JAR to FAA Licence - Any benefits?

[Sabre Zero 1]

As I understand (please correct me if I'm wrong), if you hold an FAA licence you are not required to do a Type Rating on each individual aircraft, but instead you are limited to anything below a certain weight regardless of whether it is piston, turbine, single or twin.
So in effect, you can fly and log time anything you like below a certain weight.

Firstly, is this true?

Secondly, what are peoples thoughts on converting a JAR licence to an FAA licence in order to log time on various types without paying bucket loads of cash for Type Rating on each aircraft?

I fly a few different types with the owners but can't log the time even as training because none of them are instructors, and it's never to a licenced airfield. So I thought if I got an FAA licence it may solve this problem!?

Advice on this would be appreciated :confused:

[thecontroller]

True, you can fly any heli under 12,500lbs with an FAA heli licence, no type ratings needed.

For the R22/R44 you need to satisfy SFAR73 though, before you can act as PIC

Getting an FAA licence might solve your problem, but... the aircraft might need to be N-registered. Does anyone know?

[Whirlygig]

Sabre Zero 1,

If you are flying in the UK under a UK JAA licence, please could you check the legality of you taking the controls and flying with someone who is not an instructor and you are not type-rated. It is my understanding that it's not legal and would also invalidate insurance.

Cheers

Whirlygig

[cl12pv2s]

Sabre Zero,

The 12,500 lbs is correct. The regulations in 61.31 require a type rating for any 'large' aircraft.

A 'large' aircraft is defined in fAR 1.1 as: aircraft of more than 12,500 pounds, maximum certificated takeoff weight.

Next...Logging time in a foreign aircraft.

The FAA regulations do not require that you are flying a US registered aircraft when logging time. Similarly, 61.51 does not require that your time is logged whilst holding an FAA certificate. In other words, time logged prior to attaining an FAA certificate counts too!

Flight training may be conducted with a foreign (non-US) instructor AR 61.41(a)(2), but that instructor may not provide any endorsements towards further FAA certificates or ratings.

So what it all boils down to is whether you are legal to fly without an instructor in the UK when not holding an appropriate JAA type rating...as Whirlygig said!

I don't know, but I can't think that would work, unless the aircraft was a non G-registered aircraft or something.

Also, I don't know how time logged in the US is applicable to JAA type ratings! Maybe a JAA regulations expert can answer that!

Hope this helps,

cl12pv2s