Quote: "I need to write the Air Law and Procedures exam to revalidate my licence."
Several posters including the first seem to be rewriting this examination in order to revalidate a licence. Why? I am assuming they are not having to rewrite because they failed the exam but for some other reason.
Is this Air Law and Procedures examination valid for a limited time for all pilots with South African licences or foreign licences validated by the SACAA?
Is this for a South African or a foreign licence that is being revalidated?
Do pilots with South African licences have to regularly repass the SACAA's written/computer exams to keep up their licences?
Does the same need to keep repassing written/computer exams apply to SACAA validations of foreign licences?
In nearly forty years of flying in different continents I have not come across this unusual situation before. I have licences from four countries in different continents.
I once had my Canadian licence validated in an African country. This involved passing an air law exam and paying a fee. My Canadian licence was then validated in that country for three months. I was then entitled to commercially fly that country's aircraft within that validation period as long as my Canadian licence was valid. The validation fee was substantial and each validation period was for only three months so it made sense to obtain a local licence. This involved one flight test which covered general flying, type rating and instrument rating. The air law I had already passed and did not need to rewrite. I then had a licence from that African country and needed only to renew the instrument rating with a flight test every twelve months. There was never any need to keep passing the same written exams.
After several years away from Canada, during which time I had kept up my Canadian medical but had not been able to renew the instrument rating on the TC licence, I then had to do only a regular flight test to renew the instrument rating on my Canadian licence. I did not have to rewrite the INRAT or any other exam as during the whole time I had been away I had maintained an instrument rating for commercial flying on a licence issued by an ICAO state, including a renewal within the past twelve months. I provided evidence of this to the designated TC examiner, passed the flight test and my instrument rating was renewed.
I have never come across this need to keep rewriting the same exams. What is going on in South Africa?