American Flight Training Service - Norwich

[porridge]

I hear this 'organisation' has departed along with substantial amounts of client's wherewithall. leaving many of them in the the lurch?
Does anybody have experiences or news on this?
PM me please if you feel you would prefer to keep your views and comments private.
Thanks, Porridge

[IO540]

Not a lot of people will be able to comment openly.

I can only say that through 2005 every UK outfit doing FAA training has found it very hard to get FAA examiners (be they FAA employees or the much more usual DPEs) to come over to the UK.

They still do come over but more to other European countries, and they go straight to the pilot, not via some training firm.

They used to be able to just pop over anytime, make $800-$1000 per checkride, plus all travel+hotel expenses recovered, but now they have to register with the FAA in the USA, and the red tape has put most of them off. Some people have not seen an examiner here since early in the year.

To what extent the CAA is responsible for this I have no idea but obviously it suits them completely.

The need for the DfT permission just makes matters worse. One cannot find a DPE who will do it for nothing, of course, so there is no way around this if flying in UK airspace. And nobody except owners, or Directors of ltd companies with 4 or less Directors, will ever get the DfT permission (details on the DfT website).

This has drastically cut back the customer base, because while UK based FAA training is still easy to arrange, without a clear UK-based checkride option at the end there is little point in flying here. One may as well do the written here, meet all the FAA logbook requirements (which can be done in a G-reg with a JAA instructor) and then sod off to USA and spend a week or two out there flying and learning the US-specific obscurities which the examiner will so delightfully quiz you on in the oral.

People just have to go off to Florida - just like they have been doing for years. Nobody gains.

[unfazed]

Telephone number for above company is the same, the voice on the phone answering is the same but the company name now appears to be "Business Air"

[porridge]

Hi IO540
You refer to the DPE's coming out to other European Countries. Does that mean it is only the UK that DPE's have to get permission to come over to?
For example one could get an examiner over here but as long as he/she does the tests in say - Le Touquet the Feds wouldn't mind?
Look forward to your comments.
P

[nouseforaname]

They did strike me as a funny group of people. I was hoping to do an FAA written exam there but decided against it because I did not find them very business like.

[IO540]

My info, coming from a DPE yesterday (in the USA but he travels to europe for checkrides) and I am sure it's correct is that they all have to register with the FAA, in NY I seem to recall, before going abroad to do checkrides. It could be a TSA matter; I didn't ask. I didn't get the impression it is a "permission" which might be refused.

The only advantage of doing a checkride in another european country is if the UK-based N-reg owner somehow doesn't meet the DfT criteria (say, he is in a group of 6 owners, or he isn't a Director, etc). It's all a lot of hassle, and a DPE for a few days will cost you a few grand.

I reckon it's better just to go to the USA.