Help i'm in Adelide, Australia and My IMC & Medical Expire soon.

[skiddy]

I need some help with maintaining my UK PPL licence. I moved to Adelaide Australia in May this year. I have just noticed that my IMC will be valid until November this year (last reval was in October 2006). My medical is due to expire in December.

I wonder if there is any way, other than returning to the UK and have the IMC approach and general IMC handling check ride, to get this done while in Australia. I will also need a medical by December and wonder if anyone knows of UK examiners n Adelaide. I am over 40 and will also need the ECG check done at the same time as the medical.

I know that I will have to get my licence changed to an Australian licence but as I am on a temporary visa I can only apply for a special licence. This will be restricted to the limitation of my medical which will expire in December. The CASA web site indicates that it could take some time to upgrade to this licence so I may not be able to fly after my medical expires.

Any guidance would be helpful as I don't want to loose my licence. I have booked to go with an Aussie instructor just to keep my hours up. I hope that someone out there can help.

[Shunter]

You can let the IMC rating lapse by upto 5 years and the renewal requirements are just the same as if you renewed it now. If you let it lapse for more than 5, you might have to do a little bit of refresher training. Let it lapse more than 10, and you have to redo the groundschool. All pretty reasonable to be honest!

Medical is similar, although I forget the exact figures. You can let it lapse for a fairly substantial period of time before needing another "initial" medical.

So basically, it's no big train smash if you let them both lapse.

There are a few JAR AMEs in Oz, so perhaps they can oblige you as regards the medical:
AME Search Results | Medical | Safety Regulation (http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=49&pagetype=65&appid=21&mode=list&county=Non-UK)

[jxk]

A couple of years ago I flew with the GOANNA group (no longer in business I'm afraid) in Australia, some people from the UK on the tour needed to be 'checked out', the instructor signed their log books and said that this would count as a BFR. Might be worth while pursuing this. Coincidently, I've also had a check ride in NZ and e-mailed to ask the CAA FCL if a 'B' cat NZ instructor logbook entry constituted a BFR - got a reply from CAA asking what a BFR was?

[DX Wombat]

Try contacting Min Stokes of Minovation (http://www.minovation.com/) at Jandakot, West Oz,she may be able to help you as she is a UK trained FI. Failing that, try the West Australian Aviation College (http://www.waaviationcollege.com.au/)who run JAA courses. I'm aware that this is a couple of hours flying time away from you but there are chalets (http://jandakotairport.com/index.html) available to hire at Jandakot. Hope this helps.
I love the title's correct Oz-pronunciation of Adelaide.

[b4igo]

I'm in a similar boat but decided to keep it simple. If its a UK IMC it isn't valid in Oz (correct?), so just revalidate when you go back. I am operating on a SPL but decided to get an Oz Class 2 medical from a CASA DME when my UK one expired, which covers all the requirements over here. You have a lot more options for them than trying to find someone who is CAA qualified over here. Although the examination and ECG requirements are identical to UK, it is not recognised by CAA so you will just have to re-do it in UK if/when you go back.

[Charlie Foxtrot India]

I haven't heard of the type of visa making a difference to whether you can convert to an Aus PPL or not, but if you are only here for a short while then thee is probably no point.

I believe there is a UK qualified Dr in Brisbane, one of our pilots had to fly all the way over there to get his UK medical done.

[skiddy]

Thanks for all of your advice on this. I just did not want to loose my UK licence until I have permanent residency. I don't think that we will be coming back to the Uk and I will start to convert my current licence over here. It is great to know that I will not loose my privilages until 5 years have passed. I will keep people posted if they are interested on my progress. Thanks once again for all of your advice.

[niknak]

Shunter - are you absolutely sure about the medical???

I am positive that once a medical certificate expires, that's it, it's no longer valid. Additionally, with most CAA/JAA licences, if the medical certificate isn't valid the licence isn't either.

Skiddy, I'm sure that any of the local flying establishments will be able to point you towards an AME who will be able to help or advise you, meanwhile, I strongly suggest that you check the facts with the CAA Medical Branch (0044) 1293 573700.

[rustle]

Skiddy, I strongly suggest that you check the facts with the CAA Medical Branch (0044) 1293 573700.

[:8:8] If you're going to quote international numbers for the UK it is better to do it as "+44" rather than assume every country's IDD prefix is "00", as in the case of Australia to dial UK it is actually 0011 44 ...

[/:8:8]

[niknak]

OK, I'm not a "Directory Enquiries Spotter", I admit my guilt and await my fate:D