China

[Blade888]

Any FAA helicopter pilot currently flying in China? How painful is the conversion from Commercial FAA to CAAC?
I’m currently working for Airbus Helicopters in Singapore, instructing in their FFS and am interested in flying in China

[krautland]

I once spoke to a Chinese EC135 pilot who said it was possible to work for foreigners as long as they spoke Mandarin well enough to deal with ATC. But this is literally hearsay, sadly I can't point you to the exact regulations.

There supposedly is an american instructor working a Cabri G2 in Qinglong Wan, a small airfield near Hangzhou. The company's wechat is VinciHub. I also know a guy operating 139s in EMS and could potentially put you in touch. My wechat is krautland.

[gulliBell]

Any FAA helicopter pilot currently flying in China? How painful is the conversion from Commercial FAA to CAAC?
I’m currently working for Airbus Helicopters in Singapore, instructing in their FFS and am interested in flying in China

1. Foreigners need to be sponsored by a Chinese Company to work in China.
2. You really need to be fluent in Mandarin if you want to fly within China.
3. Licensing should be no drama, but the medical can be troublesome.
4. I am not aware of any Chinese helicopter operators using non-Mandarin speaking foreign pilots. Not including SkyShuttle (Macau) or Heliservices (Hong Kong).
5. The Chinese operators tend to select and sponsor Chinese nationals for helicopter pilot training overseas to fulfill their pilot requirements.
6. There is a Chinese helicopter pilot training organization in ZhuHai using FFS, but they do not hire foreigners any more.

[Blade888]

gulliBell,
Thanks for the info. Airbus Helicopters is opening a new operation in Chonging and I've been asked about the possibility of transferring there to do MX checks on our helicopters. I'm an American with FAA certs so I'm most interested in converting my CPL (H) to CAAC. The only information I'm finding is old, ATP based and seems to involve a very painful written exam.

[Blade888]

Thanks krautland, I just sent you a request via wechat.

[Fareastdriver]

Airbus wont be opening the operation on their own; they will have a Chinese partner. The Chinese partner will do the inviting for a foreign pilot and depending on their experience with foreign pilots may be able to guide you through the licensing procedure.

There is, as far as I know a small operation in Chongqing but I cannot think of one that is big enough to cater for heavy maintenance.

The difficulty is going to be with the CPL(H) level. CAAC ALTP(H) is fairly straightforward once you learn how to get through the hoops. The company I worked for took on a CPL once but trying to get him through the Mandarin only exams proved too difficult.

I have a feeling that Citic Helicopters may be the one that would tie up with Airbus as they already do the heavy maintenance on the PLA's Harbin Z9s (Dauphin).

[gulliBell]

gulliBell,
...Airbus Helicopters is opening a new operation in Chonging and I've been asked about the possibility of transferring there to do MX checks on our helicopters...

Don't worry about it, your sponsor will take care of what's required on the CAAC licensing aspect (assuming those helicopters are on the B- register).