EASA LAPL (A) or CAA NPPL

[CSCOT]

Hi,

EASA LAPL (A) or CAA NPPL - What is the significant difference, if any, and can I ask my training school to do EASA LAPL (A) with me if they only seem to be 'clued up' on PPL/NPPL?

Had first flight in 5 years yesterday - basically going to start again after a few hours training towards PPL in 2010 which I had to give up after a sudden death in the family.

Now it seems the regulatory landscape has changed quite a bit, and that it seems the EASA LAPL (A) has more 'perks'; never expires if you keep current, can be used Europe-wide etc etc.

And further off-topic - my books from 5 years ago talk about the quadrantal rule for flights above transition level, but through a chance conversation my FI tells me this no longer exists either? Making me not trust my books that I have and now thinking I need to bin them and buy new ones...opinions?

Thanks

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Making me not trust my books that I have and now thinking I need to bin them and buy new ones...opinions?
Air Law might change, but the laws of physics don't.

[xrayalpha]

Welcome back to the skies!

Answer: get both!

Reasons: There is a lot of complex stuff, but you want options. To put it simply, if you pass all the exams etc for the NPPL, then adding a LAPL will only cost you a c£85 paperwork fee until Easter 2017.

(for fairness, you might also need a different medical)

After 2017, to hire a "spam can" (or to use proper technology, an EASA Annexe 1 aircraft - ie anything with a Certificate of Airworthiness), you will need an EASA licence: this is where the LAPL comes in.

To fly a homebuilt aircraft - your typical LAA types such as we have at Strathaven (come on down and have a look, you might be surprised!) and what most PPL holders can aspire to if they want to own an aircraft - then the NPPL is fine.

The other issue is keeping the licence/rating current.

With the NPPL, it is valid for 24 months. You have a certain number of hours to do, some of them must be in the second year of validity, and a minimum 60 min instructional flight.

To use an extreme example, once you NPPL is valid, you could not fly for one year and 364-ish days and then go for a legal flight.

For the LAPL, there is a rolling validity. So you have to check before each flight that you have the 12 hours in the past two years and the hour's refresher flight with an instructor.

From the CAA:

***************

To be able to fly you must have completed, in the two years before any intended flight, a total of 12 hours as pilot in command of an aircraft covered by your LAPL(A) privileges in addition to 1 hour of refresher training with a flight or class training instructor.

If you haven't completed these 13 hours in the last two years, you must rectify the situation before flying again under your own privileges.

If you are merely lacking the hour of training with an instructor in the past 2 years, you are allowed to complete that task to restore your own personal validity (assuming you still have 12 hours pilot in command time in the previous 2 years by the time you wish to fly again).

If you lack some of the pilot in command hours in the previous 2 years, you can either opt to complete a proficiency check, and take a flight test with a flight examiner, or you can build your solo hours as though you were flying as a student pilot in command. To do this, you'll need to contact an ATO and be signed out for solo unaccompanied pilot in command flights by a qualified instructor within the ATO. In practice this may require some dual flights before the instructor and ATO is willing to authorise the flight to start building your pilot-in-command hours. Once you have built sufficient hours in the previous 2 years to satisfy the LAPL validity rules, you can once again fly under your own privileges.

****************

What the CAA don't say is you can use your NPPL to get the hours to revalidate your LAPL!

Take the situation above, where you had completed all your NPPL revalidation stuff three months before the NPPL was due to expire. Then you get your NPPL reval signed off so it is valid for two full years from its expiry date.

Over the next 25 months, you only fly 11 hours in a light aircraft, so your LAPL is now invalid. You either need a proficiency check or a supervised solo flight - says the CAA. But you also have an NPPL, so you go for an hour's bimble using that and your LAPL is valid again!

Well worth the £85-odd extra, I would say. Although if you really were rusty, an hour or two with an instructor might not be that bad a thing!

[mrmum]

The theory exams have changed significantly since 2010, some text books will be very out of date.
There have been a lot of changes as we transition to EASA regulation, air law and operational procedures probably more than the rest. I'd definitely get the latest book for those. The other text books are probably okay, but get up to date exam revision material for everything, whether that's books or online.

If you want to do the LAPL, but your school doesn't know much about it, I'd say that's pretty poor and go find another training establishment that does. However, I agree with XA, go for a LAPL medical, then get a NPPL with SSEA class rating, which you can then use to apply for a LAPL.

[CSCOT]

Thanks XA for the comprehensive reply. Clever loophole! I gues only works until NPPLs can no longer be used for a EASA 'CofA' a/c in c.2018.(?).

On the other hand I guess from a safety and currency perspective the rolling currency requirement is safer for low time / irregular pilots by giving an incentive to keep flying and have 2-yearly 'checkride', else have to go through onerous process with a ATO to revalidate.

Tell me more about Strathaven / LAA aircraft - I'm green in such matters although somewhat aware of Light Aircraft Association and less onerous certification requirements on aircraft - can you train towards NPPL / LAPL (A) on LAA certified types?

[CSCOT]

Thanks for that - timely advice considering I'm sitting here right now working my way through the Jeremy M Pratt Air Law, Operational Procedures and Comms 3rd edition 2010 version.

It may have been harsh of me to say that they weren't 'clued up' as I'm sure as professional instructors they do know all about the ins and outs of the training and licensing schemes - just for the short time I was there I didn't see, hear or read anything about EASA (I had been doing some refresher reading online before delving back in to flying), and talk was of just 'PPL' which I probably took to mean the original JAR-FCL PPL (A) that I started back in 2010 at a school over East. It's me that needs 'clued up' not them.

I actually have no real need or desire to gain a licence in any timeframe, or even at all - I just want a hobby and as a bit of a weirdo I enjoy training courses. If I get a licence as a result at some point in future then it's a bonus.

Anyway I'll do some research online and get myself a new book or 6 (!). I had a clear out about 2 years ago and junked, ebayed or gave away a whole bunch of stuff, including my original logbook, flight-bag, headset, computer, knee board and a complete set of Oxford Aviation CD-ROMs.

I wish i had kept some of that stuff now....!

And now to find a different thread to post a newbie-style question on VOR/DME...