Flying in Australia with JAR-FCL PPL

[cheechm]

As far as I can see it, if I want to fly over there temporarily (less than 3 months) all I need to do is:

Fill in form 1162 to apply for an aviation reference number
Fill in form 523 for a certificate of validation
(Pay some fees, of course)

Does anyone have any experience of this?

[thing]

I looked into it a couple of years ago as I go out there for a month every year. I seem to remember you need to do their air law exam and do a trip or two with an instructor as well as all of the other niff naff paperwork, because you'll certainly crash if you don't fill out the correct paperwork. The thing that put me off was the :eek: moment when I looked at their hire fees...you think flying here is expensive?

[tecman]

Have a look at:

Civil Aviation Safety Authority - Converting foreign licences (http://www.casa.gov.au/scripts/nc.dll?WCMS:STANDARD::pc=PC_90024#special)

It's a pretty minimal process, although the security paperwork is a pain. Much the same all over the western world, unfortunately. Don't leave it too late to start the application.

If you do a bit of web searching, you'll usually find a school in each capital city that offers some expertise in helping foreign pilots to get airborne. Type for type, flying here is still less expensive than in most of Europe. The difference is that, until relatively recently, there has been no substantive equivalent to your LAPL. These days, many schools do both RA Aus and regular GA training and, for a short stay, an RA Aus option may well be cheaper if you have some experience in applicable (lighter) aircraft types. Have a look at the information on the RA Aus and various aero club sites. For example, the Bunbury Aero Club has some quite good summaries of various indicative aircraft options and prices.

Don't be put off by the process - I've enjoyed flying all around the world and have never regretted the effort to get the local licensing arranged.

[172driver]

Do a search on here. I've done it and written about it in some detail. The real problem is not the conversion per se, but the ASIC.

As thing says, the hiring charges are eye watering!

[tecman]

I'm not sure where you guys are looking to do your flying but if I compare some indicative private hire rates in the UK and Aust, I don't see why you're complaining. For example, one large UK flying organization quotes their PPL private hire rate for a C172 as GBP130 ph. At the Bunbury Aero Club I cited above as an example, the rate is AUD219 ph, or GBP120 at today's conversion rate. This assumes that you pay a small one-off amount to join the aero club but, even if you didn't, the rate is GBP148 ph - not as good a deal if you plan to do a few hours flying, but not ridiculous. (I assume that to go to the trouble of getting a foreign licence the idea would be to do a decent amount of flying).

I can't speak for the UK machine but I know the BAC aeroplanes are in nice condition. If you want to reduce the cost a bit, you could choose a 2-seat P2002 for GBP104 ph.

Pursuing an RA Aus option - which allows you to see a lot of Australia - gets you a nearly brand new Tecnam P92 for GBP98 ph.

The overall cost of flying for an individual has, of course, to be related to the cost of living and the disposable income in any given country. However, leaving that aside, I can't see that you're doing too badly just in terms of the direct currency conversion.

[Discorde]

I made enquiries about flying SEPs during a visit to Oz (currently holding EASA LAPL & Class 2 medical) and received this link (http://www.casa.gov.au/wcmswr/_assets/main/fcl/download/cov_requirements.pdf) from CASA. Too complicated and too expensive, I decided.

[cheechm]

I made enquiries about flying SEPs during a visit to Oz (currently holding EASA LAPL & Class 2 medical) and received this link from CASA. Too complicated and too expensive, I decided.

That's what I have decided too. It'd be fun, but too much red tape for about 5 hours of flying.

[Flocki82]

Hi,

getting the Certificate of Validation is quite straight forward and can be done completely in advance from home.

The thing, that really can be a showstopper is the ASIC, as at will take another nearly 2 weeks from your arrival until you have it in your hands. (not to mention all the red tape before)

However the ASIC is not required at every airport, only where there is regular public transport.

If you only want to do some shorter trips from bigger cities with pure GA-airports (e.g. Sydney/Bankstown over the harbour, into the blue mountains, along the coast to Brisbane/Archerfield, from Melbourne towards the twelve apostels, ...), you can get away without ASIC.

With some planning also amazing trips are already possible without ASIC (e.g. via Renmark to the Flinders Range).

However, once you come to the real outback, there are only few airports and where you can get fuel, most likely there is also RPT...

I did the complete exercise last year, if you need more info, I am happy to answer here or via PN.

Regards,
Florian