What do you think? Other than finishing off that FAA IR what would any further American ratings do for you? You've got what you safely need for the US touring and you're not wasting too much time or money on ratings that are useless in Europe.
Some will be divided on the worth of the FAA instrument ticket and its usability back in Europe. I favour finishing it. Great experience, builds on your skills, hopefully further develops judgement over time and exposure to the IFR system and could just save your life.
Towers, that's true. an FAA IR and PPL are all you need to fly in most weather a single engine airplane in the US. With these two, you can build some good time, get some good IFR expeirence, and make flying actually practical.
The other ratings I was thinking of are the CPL and the ME. I don't think any of hte instructor ratings would benefit me back in Europe, as I heard it's much harder to be a FI in Europe, plus I have no interest in instructing anytime soon.
The reason for the CPL would be that perhaps it would be easier to convert form FAA CPL to JAA CPL rather than FAA PPL to JAA PPL. The ground exams are the only major thing that's in the way. Someone on pprunes converted their FAA CPL/IR to JAA with 3 hours for the CPL and 15 for the IR. Now, would that be the same if it was a PPL/IR. Or would it take longer since "you are not as an experienced as a pilot". See that's my concern. Usually the higher the FAA rating, it seems the easier the conversion.
As for the ME...there is absolutley no difference in flying a ME aircraft in the US than in Europe. The main difference is that the rental cost of a Seneca here is the same as that of a Warrior in the UK.
About the worth of the FAA IR in Europe...isn't instrument flying in the US "similar" to instrument flying in Europe? You would have all the basic skills right? Attittude instrument flying...tracking VOR radials, NDB bearings, localizers....doing holds. Don't they use Jeppesen plates in Europe? so it should be similar I imagine.
Definitely finish the FAA IR. Its an IR as good as any, and once you have it you can convert in 15hrs.......not that i'd bother, as you'd be wasting your money for private flying.
What do you mean I would be wasting my money for private flying?
I'd get the FAA CPL anyway though, it wouldn't cost that much if you have the TT, and it shows a level of competence above the PPL. Some insurance companies may also look favourably on it if you ever end up getting your own aircraft.
The CPL is only 20 hours. Seems one of the easier ratings. And if it will make the conversion to JAA easier...then that's well worth it.
If you want a JAA CPL, your best and most economical bet is to build up to FAA ME CPL/IR, and convert some time in the future. Conversion is fairly straight forward and can be done in 2-3 weeks in the UK, for around £5000+. Note though you need the ground exams, which is one reason why I can't be bothered to convert just yet.....
The plan is to build as much time and experience as possible here, since it's soo much cheaper. Ideally, if I do go back to Europe (which is very likely) I want to go back with at least 300 hours of which some should be ME hours.
Yeah the ground exams seem so much more of a pain that the FAA ones...it's crazy.
I was just wondering if it would be best to do the CPL in the UK...juts from scratch...or get the FAA one and convert.
thanx
Archer