JAA to FAA conversion

[windypops]

Hi

Can anyone recommend a school (probably in the States as it will be cheaper than the UK), where I can do a "non-stop FAA CPL/IR". Ideally I would like to turn up to one place and crack on with the whole training rather than doing bits here and there. I will need to do the CPL and IR exams too, but could do these in Farnborough if needed.

Thanks

[Jerry Lee]

I cannot understand what you really really want.
If you want to find a school for your FAA CPL and IR then there are some good schools like American Aviation Academy in San Diego, Skymates in Arlington or Chandler Air Service in Arizona.
If are looking for conversion then you can go in Iceland at Keilir Aviation Academy or in Sweden at Diamond Flight Academy. Czech Republic and Slovenia should also be cheap places for your conversion.

The thread's title is a bit confusing :S

[cirrus_]

before you sign up with a school, I would strongly advise meeting the instructor to make sure your happy with he/she as if you get some one you dont get along with the results can be devistating!!

[windypops]

Apologise for any confusion.

I live in Europe and have a JAA licence (1200 hours) and I am looking to get an FAA one too.

What I'm trying to avoid is having to go to different places to get different parts of the process completed. I will admit that I know very little of the FAA system, is it even possible to do everything at one provider?

[zondaracer]

Yup, it can all be done in one place. In fact, under the rules, anybody with the appropriate flight instructor ratings and access to an airplane could do the training for you, but if you don't have the appropriate documents (such as US citizenship or green card or appropriate visa), you would have to go through a school approved to get you a visa for training. But most schools in the US would be able to get you where you needed in a relatively short amount of time, depending on personal ability.

There are also hundreds of testing facilities around the US where you can do your knowledge tests (theory tests). Many of them are actually located at the schools.
CATS Testing - Site Search (http://www.catstest.com/search/)
PSI Online - FAA Exams (http://www.lasergrade.com/psi-faa.html)

Just have a look...

[born4flying]

Buddy, I have a ICAO CPL with 225 hours and multi IR. I am also going for a B737 type in a month. I wanted to get a standalone FAA CPL. Any idea about the requirements (i.e hours i need to fly ) ?

[Tinstaafl]

You lack the hours for an FAA CPL. It's 250 hrs needed or 190 hrs if trained under Part 141 ie the equivalent of CAP509/integrated. Note that CAP 509 or integrated and the like aren't under Part 141 (how can they be? They're a different authority's set of rules) so wouldn't meet the criteria to gain the 141 reduced hours benefit. At best you could get a PPL for now. If you wanted to include an FAA B737 type rating at the same time then it would be limited to private operations. That private ops limit will remain even if you subsequently get an FAA CPL or ATPL later, unless you do another checkride to get the type rating amended to include CPL or ATPL.

You really need to check your hours against Part 61 of the FARs. Don't forget the subdivisions for the various types of hours that must be included *and* the criteria to credit certain flights eg what exactly counts as X-country time for the purposes of meeting CPL minimum experience requirements, minimum distance flights etc.

[zondaracer]

Born4flying,

Reference FAR 61.123 and FAR 61.129
FAR Part 61 Sec. 61.129 effective as of 10/20/2009 (http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgFar.nsf/FARSBySectLookup/61.129!OpenDocument&ExpandSection=-3)

You need 250 hours total time, plus some other requirements.

[a320renewal]

this post proves a point:

with our super JAA licenses at 100'000 euro(I have one taking the dust)or more and which suppose to be the best in the world, yes the BEST, we are now just good to convert to FAA certificate and look for a job outside of Europe if we want fly and be paid.

there is no easy way, once you have the FAA, you need to have a green card or US citizenship, and nobody is going to give you a work permit.
Still the FAA is highly appreciated outside of europe, guess why? : Money saved for employers, by ex.:one flight review covers everything, type ratings are cheaper, and certificates are valid FOR LIFE for 2$ administration fee , YES 2$:eek: !and no damn 5 years expiration dates like food or renewals every year!

Now I see our legislators comfortably sitting in their JAA offices trying to crack down on EU pilots flying "N" aircraft in Euroland thinking they will create jobs when these same guys let P2F trainings to destroy our noble profession:ugh:.

