Originally Posted by BroomstickPilot
Bakoo,
I note that some people have suggested you should do your PPL in the UK. I disagree: I would say don't. Go to the US. You will not need to get your FAA PPL exchanged for a UK one at all. You can fly perfectly legally in the UK on an FAA PPL indefinitely, because both the UK and the USA are ICAO countries, (ICAO means International Commercial Aviation Organisation, a body set up by the UN to regulate commercial aviation internationally). ICAO countries automatically recognise one another's PPL licences.
Broomstick.
If only...
While Broomstick is correct that the UK recognizes an FAA PPL, this is not the case in other countries. If you want to fly a/c registered in another European country you will need a JAR license or a certificate of recognition, which varies in cost and validity from country to country.
That said, I wholeheartedly concur with Broomstick, it's a lot better to do the license in the US - you simply learn more (tin hat now on....), including night VFR.
Then, after you've flown a while (I think it's 100 hours), you can pretty easily convert your FAA to a JAA (CAA) license.
A holiday,
mon cher bakoo, it won't be, however. If you intend to do a PPL in 4 weeks, then you won't do much else other than studying and flying. Then again, that's what you want, don't you ! I would suggest you do as much studying at home
before going to the US, say while waiting for your visa (you can buy the study materials at Transair or similar outfits), and sit the written asap after your arrival in the US. This way, you've got this worry out of the way (or, in the unlikely event that you fail, you got more time to re-take it) and can concentrate on the actual flying.
I wouldn't worry too much about learning regulations that are pertinent only to the US - the underlying principles are similar worldwide and local regs (UK or otherwise) will then be very easy to absorb / adapt to.
Where to go is a tricky question. While the various outfits in Florida advertise heavily in the UK, I would definitely look at schools in California. This is probably a slightly more expensive option (starting with getting there), but you will be exposed to a wider variety of flying (anything from sea fog to 40 kt winds in the desert via some pretty serious mountains). Also, especially in the LA area, you will be exposed to a lot of ATC, so will learn to fly 'in the system' from day one.
HTH and good luck !
