Whith this i am faaaaaar from saying that european aviation is better than here, JAA regs are a nightmare!!!!
cplpilot.... You can say that again man! And therein lies one of the big barriers to not taking a Canadian ICAO licence to Europe and converting it. Even if you have the right to work, there is 650 hours minimum of certified ground study (if your TT is under 1500hrs, otherwise the 650hr requirement is waived) and
14 seperate ATPL written exams to take. Fail one subject more than twice and you have to re-sit the whole batch.
Then and only then may you start the actual flying training necessary to convert your licences - this consists of min 15hrs in a mix of recognised sim and m/e aircraft to validate your ME-IFR and necessary hours training and flight tests on complex SE to validate your CPL.
Total time required? Min approx 14 months, and all in cost not short of £10K sterling or C$22K.
Great eh? JAR is total over regulated money making BS IMHO!