They destroy on one side, to rebuild on the other side, what's the point? to tax for paperwork , (i eared the new EASA charges 300 euro of admin fee to convert your JAA certif) ???Please notice that the FAA is still here and still the same (except they changed from paper to plastic certificates a few years ago), when Europe is constantly changing their laws.

Jealousy?or incompetence from our EU governments? probably both.!but I am sure of something, we can not continue like this.And even if we change the way we controll our countries to change our life style , how long is going to take? and how much?and finally, the most important question : are people ready for a real change?

[born4flying]

oops. Sorry guys. Totally forgot about FAA needing 250 hrs for CPL.
Well, if I do 50 hours now , and then come to USA, will my initial 200 hours done for ICAO CPL (About 3 years back ) count? Will that total 250 count towards issue of FAA CPL?

[zondaracer]

Yes, your hours will count, as long as you logged them according to FAA rules.

[Cobalt]

Adding to zondaracer:

FAA rules on time logging time are quite different, you will have to go through your logbook and add them up in the FAA way. In particular, they will want cross-country and Solo times added up separately for their forms, which you would not log separately in EASA-land.

- Solo means alone in the aircraft, and implies PIC

- Cross country means a flight with a landing at least 50NM (straight line distance) away from the place you started

- PIC, in addition to the obvious, also includes all training if you are rated for the aircraft and you are actually flying the thing [only the aircraft rating is required, nothing else]

Also check all the other CPL prerequisites in detail. For example, the 300 NM cross-country flight must be done SOLO. See 61.129 for the list.

[plikee]

@ a320renewal

Please, stop spreading your negative and moaning comments about JAA and Europe .. Every time you reply at a thread is always complaining about your JAA license :mad:

[Genghis the Engineer]

@ a320renewal

Please, stop spreading your negative and moaning comments about JAA and Europe .. Every time you reply at a thread is always complaining about your JAA license :mad:

Possibly some people are just unemployable in any regime, but need somebody else to blame.

G

[MarkerInbound]

Tinstaafl,

That used to be the FAA's policy on type ratings. I carried a DC-3 type at the commercial level for a few years after I got my ATP until I did another checkride in a Three. Now the FAA says since you will be held to ATP standards during a type rating checkride no matter what level of certificate you hold, when you get a higher level certificate your type ratings advance to the higher level without another checkride.

And a320renewal's 2 dollar fee is only if you want a new certificate issued. Your FAA certs are good for life (please read the fine print) at no cost.

[Tinstaafl]

Well, that's good & sensible news from the FAA. And so it should be. Mind you, my original licencing is from Oz where all qualifications held (ratings, endorsements etc) are 'dragged upwards' with each higher licence issue.


Even though I now hold FAA ATPs for SEL/SES/MEL, multi instructor & advanced ground instructor, and a copilot type rating, I still find the FAA's compartmentalised system a bit odd. Fancy a system where you can have, for example, PPL privileges on a single engine land plane, CPL privileges for single engine sea, and ATP privileges on multi engine sea - and not have CPL & ATP privileges for SEL or MEL.

[born4flying]

Thank you cobalt :) it helped

[jayc004]

OK,

lets get back to the thread. If you have a APTL unfrozen with more then 1500 TT and want to convert to FAA, what is the process.
As far as I can tell, you have to;
-Submit your forms to the FAA for a foreign licence validation
-Submit a load of forms to CAA and pay them (of course!)
(This step is only required if you have an UK CAA ATPL - JAA other states not required as the validation is done by the FAA in house).
-Post a photocopy of you licence and medical along with the application form to the FAA office stated on the form in the USA
-Wait until you have notification of the completed application processing
(can be sent by post of fax by all accounts)
-Go to the nominated FSDO office in your nominated States in America to collect the licence (and I guess give them money and show hard copies of details???)
-Sit the FAA ATP written exam in either the USA, or come back to the Europe and sit them in an approved FAA exam centre.
-If you have a type rating on you JAA ATPL, you can then do another sim ride with an FAA examiner on the same type, which will then validate your FAA ATP to be a full type rated licence.

This is as far as I can understand the full process of getting a A320 rated JAA ATPL into a full unrestricted commercial FAA ATP A320 licence.

Please correct me if I am incorrect as getting correct information from the correct department in the FAA is like trying to talk Chinese to an Italian!!:ugh: