revalidating my ATPL from 2003
 

Hello fellow colleagues,

in 2003, after years of flying with my Canadian ATPL, I left Canada to pursue my aviation career in Europe.
I acquired my JAR ATPL and now have both.
The Canadian ATPL however has expired back in 2003. My European one
is still valid since I currently fly the LR 60 as PIC.
What would I have to do in order to re - validate my Canadian license?
Will a "simple" check ride suffice or would I have to pass some form of written exam?
Thanks for your informative replies and many safe landings!!

Revalidation
 

I inquired with TCCA and there has been no changes since I did this last. As long as you have proof that you've completed an LPC every year on type and have remained current, all you have to do is produce the paperwork and you won't have to write the INRAT exams.

If you don't have the paper-trail...time to study!

Hope that helps.

I made a few calls on a similar question. I was out of Aviation for over 10 years, however I have a US ATP and all that it requires is an instrument proficiency check ride... Technically, then all I would need is a IFR renewal or a PPC with an IFR to be back in the Canadian saddle.

Transport told me in that no, even with a current US IFR, that would not allow me to escape re-writing the Inrat.

It makes you aware of how fragile our system is, a number of countries will let you off writing their IFR exam even if you don't touch an airplane for 30 years or so.

The American system assumes you don't forget the material and Canada is one of the few that require the instrument written "INRAT" if you don't use your IFR for two years.

I sat down and studied it and thought I was ready, but changed a few answers , a fatal mistake and got 68%... That brought me back to earth, that I had learned some areas and had not adapted my brain to the changes.

It was time to put aside all the classic texts and go to some software based exams that really test your knowledge and provide all the text book references.

I spent another month of so on it and I know I'll pass it next time but the point is, that INRAT exam is a really good check list of stuff you need to know and ought to know and if you don' know it you can end up in problems when rare situations arise.

It's also changing constantly and appears to have new questions put in the barrel while others have never changed for decades.

I used to regard INRAT as an english comprehension exam rather than one on IFR but, if you do the software based preparation, it will give you the practice you need to see how stupid we (I) can be when it comes to reading comprehension.

I enjoyed that study and would encourage TC to offer practice exams as a way of doing recurrent training.

The FAA , the US system offers a lot of on going training that you don't see in other countries including Canada and it's a attitude to currency and or recurrent training that other countries could follow.

Do the INRAT for the hell of it. Its well worth the $35 you pay for writing the exam, and that raises the question of how do they justify $35 fee for sitting a computerized exam.

From a practical standpoint I found flying under FAA Part 91 made the most sense for me, especially considering the fact that flying in Canada was right on the bottom of my wish to do list......so writing their exams really would not have helped me in any way I could think of.

It is interesting to know there are pilots out there who find written exams fun though. :O

Revalidating my ATPL from 2012
 

Hi,
The last time I flew on my license was 2011 or so. The opportunity to reuse my licenses (US and Canadian ATPL) or should I say to fly a turboprop, possibly a Piaggio or maybe a Falcon 50 may be in the offing, so my guess is I have to rewrite the INRAT exam and then get my rating back.

I am not going to be flying commercially, but in a privately owned and operated aircraft.

So what are the choices for exam prep for the Canadian INRAT?