JAR PPL - Some Questions

[HighFlyer75]

Apologies if all or some of these questions have already been answered previously in other posts but I have made extensive use of the search utility on both this forum and others and I can't find any concise answers to some of my questions.

Long story short, I am looking into going to Florida to train for my PPL and I am looking for some advice on the best way to achieve this (see questions below).

Now for the long story...long.
Up until about 6 months ago I lived in Australia and, on and off, I participated in pilot training with the aim of getting my PPL. Unfortunately, my job ensured that my training was more off than on as I was constantly travelling for long periods of time. I started training in 2002 and over many years I achieved my General Flying Progress Test (GFPT) which allowed me to fly solo and carry passengers within a defined training area for my aerodrome. Over the years I gradually accumulated about 80 hours flight time with about 35 of them being PIC.

I left Australia about 6 months ago and I am now living in Europe (Stockholm, Sweden to be exact) and I am looking into finally completing my PPL. However, while the job interference has subsided, it hasn’t fully gone away. For this reason I think my best opportunity of getting anywhere is to take a month, head to Florida and get my PPL. Of course, the price of training in Sweden is also pushing me in that direction as this country is crazy expensive.

So, with all that in mind, does anybody have any advice on any of the following;

1. I would like to complete the theory exams prior to heading for the practical training. Where would be the best place to achieve this? I am not a member of a club in Stockholm and I don’t intend joining (as I will not be based here long term – and I have heard that PPL exams are carried out in Swedish here anyway which is no good to me). My initial thoughts are to do the self study and then go to the UK to do the actual exams but after some furious googling I still can’t find a definitive answer as to whether this is possible without being a member of a flying club/school.

2. Will the 80 hours I accumulated in Australia be officially recognised when I go to do my training? The licensing is different in Australia and I intend going for a JAR PPL (and an FAA one at the same time if possible) so, while the hours will obviously help me with the flying, I am curious as to whether I will still have to go through the complete flying syllabus.

3. Based on the various posts on this forum, I am currently looking at European Flight Training (EFT) to do the training. They seem to consistently get the best (i.e. least bad) reviews from most people. However, if anybody has any advice with regards to this then I am all ears (or eyes I guess as I will be reading your response). I am pretty much open to going anywhere as long as they can offer me some form of 3 – 4 week program. At the moment I am looking at an October time-frame for the training.

4. Assuming I go to the US and pass my skills test, does it matter where I send all the paperwork to for the issuing of the licence? I hold and Irish passport and, as I said above, I currently live in Stockholm but I really don’t know where I will be living long term. I don’t think it should matter where I send the paperwork too but maybe I am wrong about this. Does it have to be a country where I am a member of a flying school/club?

Apologies for the length of this post but any assistance is greatly appreciated. Also, if anybody has any general advice, even remotely related to what I have asked, then feel free to respond as I am determined to realise my dream of finally getting my PPL this year.

Thanks very much.

[Whopity]

Check your PMs

[BackPacker]

1 & 4. All the schools in the US operate under the flag of the UK CAA. So you will need to do the UK CAA exams, either at the school in Florida, or at a school in the UK. And you need to send all the paperwork to the UK CAA at Gatwick, who will then issue you a JAR-FCL compliant PPL on behalf of the UK authorities. You can then trade in this UK-issued PPL for another JAA-member-state issued PPL, but this is not a requirement.

As far as 1. is concerned, there are a few UK examiners on this forum (Bose-X comes to mind), who might be able to proctor the exams for you.

2. I would assume so. It's something I haven't checked in-depth, but to the best of my knowledge any ICAO compliant PPL training should count towards the issue of a JAR-FCL PPL to some extent. If you have 45 dual/35 PIC I would assume you're only going to need a few hours to regain currency and to get signed off on some required things you might not have done, and be ready for the exam. But honestly, this is probably something you should discuss with the school. Fax them your logbook pages and let them say what's required.

Also, I would not expect your course to take the full three-four weeks because of this. Maybe everything can be sorted in less than a week, even. And with the visa and TSA hassle, it might be a good option to book an intensive week in the UK, instead of the US.

[HighFlyer75]

Thanks very much Whopity and BackPacker.

BackPacker, I think that I will need more than a week. In Australia the PPL training is broken into 2 stages; the General Flying Progress Test (GFPT) deals with general aircraft handling and on completion you are authorised to fly solo and carry passengers within the training area of your airport. After that you do the navigation exercises (about 7 in all) and then do your PPL test. Unfortunately in my case, all of my flying was pretty much based around the training areas of whatever airport I happened to live closest to at the time and I never got around to completing the navigation exercises (and therefore the navigation training). So, I guess at the very least I would need to do the navigation component of the training before attempting the skills test.

E-mailing the school to get their advice is going to be my next step though so hopefully they can give me some more information.

Thanks again.