Hour Building Requirements?

[special_ig]

After I pass my PPL (hopefully this summer), I plan to build up some experience and combine this with an unforgettable holiday. I am looking into a lot of options but the passage below (from the Patagonian Skies website) made me slightly worried. Are there certain requirements for P1 hours flown in a different country to be accepted as counting towards your CPL hours minimum (say, in the UK)?


From http://www.patagonianskies.com.ar :

"After these documents have been submitted, an examiner will be designated for your immediate check-ride. Upon successful completion of this exam you will be issued an Argentine PPL that will allow you to obtain and log flight experience, and get additional licenses and ratings. Remember that Patagonian Skies aids in each step of this process also assists you in getting this experience accepted in your home country."

[FlyingForFun]

Nope - as long as it's an aeroplane, and you're acting within the restrictions of your license, you can log it. Not sure what they're on about - I don't know the Argentinian rules, but can't see how they can be different in this respect.

Go wherever you want, and have fun! :D

FFF
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[BlueRobin]

Can I hijack this thread on a closely related topic? (s_ig - you may find this useful)

Okay. "Structured hours building". I read some literture from the show on Saturday on this topic. Essentially this went along the lines of, "makes sure your hours are structured, potential sponsors/operators(?) may not take someone stuck in their ways"

So, this is a two part question really. Is the above comment valid? If so, how would one go about structuring their hours?



Blue

BTW, I own a share in an aircraft and can build experience here for very low rates (so nurrrr!).

(and is this in the wrong wannabee forum? I'm never quite sure now!) :suspect:

[FlyingForFun]

Just my opinion, but....

I think "structured" means varied, or interesting. Which is good, because it's nice to do interesting things!

Flying around the circuit for 100 hours is no use to anyone. It's also pretty boring. But you need to get enough circuit practice to be able to land consistently.

Likewise, flying 300-mile cross-country legs is pretty tedious. It's nice to find a couple of exotic places to fly to, a good confidence builder to do it once or twice, plus there's a requirement for a 300nm cross-country for the CPL. But doing nothing except straight+level isn't going to make you a good all-round pilot.

There are similar arguments for flying to the local area, or doing aerobatics, or just about anything else you can think of. All interesting, fun and useful to a point, but none of them are useful on their own.

So I think the best thing to do for your hour-building is use it as an opportunity to experience as many different things as possible. Getting a night qualification is a must - if you don't do it at this stage, you'll only have to do it later. An IMC rating might make the IR, and even the CPL, easier. Do some cross countries. Get a tail-dragger checkout, or a float-plane checkout, or do some aeros. Basically, do all the things you think would be fun - but don't concentrate too much on any one of them.

While you're doing this, strive for perfection in everything. Keep your height and heading accurately, even if you're just taking a friend up for a local jolly. Land on the centre-line every time. Have an ETA in your head for every leg, whether it's a formal cross-country or not.

That's what I've done, anyway - I'll let you know in a couple of years whether it worked for me! ;)

FFF
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