Hi,

I hope someone can help.

I will be starting a type rating this summer with an airline, however my IR expires in two weeks time. Do I need a valid IR to start a type rating?

Thanks,

Irish Roll

Hi

It can depend on the airline, they may want the IR to be current, however, assuming you are being type rated on a multi crew aircraft then it isn't actually a requirement.

By the end of the type rating you will have a Multi Crew IR, but you can't then jump into a Seneca and fly airways. You will need to revalidate your Single Pilot Multi-Engine IR to do this.

Best of luck with the type rating!

Le-Slat

If you are going to be doing a Multi Pilot Type Rating and it is your first Multi Pilot Type Rating then a valid multi-engine IR is a requirement in the UK (and I guess in the rest of JAR land).

Lasors Section F4.1 refers

Many thanks for the replies.

Does the rule on first type rating apply to Ireland and other European countries or is a current IR only required for UK?

Best regards,

Irish Roll

I called the CAA about this a while ago and they said that the instrument rating needs to be valid but not necessarily current. In other words it cannot have expired. So the IR can lapse but not to the extent that you need to do a retest with a CAA examiner.

zero

So , for instance if you did an IR in ,say Jul 2002 and miraculously got a job, does this make the IR valid but not current? I can't afford to renew mine at the moment!!

To keep your IR current, you will need to do either short test (easier than initial) or have completed certain criteria. (no. of sectors and approaches)...each year.

You do not have ot do this each year if you are skint or have no job. However if you leave this longer than 5 (or is it 7) years, you will need to meet a CAAFU examiner again!

Similar applies to class ratings. 2 years for SEP 1 year for MEP. Either have thge experience to be signed off or short revalidation test!

Please feel free to correct if i have got some bits wrong.

Not true I'm afraid. Not under JAR anyway, which I assume is what we are talking about here since you mention CAAFU examiners.

Under JAR rules MEP can only be renewed/revalidated by test, not by experience.

Almost right. If you let you IR expire for 5 or more years you have effectively lost it and need to do your initial IR test again with CAAFU. If you let it expire for 7 years you've also lost your ATPL gound exam credits.

Correct, it will be valid until Jul 2008 (1 year + 5 years), but only current until Jul 2003.

For completeness:

JAR-FCL 1.250 - Type Rating, Multi Pilot - Conditions

(a) Pre-requisite for training: An applicant for the first type rating for a multi -pilot aeroplane type shall:

(1) have at least 100 hours as PIC of aeroplanes;
(2) have a valid multi-engine instrument rating (A).

(b) Training for additional multi-pilot type ratings require a valid multi-engine instrument rating.

Cheers

zero-lash is correct. I know at least 2 guys who have just started an A320 Type Rating course with a UK TRTO. Both of them did their last IR renewal in December 2002, so their rating is not "current" anymore but still "valid".

MF

IRR/Zero/Manflex
Thanks for taking the time to reply - most informative and much appreciated!!