Use of Uni Air Squadron flying towards PPL

[pipercam]

Hi,

I was on the Uni Air Squadron last year and flew about 40 hours. Unfortunately medical circumstances meant I couldn't join the RAF but I am still keen to get my PPL.

Does anyone know if the hours are directly transferable to actively working towards my PPL or will they just count as extra hours after completing PPL? (which is a bonus anyway!)

Many thanks

[BEagle]

Any flight time conducted with a QFI on SEP Class aircraft will count towards a PPL or NPPL. However, any 'air experience' flying with a non-QFI will not - it is considered to be passenger flying.

You need to get your log book signed and certified by your OC, indicating how much was flying training time with a QFI and how much was 'air experience' flying.

A minor plus is that the Grob Tutor will also give you a 'VP' (variable pitch prop) endorsement, which is non-expiring for SEP Class ratings.

Once you've done that, either copy each entry into a new 'civil' personal flying log book, or simply carry the total forward into the civil log book. But you will still need to submit both to the CAA when you ultimately apply for your PPL.

[pipercam]

Many thanks BEagle, very helpful.

[Trim Stab]

If UAS still log only airborne time, you may be able to add time (ten minutes) to each flight, as civilian flying is logged from blocks off to blocks on. You would need to check with the CAA on the exact regulation nowadays.

[BEagle]

Trim Stab, there is no point in bothering the CAA with such trivia as the answers can be found in LASORS.

If the hours are logged in a civil personal flying logbook, they should be logged from 'chocks away' to 'chocks under'. If logged in a military flying logbook, the flight time is recorded from the beginning of the take-off roll to the end of the landing roll.

It is possible to request a retrospective 'taxy time allowance' for certain purposes, but there is a limit. An ex-UAS pilot would need to transfer all his/her flights into a civil personal flying logbook flight-by-flight in order to log the full 'civil' flight time. But this is a complete and utter PITA and the hassle involved for a low hours pilot simply isn't worth it.

pipercam, you're very welcome. Why don't UASs give out this information these days - are they too busy with their 'Strength through Joy' activities to remember that flying is the top priority?

[Trim Stab]

Thanks for the clarification Beagle, but

An ex-UAS pilot would need to transfer all his/her flights into a civil personal flying logbook flight-by-flight in order to log the full 'civil' flight time. But this is a complete and utter PITA and the hassle involved for a low hours pilot simply isn't worth it.

Up to him, but I would think it well worthwhile starting a new logbook and adding the reglemented taxi allowance to each flight. IIRC, it is ten minutes, so if he has (say) fifty hours and fifty flights, that adds another 500 minutes, or approximately eight hours. That's quite a lot of money saved if hours-building for subsequent civilian qualifications.

I always recommend students who envisage becoming professional pilots to start from scratch with a good quality logbook (eg Jeppesen) rather than those PPL logbooks issued by the aeroclubs.

[BEagle]

Adding the 'standard taxi-time allowance' to a civil logbook is not permitted for CAA licence issue purposes. The CAA will allow 5% of total military time, but no more than 10 hours for CPL issue; no allowance is stated for PPL issue. See Appendix B to Section A of LASORS 2008 'Recording of Military Flying Times – Taxi-time allowances'.

However, if a student has faithfully logged all his/her military flights in a civil personal flying logbook in accordance with civil requirements, then that is a different matter.

Going back through all the auth sheets to extract the take-off and landing times for each and every trip, then working out the 'off chocks' and 'on chocks' times is a complete and utter PITA and frankly not worth the effort.

[Duncan D'Sorderlee]

BEagle,

The UAS do tell their studes what fg counts towards NPPL - at least they did on mine! I'm sure that pipercam was very busy with his university work and missed those details

Duncs

[Dan Winterland]

I encouraged my students to keep a separate log book for blocks times, although I didn't do it myself. I knew one RAF pilot who kept a separate logbook for a long career and his hours were considerably greater. Ironicly, he never left to join an airline!

LASORs allows factoring, but remember that this only works for British operators. I work for an overseas airline who don't recognise notional taxying time. It can make a difference, I bumped up my total about 400 hours on leaving through the allowance, just short of 10%. But this is probably nothing like the actual time spent taxying. Some international airports keep you on the ground for ages. One short sector I flew regularly on leaving the RAF, frequently had us logging more time on the ground than the air! And when it comes to getting jobs and commands, ex military pilots at a definate disadvantage compared to their civilian counterparts.

[McDuff]

The Message

pipercam, you're very welcome. Why don't UASs give out this information these days - are they too busy with their 'Strength through Joy' activities to remember that flying is the top priority?

They do, BEagle, but it's possible that pipercam has forgotten. Indeed, it's part of the recruiting message.

But more to the point, all pipercam has to do is get in touch with the staff on the UAS ...