checking out another pilot on a grouped aircraft
 

If an experienced pilot no longer has a licence, is it legal for him to check out another pilot on a grouped aircraft where the less experienced one is P1 in the UK

Is the pilot being checked able to operate the aircraft as P1, i.e. with all appropriate licences, ratings and (where required) differences training?

If any instruction is being given then the person giving it should hold the appropriate certificate, licence, rating and medical.

So, for what purpose is the person being checked being checked?

Then legally he is a passenger and cannot exercise any of the privileges that may have been included in previous licences.

The pilot being checked out has the relevant complex type etc but is not experienced on the aircraft concerned. He could just jump into it and go wants to take the 'experienced passenger' for safety. When I joined a Yak 18T group years ago I was checked out by another PPL member of the syndicate. Is that not legal now because of the requirement for differences training? When was differences training introduced?

If the aircraft is an SEP Class variant which does NOT include items for which formal differences training is specified in the Aircrew Regulation or UK ANO (e.g. a Cessna 152 pilot who wants to be 'checked out' on a Cherokee), then variant familiarisation may be given by another pilot who is familiar with the variant in question.

If 'differences training' is mandated for the new variant (e.g. a Warrior pilot who wants to be 'checked out' on a Turbo Arrow), then differences training must be given by an instructor qualified to fly that variant.

He is therefore no longer a Pilot.
So if insurance or anybody else requires a "pilot" to do the familiarization or conversion or check-out this individual does not qualify.

I agree with Duchess and BEagle.

I'd also however make a point of questioning whether this is at all wise. Most aircraft types, it's not hard to find a suitably competent and qualified instructor - to save a few tens or hundreds of pounds, is it really big or clever to use somebody without current qualifications in such a role?

It is also well known that instructors have been trained and qualified to both monitor flying standards, give structured advice on how to fly an aeroplane, and take over when pilots make mistakes in a smooth and competent manner. A non-instructor pilot may "accidentally" have those skills, but most will not, and the owner certainly has little assurance of that.

Of course, things can vary. A 1000hr PPL with 200hrs on an obscure type that few instructors have ever heard of may well be the best person to do a checkout. Sometimes.

G