FAR question

[Fright Level]

I'm in the process of getting a US licence based on my UK one. I've got the flight review questions I need to answer but it seems their reference to a particular question is wrong. Does anyone know FAR/AIMS well enough to tell me where I can find the answer to the following:

What documents must a pilot have in his personal possession to act as PIC?

Now, the "open book" sheet says 61.5 but that FAR refers to licensing itself, not what documents must be carried. An instructor told me it's the licence, medical and a photo ID but I can't find the actual FAR that says this. Any help please?

[mm_flynn]

61.3 a and c

[Fright Level]

Thanks for a prompt and local (Surrey based too!) reply. I'd only scouted through FAR/AIMS forward of the 61.5 section and not back from that point! Cheers.

[Dave Gittins]

I went that route in February and suggest that whilst you need to have a reasonable level of knowledge - just as you would in the UK - such absolute precise location of the clauses is not likely to be tested.

I can only speak from my experience but my FR was conducted in a very friendly and helpful way, was very thorough, spending about 3 hours on the ground one day (including watching videos on airmanship, stall avoidance etc.) and an hour and a half in the air the next but mainly concentrated on the important bits like airspace, handling, pilotage etc.

I DID spend hours in the back of a BA 777 reading FAR/AIM 2007 but in reality a good guide to the FR stands you in much better stead.

Best of luck

DGG

[julian_storey]

Dave is right. Although the instructor will expect you to have a reasonable grasp of the FAA regulations - he will not expect you to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the FAR / AIM :)

Remember that a BFR is conducted with an instructor, not an examiner and is a REVIEW rather than a test, although of course if the instructor doesn't think you're safe - he obviously won't sign your log book.

There are lots of differences between flying here and in the US - principally with the classification of and rules relating to airspace. Having flown a lot both here and in the US, I would say that this is the thing most likely to trip you up. Also, being foreign will cut little ice with the FAA as an excuse if you bust some Class B airspace.

You might find this book handy . . .

http://www.flyaas.com/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_ORAL_GUIDES_45.html

It's basically the questions (and answers!) that an FAA examiner might ask an FAA PPL candidate prior to his / her flight test. I very much doubt that an instructor would expect you know know much more than what's in this book for a BFR.

Finally, if you've not already sent your paperwork (and money!) off to the CAA - do it in plenty of time. The FAA won't issue your licence until the CAA have contacted them to confirm that you're a real person ;)

[IO540]

There are certain regular favourites in the FAA orals.

Required documents are #1 and you have to know this straight off.

For the IR, the #1 is the lost comms procedure (clearance, expected further clearance, then revert to filed route.... but of course the UK differs from this...).

For the CPL, a favourite is the "holding out" stuff which a CPL may or may not do before the activity becomes illegal without an AOC. This is all moot in UK airspace anyway, for a foreign CPL.

The pilot is not expected to know the FAR/AIM but needs to have a decent idea of where to look things up.

I have done the FAA PPL, IR, CPL and have generally found the oral to concentrate on real flying issues. However, if you get a b*astard examiner he will start off on obscure US airspace rules, and there was (and indeed still is, last time I heard) such a nice chap, of middle east origin, prowling for business around the UK, who ensures that you fail the checkride the 1st time so he gets two fees :)

I've never had a BFR (always avoided it by doing some new license/rating which counted as a BFR) but would guess that a "real pilot" instructor would do the same practical stuff. Every FAA instructor I have met does indeed fly for real.

[tmmorris]

julian_storey is right - the BFR isn't a test, it's a review. As there is a mandatory groundschool element, the way I've always handled it is to think to myself 'what am I not sure about on the groundschool side' (often that's included a review of the airspace requirements & classes, and of their chart symbology), and ASK for that in the groundschool. That way you can spend half an hour discussing it, at the end of which you will be able to answer any questions fine.

At the end of that, the instructor usually throws in a few other questions (yes, the documents ones are favourites - similarly the one on 'what documents need to be carried in the 'airplane'?') and then you go for a gentle bimble about to show that you can handle the aircraft and radio OK.

Tim