ORS4 No.1453
ORS4 1453 issued by the CAA today exempts pilots who held a UK-issued Part-FCL licence and who have subsequently transfer-SOLId to another EASA member state from the requirement to hold a UK licence and medical when operating G-reg aircraft in the UK. To take effect, a 'Validation Document' must be downloaded from the CAA website, completed and held with the new licence when flying.
I've transferred to the IAA and I received an email from them today telling me that my new EASA licence is ready to be despatched. Before the IAA can do this however, I first have to return my current UK licence and medical to them, in effect exchanging my old licence and medical for EASA new ones. Given the Christmas holidays, the fact that the IAA offices are currently closed and the inevitable postal delays, I (and presumably other pilots in similar positions) are effectively going to be 'unlicenced' for a period of time, likely to be anything up to a fortnight depending on how quickly licence exchanges can be turned around and despatched.
FCL.045 (and UK-equivalent post December 31st) requires a pilot to physically hold a licence to exercise its privileges and those of associated ratings, certificates etc. In a nutshell, does this leave me not being able to fly (and earn a living as an FI) until such time as my new IAA-issued Part-FCL licence arrives? I've asked around off here and views are split. The ORS4 issued today seems clear enough that to operate G-reg aircraft, a licence and validation document 'must be held'.
Many thanks,
HW