Can military hours count?

[Loretta]

A couple of years ago, my girlfriend was in the local university air squadron. She did about 40 hours, or (I think) half the course. Can these hours count towards a PPL? I know she would need to do some nav training, the ground exams etc., but this military training would obviously represent a huge saving over what it would cost to do the whole lot all over again. I've looked at the CAA document covering PPL requirements, but it only refers to completed military flying courses, which this experience isn't.

Next question. She has no record of any of the military flying. If it is valid, would the relevant UAS hold records of her flying? If I was to contact them, would they release the details to me, or would she have to contact them personally?

Any suggestions much appreciated.

[Genghis the Engineer]

(1) Yes.

(2) She's shot herself in the foot by not keeping her logbook, which would have had all her flying verified by the CFI or CO. Without that, it's only by luck that she may be able to get the data from the UAS.

I'd have thought that she'll almost certainly have to contact them herself, MoD has unsurprisingly something of a security culture and is unlikely to release personal or training records to anybody else.

G

[Loretta]

A bit more digging revealed a file with some "Sortie Report Forms" in it, filled in and signed by that day's instuctor. Awkwardly, they don't all list flight time, and none mention aircraft registration, although all were in Bulldogs. Otherwise quite comprehensive, including utterly illegible instructor's comments. Would these help (for instance, are the unmarked flights 1 hour), or is it back to square one? As far as I'm aware, there is no "civilian" logbook.

[Genghis the Engineer]

What you are looking for is a thin paperback logbook, about 8" square, probably orange. Doesn't look much like a normal civvie pilots logbook.

G

[BEagle]

If you have the dates of the sortie records, there's a good chance that the flight times could be obtained from old Flight Authorisation sheets. But that would be one heck of a labour of love....

If she doesn't have the logbook, there's a good chance that the UAS might still have it somewhere!

Best of luck!

[rodan]

ref. logbook:

Write to the squadron and ask for it. Thats what I did, and they were entirely obliging.

Good luck.