Originally Posted by
rudestuff
An FAA certificate is required to operate an N registered aircraft in US airspace. Those are issued by the FAA and it is their rules that apply as to currency, validity etc. When they issue a 61.75 certificate they do so on the understanding that to use it you must be in possession of a valid underlying licence. Here's the important bit:
When you are flying an N-registered aircraft They decide what valid means. The FAA decide. Not you or me or the authority that issued the underlying licence, the FAA. And here's where it becomes my opinion: The FAA have made it very clear in their rulings that they dont care about currency or type ratings for SET, they care that you have a valid licence that covers ASEL, and in their book valid means not expired or revoked. Thats it.
I wonder if all the confusion is based on verification? The UK CAA would have to verify a licence in order to apply for a 61.75 and they may very well insist on it being current at the time of verification. But verification is a one time only event. 5 years later you could be flying around on a 61.75 with a current BFR (with an expired SEP rating on a valid UK license)
You are absolutely correct. ICAO and/or foreign law does not regulate US airspace, pilots or aircraft. In providing perspective on the FAA position, it is worth bearing in mind that ratings like SEL, MEL, IR etc on an FAA Private Pilot Certificate do not expire, ever, so the concept of them expiring on some foreign licenses is not something that FAA personnel are either trained to understand, or interested in. What they care about under FAA regulations is the validity of the foreign license itself, any limitations that are written on the foreign license itself, and that the pilot flying on an FAA 61.75 pilot certificate meets the same Flight Review requirement as any other FAA pilot.
My father flew on a FAA 61.75 pilot certificate based on a non-expiring foreign pilot license for approximately 30 years in the US, during which time he did absolutely nothing with the foreign licence except to physically keep it. Any new ratings were earned on the FAA certificate only. Happily his foreign national pilot license was never revoked or rendered invalid by the issuing nation with the arrival JAR, EASA or whatever, so it continued to serve as required for the purposes of FAA and FAA regulations.