Originally Posted by
englishal
gyro,
... Because it is an N reg, the FAA is the other half of the story and although the CIs can be considered British for all the reasons given in this post (and so you are ok), you could equally ask the same question of the French. They of course would probably say "that is fine" but in reality the FAA would say "that is not fine". If the FAA said it wasn't ok (which they do incidentally) then insurance would be null and void and N reg pilots in Europe could be flying illegally.
I just thought I'd point this out in case any other N reg pilots are reading this and assume it would be ok to fly abroard in an N reg on a JAA license issued in the UK.
The FAA are probably more than the other half, in that they establish what is legal in an N-reg (but not necessarily what is illegal).
It is reasonably clear from some recent FAA opinions that a UK licence is not valid for flying an N-Reg in France (or anywhere other than the UK - and Crown Dependencies are from a practical perspective the UK in this context). that means it is definitely against US law to operate N-reg in France on a UK licence.
However, a UK insurer is not in anyway bound by the US view of what is legal or not. To the extent the State in which the flight occurs thinks something is OK, it would be surprising if the insurer took a different view, or the FAA choose to take enforcement action (despite it being against US law).
(I personally wouldn't take chances and would make sure I was legal in the eyes of the state of registry and the state of operation and I would also check with my insurer if there was any ambiguity).