Conversion of Australian ATPL to French equivalent

[pullpowa]

G'day all,

I am an Australian pilot. I hold an ICAO CPL with Multi Engine Command Instrument Rating (3 renewals)

Total hours 2,000
ME command 900
ATPL (A) held

Primarily I am flying Piper Chieftain PA31 on IFR tasking throughout Central Australia.

My wife is French and therefore i have right of abode within the EU, however I do not understand the requirements to convert my licence and allow me to fly in Europe.

I would appreciate help with repsect to the requirements to convert my licence and also how to go about the process of searching for jobs. Any leads, companies etc.

Merci Beaucoup pour votre assistance!

:) :(

[eaglejet]

Hi Pullpowa,

The first thing to consider would be your french language level. If you are not fluent in french, don't think about finding a job in France.

Second thing, the licence conversion pocess is a really long and hard way in France (the french civil aviation is a real pain in the ass (sorry Flyblue;) for that!!)

Maybe you should consider doing it in UK where it would be easier.

For further informations go and check the DGAC website (gdac.fr i think)

cheers!!

[flying masai]

The JAR are in force in Europe now, You can convert your licence in any country of the following:
danemark/UK/Islande/Netherland/Sweden/Belgium/Spain/Finlan/Irland and switzerland.
The licences provided by an other country will not allowed you to fly plane register in France.

Procedure:

You will need to seat for the written exams (12 with your experience). Flying part quiet easy with your total time.
France's exams are in French.

It will take you from 5 months to two years depending on your motivation.

Contact each civil aviation authority for details, some of the country mention above are not ready yet for the JAR exams.

Good Luck.

[PorcoRosso]

Hello Oz boy !

I am not totally agreeing with all the comments above,
You don't need to speak french to work in France, if you plan to be hired by English or Irish airlines operating from Paris... It's obviously a different story to work for a french airline.
As you are from Australia, it sounds a good idea to undertake a JAR conversion in UK.
The bad news is that it's horribly expensive, wherever you go in Europe , whatever your experience is.

But good luck, and stay tuned on the French Forum to let us know about your conversion; as this question comes regularly, it could be very interesting to have a "live" report of the conversion process.

A bientôt

[jr of dallas]

I myself did the conversion thing from an Oz CPL/IR/ME (Navair Sydney) it's long and cost me around 30 000Au$ since I had to seat for all the french exams (ATPL) and to the conversion course of the time (1999) now it's slightly different , first you have to do a evaluation then training and tests.
To be honest if you don't speak french forget it although nowadays we speak Jar-Ops the french CAA (DGAC) still is reluctant to give pass unless you have significant hours on JAR/Far 25 aircraft done in an other Jar country (holland,GB,belgium,.......ect)


So maybe it would be better for you to see the conversion thing in GB


Ciao et bon courage

[pullpowa]

Thanks all for yourhelp and advice,

I figured despite all the claims to the contrary there is no standard uniform system. I guess the English option will be better in the longer term!

Geez what a racket we work in......:mad: :mad: :mad: