FAA rules - definitive answer?
Hi all, can somebody please explain American licencing rules to me? I'm genuinely lost.
I started in gliders. I then got a 3-axis microlight licence. I then upgraded it to the UK national SSEA licence.
I was very unlucky in that when I was doing this I just missed the boat for the LAPL conversion cut-off date. So I was unable to go from NPPL SSEA to LAPL by the paperwork route. However, I'm currently flying an EASA plane on this NPPL SSEA under the existing CAA derogation.
I currently have 140 hours total (microlights + SEP) of which about 50 hours are PIC. I also have about 60 hours in gliders. I can't remember how many of them were PIC, but I could dig out the old logbooks.
I also worked in Russia for three or four years and flew there, on a Russian national sub-ICAO licence. I have about 50 Russian hours, of which about 30 were P1, mostly in the DV20 Katana. I'm told these hours count for nothing whatsoever because they were flown under the Russian equivalent of NPPL (which was a simple upgrade from the UK NPPL M) and in Russian sub-ICAO reg aircraft. I understand this makes those hours not worth anything outside the country.
So, if you count up the total of microlights, SEP, gliders and those hours in Russia on the Katanas, that makes about 250 hours total and about 80 hours PIC.
Now, here's the question. If I were to go for an FAA PPL licence, how many of these hours will "count"? And what will they count for?
I've heard so many different answers, - including from qualified American CFIs. Some say only 10% of my hours will count, and then, to the maximum of 10 hours. Others say all my SEP hours will count, but none of the microlight hours. And there's even a school of thought that none of the hours will count because they were all flown outside America.
What's my best option for getting a definitive answer?
Please don't ask me why I'm inquiring about a FAA licence, it'll open a whole different can of worms.
Thank you!