EASA Aircraft

[likair]

I've got a question regarding which EASA and non EASA Aircraft one can fly with an EASA Licence.

All civil aircraft registered in the Member States of the EU are "EASA aircraft", unless:

they are carrying out activities on behalf of the State, such as military, customs or police


If an EASA CPL holder is flying a military aircraft in one of the EU Member State, would that be appropriate to use the EASA licence and log the flight hours in the logbook?
Is this allowed or one has to convert his EASA licence to another form of licence (Military/police???) to be able to fly these so called "NON EASA Aircrafts"?

[zondaracer]

Military aircraft are typically operated according to the appropriate military regulations, which often times require specific internal training and certification processes, which are separate from EASA regulations. If a military certifies you to fly their aircraft, then often times this is separate from an EASA licensing process, but you can log it in your logbook. Many militaries don't issue licenses, but rather a "military pilot rating" or something similar. Don't confuse military regulation with civilian regulation.

[likair]

Hey zondaracer

Thanks a lot for your response.

I was wondering whether there is a specific licence that lets military/custom/police flight crew to operate with. I reckon there is something like an FAA CPL (Military). What about EASA? CAP 804 doesn't really mention anything about this? Correct me if I am wrong.

I am aware that military is not to be confused with civilian regulations. And that what I am looking for; more information about military/police/custom regulations....

[zondaracer]

Well, let me give you an example about the US...

In the USA, military pilots are trained from 0 by the military. When they are "winged" (aka finish training), they are recognized as pilots by the military. They do not need any FAA license. Military aviation is not regulated by the FAA in the US. The military makes their own regulations. Therefore, a military pilot can operate a military aircraft but does not need to technically hold an FAA license, because the military has deemed within their own regulation that these individuals can fly their aircraft. In some cases, civilians are allowed to fly military aircraft (usually contractors) and the military regulation allows this in certain cases, but there is no specific "military commercial license".

As for police/CBP in the US, in most cases they hold an FAA license. There is an exception, and it is called public use aircraft. Public use aircraft in the US are former military aircraft that are sold or given to other government entities such as police, and they are not certified by the FAA. The police forces which receive these aircraft are responsible for developing their own regulation for operating these aircraft... everything from pilot certification (so technically a pilot doesn't need an FAA license but they need to have some sort of recognition and certification, but by default the easiest way to handle this is to require an FAA license), all the way to maintenance and operation of the aircraft (and the easiest way to handle this is to develop regulations that mirror the FARs).

I can't speak to each specific country in Europe, but most countries' military pilots do not receive any kind of EASA license to operate their aircraft, and EASA is not even involved. In some cases they do, but this is usually in addition to a military certification. The reason why police and customs are added to this list is because some countries have military police/gendarmes/paramilitary. They have a police force which is technically a military, such as the Carabinieri of Italy or the Guardia Civil of Spain (the Guardia Civil also handles customs in Spain). In some countries with these militarized police, the pilots are certified the same way military are certified... which means no civilian license is required to operate the aircraft. As a side note, many non-militarized police forces that operate aircraft usually require an EASA civilian license. Just go to any Bristol Groundschool class, and it is not uncommon to see military pilots who have several hundred hours flying helicopters, C-130s, fast jets, and more who are trying to obtain their civilian EASA license. Their experience is valued and taken into consideration when they are issued an EASA license, but they must still take the 14 written exams if they don't have the experience requirements to meet the military exemption rules. EASA does not regulate the licensing of military pilots to fly military aircraft, hence why you won't find anything in CAP 804.

Have a read through these requirements for military pilots trying to get a civilian EASA license...
ATPL for Military Pilots | Bristol Groundschool (http://www.bristol.gs/easa-atpl-exemptions-for-military-raf-pilots/)