hi chopperpilot47, I hoped you might turn up when I started this thread as I had already seen your post on the Rotorheads forum -thanks for the info.
I'm a qualified ATPL, but I'm interested in this on two counts:
1.) it represents a potentially huge marketing opportunity for operators such as yourself, as most students are put off the cheaper FAA licences due to the hassle and expense of converting when they come back home. Obviously what you are saying removes these two barriers. If what you are saying is totally cleared by the CAA, then your business is set for a very prosperous future if you get your message out there.
2.) it once again shows the need for a clean sweep of the JAA, as the whole system appears to be geared (unwittingly) to screwing UK and European flying schools, who find it difficult enough to compete on price, but could always point to the problems associated with licence conversion. With more UK private pilots also opting for the FAA IR to fly N reg aircraft in the UK, the JAR's are seemingly a complicated and expensive exercise in bureaucracy bearing little relationship to the real world, certainly in the world of private flying.
It seems to me the only argument against someone doing this cheaper licence in the States is the lack of experience in UK airspace, but obviously with an agreeable operator back in the UK and a few hours of famil this should not be a problem.
Are UK flying schools aware of this? Do they see it as a big threat to their livelihoods? I'm not wishing to antagonise anybody, by the way, just genuinely interested.
