FAA Hour Building

[Gomrath]

Should be no different than flying on a JAR license as far as cost is concerned.
You either check around the Flight Schools to see if they are happy to rent to a FAA cert holder (some can be picky) or you look for a N reg for hire.

[flybywire380]

Hi All,

I would appreciate some advice on the cheapest way to hour build in the UK on an FAA licence please? Any ideas would be great ....

Thanks very much.

[zondaracer]

Most skydive operations require a commercial pilot certificate. A skydive pilot should be getting paid.

The exception that I see is if your good friend is a skydiver and you want him to jump from your plane. Think of it this way, if the skydiver wasn't going to pay to jump, for example friend-to-friend basis, then maybe you could do it. But most skydiving ops and drop zones are for-profit or clubs where members are paying some sort of load fee.

[flybywire380]

Gomrath - Thanks very much for the reply.

I was more looking for ideas to get around paying for flying hours; i.e. parachute dropping on an FAA licence, and if that would work.

Any ideas along these lines would be appreciated.

[flybywire380]

zondaracer - thanks for your input. The skydive route is one I've been looking at. As you mention, a CPL is most likely required, however it is still legal on an FAA licence as long as I'm not paid. I think it is a case of finding a club that is willing to let a pilot fly for free!

[zondaracer]

There are two issues at hand regarding skydive pilot operations:

1. Legal - just because you don't get monetary compensation does not necessarily mean that you can do it on a PPL. Be very careful.

From skydive magazine
Flying jumpers without a commercial certificate

Q. I think the answer to the question printed in Skydiving #219 about the pilot training required for jump operations was incomplete.

It is true that a commercial pilot certificate is required if the pilot is to be compensated for the flight.

But it's also true that a commercial rating is required if the passengers pay for the flight or if the flight took place for commercial purposes. One litmus test that the FAA uses is, "Would this flight have occurred if the passengers did not pay for the ride?" Rarely would a jump operation pass this test and be permitted to use a private pilot to fly a load.

Passengers are allowed to "share" in the cost of the flight but the question remains. And since the FAA is the prosecutor, the judge, and the jury, in their own court system, they rarely lose. The moral of the story is that even in a club environment, the pilot should hold a commercial certificate and of course the appropriate rating(s). -- Mark R. Williams, New Brunswick, N.J.

A. Just paying for a flight doesn't automatically make it commercial in the FAA's definition of the word. A passenger may pay something towards the direct costs of the flight; he may share certain costs with the pilot. The pilot of a Cessna 182 could, for instance, let people jump from it providing he or she wasn't compensated (paid beyond a portion of the direct costs) for the flight, even if the pilot held only a private certificate.

The pilot and jumpers could split the cost of the fuel, however, and other direct operating costs.

As Williams notes, our sport in the U.S. is almost exclusively pursued at commercial centers, so rarely would a pilot not need a commercial certificate to carry skydivers. At a for-profit DZ, even if the pilot isn't paid, the aircraft owner or operator is. The FARs require a commercial certificate in those situations.

But private pilots may, in some situations, legally haul skydivers.
Skydiving Magazine Queries from December 1999 (http://www.skydivingmagazine.com/questions/ques12.htm#Flying%20jumpers%20without%20a%20commercial%20cer tificate)

2. Moral - like I said, most sky diving ops are paying jobs, and you should be getting paid, not doing it for free. Even if you meet the requirement of a CPL. I know how I would feel if a Pilot came willing to work for free and I lost my job as a result.

[aviatorhi]

Skydiving will 9 times out of 10 require a CPL, Glider Towing on the other hand, does not. Might be worth looking into, especially if you can parlay it into a glider rating as well.

[flybywire380]

aviatorhi - thanks very much for that info; 'will definitely look into that.

Cheers,
fbw380

[Gomrath]

Glider Towing on the other hand, does not
Most glider towing clubs in the UK require that the individual made it up through the ranks of gliding before considering him/her as a tug pilot. Happy to be proven wrong though!

Out of interest, how did you end up with only a FAA cert when based in the UK?
Presumably you got the cert here in the US?

[flybywire380]

Most glider towing clubs in the UK require that the individual made it up through the ranks of gliding before considering him/her as a tug pilot. Happy to be proven wrong though!

--- Will try and prove you wrong!

Yes, you're right I did do my flying in the US.