I don't blame the NPPL P&SC, nor do I blame the ANO or the CAA. The NPPL was introduced knowing full well that it did not meet ICAO requirements. This means the Chicago convention did not apply, and that the combination of NPPL and G-reg would not be automatically acceptable for flight into foreign countries. The NPPL P&SC did not have to specify that the combination was not valid for foreign flight, because it was implicitly not valid under the Chicago convention. They may have put this in a policy document of some sort, but that's probably intended more as a clarification than as a basis for a legal text.
Then a few things happened. Some countries (Ireland, France and maybe a few others) agreed with the UK to mutually accept each others sub-ICAO licences (NPPL, LAPL, RPL, Brevet de base, whatever the name) for flight into each others airspace. Great. But again, the rules that apply to the situation where you fly a G-reg/NPPL into foreign airspace are not just in the ANO, but also in the equivalent foreign law set, and/or in the terms of the mutual agreement. (My gut feeling is that the mutual agreement will very closely follow the Chicago convention, but that's just a gut feeling.)
And then the FAA entered that little line into FAR 61.3. Which is where the confusion really starts. You can fly an N-reg within the UK with a UK-issued licence and valid medical. It doesn't say which licence, or which restrictions apply. In fact, the way I read it I can do ATPL-type stuff in an N-reg within the UK, with my UK-issued PPL. If we need further clarification on this, it's the FAA which should provide it, not the CAA.
And while we're talking to the FAA, can we also ask them to change the phrase "issued" to "issued or rendered valid"? That would preempt the whole "is EU/EASA a country", "All EASA licences are created equal, but some licences are more equal than others" discussion.
Last edited by BackPacker; 22nd August 2013 at 10:20.