I am wanting to fly an N-reg touring aircraft in the UK and throughout europe but I am a little unsure of the regulations.
I hold a JAA PPL and from what I can understand, I can fly G-reg and N-reg in the UK. If I want to fly the N-reg outside of the UK then I will need an FAA-PPL.
Correct.
An N-reg can be flown worldwide (outside the USA) on a license
issued by the owner of the airspace. Ref: FAR 61.3.
A G-reg can be flown worldwide on any ICAO PPL, VFR only and if flying IFR then only outside controlled airspace. Ref ANO Art 26. (**)
So first question, does anyone know what is required to convert my JAA-PPL to an FAA-PPL or obtain an FAA-PPL. (Surely I won't have to do the whole course?). I am wanting to do some hour building in the USA as well, incidently.
Secondly, this N-reg is IFR equipped and so I want an IR rating - this is where I get really confused.
Can I fly an N-reg IFR in the UK/europe on a JAA-IR?
You still need a license issued by the relevant airspace owner (which basically means an FAA license, to be practical. As for using a JAA IR in an N-reg, I am sure this is OK, again ref 61.3. The FARs just call for an "instrument rating".
OR do I need to obtain my FAA-IR (this was what I was told).
If somebody says so, ask for the reference. I could be wrong.
Now, if I do have my FAA-IR (but not a JAA) then can I fly G-reg aircraft under IFR or only N-reg?
You can fly a
G-reg IFR worldwide but only outside CAS (ref ANO Art 26) which is basically useless, especially in Europe where most IFR-applicable airspace is Class E or stricter.
I'm sorry for the barrage of questions but I am somewhat confused.
In other words: I am a JAA-PPL who wants to fly and N-reg aircraft under VFR and IFR in the UK and around Europe: What must I do?
If you want to fly an N-reg plane, the only 100% sure and practical solution is an FAA PPL (which can be a piggyback or - far preferably - a standalone one), and the FAA IR involves considerably less ground study than the JAA IR.
However, the regulatory climate is gradually changing in Europe and by 2012 or so, EASA will have made a mark on it. Nobody knows quite what they will do. There is a proposal out which will strip all EU resident pilots of foreign license privileges, which is obviously pretty draconian but a backtrack on this is certain, but nobody knows quite what it might be. There is another proposal due out Nov 08 which will (may) attack N-reg airframes; this is thought to be less of a threat simply because it is virtually impossible to draft (France and the UK tried this and dropped it after massive protests). The upshot of this is that a newcomer to this scene (private IFR) ought to carefully consider both the FAA and JAA routes. EASA will probably also kill the UK concession marked (**) above.
You can convert a JAA PPL/IR to an FAA PPL/IR (all standalone) quite easily. The PPL is just a few hours' flight and a checkride, plus the medical and the 2 exams. The IR conversion is just a foreign pilot exam, possibly a checkride, but I don't remember. The USA is very generous in accepting foreign papers, unlike Europe which is heavily protectionist.
You can convert an FAA PPL/IR to a JAA PPL/IR, by sitting all the exams (7 for the JAA IR, plus 7 or (if >100hrs TT) 3 for the PPL), doing a min 15hrs' IR training, and a checkride, plus the medicals (Class 2 is OK but you need to pass the audiogram from the Class 1 medical).
The FAA -> JAA conversion is quite a lot of hassle, study and more hassle, but it still represents a big flying discount from the 50hrs (55 if ME) of doing the JAA IR ab initio, and this makes the FAA PPL/IR a reasonable stepping stone to the JAA IR (and, depending on EASA actions, you may never actually need to do the JAA IR). Especially as the FAA licenses/ratings allow all previous ICAO training as a credit, whereas the JAA stuff does not accept ANY previous instrument training as a credit. So if doing the FAA IR, e.g. the UK IMC Rating dual time counts fully towards the FAA IR requirements, but it counts nothing towards the JAA IR requirements. I am sure the great majority of UK based FAA IR pilots did the UK IMC Rating first and then went to the USA to do the IR, and did it with perhaps just 20hrs' flight training.
I have sent you a PM, jau.