easy to get tripped up even when some things seem familiar. On top of that EASA still examines some stuff from the dark ages that nobody has used in more than half a century, stuff that was long considered obsolete when I started flying 30 years ago (yes I am an old guy...).

With that being said, what I have done was purchased the ATPL Digital program from Bristol Ground School. I have gone through that, plus purchased the question bank from Dauntless for use on my iPad. For quick reference I purchased a set of sort of 'Cliff Notes' from Piloten-Training.com. Between those three sources I have been successful on the 8 exams I have taken thus far.

Also be aware that you must apply for the license through the country which holds your medical records, but you can do the theory exams and skills through a different country. Be aware though that all 14 theory exams must be done in one country, so you cannot do seven of them in Poland and the other seven in the UK. But you can do all 14 exams through the UK, skills test through Germany, and then do your medical and apply for the license in France if you really wished to do it that way. Obviously it is far simpler to do it in one country, but there is some flexibility if it suits you better.

In my opinion the UK has been the best country to do the conversion process through. They seem to have more experience with it and the process is streamlined and well laid out. It is a bit more expensive than other countries but you do get what you pay for. It took the UK only two days to approve my waiver for the formal ground school. It took Poland almost nine months to do the same thing and I did not receive it until after I gave up and started the exams through the UK.

Good luck!