Who flies in the UK on a FAA PPL?

[LB1985]

I'm looking in to the possibility of getting myself a FAA PPL to fly both in the UK and the USA. I just wondered whether there are many people here who fly in the UK on an FAA PPL and whether they had encountered any problems. I gather it is perfectly legal to fly a G-reg aircraft over here on a FAA ticket. Has anybody experienced problems with flying clubs being reluctant to hire out aircraft to FAA PPL holders? Also, are there any recommended schools/clubs in the UK which offer the biennial flight review? Would the BFR have to be carried out in a N-reg aircraft?

[Shunter]

I can help in regards to the BFR at least... this can be done in a G-reg, providing the FI is dual licensed (ie. has JAA and FAA ratings).

[IO540]

This one comes up often. Does anybody have a reference as to why an instructor doing an FAA BFR in a G-reg needs to have a JAA Instructor Rating?

That is, assuming the BFR candidate has not yet expired therefore he can be legally PIC.

I know the JAA FI rating is required to accept money in UK airspace (ANO article 26 I think) so one would either have to not pay the instructor for the flying, or fly outside the UK FIR first.

But apart from the above, I can't see why an FAA CFI only cannot do a BFR in a G-reg.

To the original question: There are a fair few people flying G-reg on FAA PPLs but I think most of them are FAA IR holders. The ability to fly a G-reg on any ICAO PPL has not been general knowledge at all, and still isn't.

[LB1985]

Many thanks for the responses so far! I need to weigh up the pros and cons of FAA vs JAA, not an easy task it seems.

[IO540]

Many threads on here on that topic.

IMHO, the main plus for an FAA PPL is that one can go and do the FAA IR. Which in turn requires access to an N-reg plane to get the full IR privileges.

To just do an FAA PPL, would be because it's cheaper than the UK one. But America has seen big fuel cost rises and an FAA PPL is not as much cheaper as it used to be. Perhaps 1/2 the cost of a UK one, but very much depends on what sort of a dump you live in while out there, the value of taking time off, etc.

[englishal]

This one comes up often. Does anybody have a reference as to why an instructor doing an FAA BFR in a G-reg needs to have a JAA Instructor Rating?

I don't think they do, though they probably couldn't charge for the air element. In fact a bog standard JAA CPL who just happens to have a FAA CFI rating could probably even charge.

My friend did my BFR in my G reg, despite not holding JAA FI. Of course I didn't pay him, except in beer afterwards for the lift to the airfield

[Henry Hallam]

I rent G-reg aircraft in the UK on an FAA ticket. In my experience of 3 flight schools, they are a little reluctant and likely to insist on "UK differences training" (unnecessary IMO) but will rent you the aeroplane. They are more reluctant to let you take it outside of the UK, which you are perfectly entitled to do VFR, but again after explaining the letter of the law it was okay.

To be strictly legal you need to get a radiotelephony operator's licence (think that's what it's called) from the FCC, which takes a few minutes online and $20. This is the R part in ARROW which you need if you want to use your FAA ticket outside of US airspace.

[172driver]

There's another thing you can do, perhaps the best of both worlds:

Get yourself the FAA license first. This will include the NQ. Then, after some 150 hours PIC (or TT? not sure at the moment, check LASORS, there is also a minimum x-country element) you can convert said FAA license to a JAR license by doing a very much reduced set of tests, obviously including a flight test. Voila! You now have two stand alone licenses. Only downside is, to maintain both you need to fulfill the med and BFR requirements for both.

On the issue of an FAA instructor giving a BFR in a JAR a/c. I looked into this once (albeit not in the UK) and the answer was that a JAR CPL was good enough. He/she may not even need this if not paid for the BFR, as under FAA rules the student is PIC (same, btw, during you initial checkride).

HTH.

[IO540]

under FAA rules the student is PIC

My view on this is that an ab initio FAA PPL student is indeed PIC because he is flying on the privileges of his Student Pilot Certificate (normally issued by the FAA doctor on the initial medical).

But a pilot doing a BFR, who is out of date on his BFR, clearly cannot be PIC. If he could be PIC, there would be no point in needing the BFR.

In the FAA IR, this is taken care of by the student already having a valid PPL and the flight being actually in VMC.

Incidentally, and I don't have a reference for this but I think the FAA SPC is valid USA only - this would prevent an ab initio FAA PPL in the UK for example unless the student had some other license enabling him to be PIC.

[172driver]

IO, you may be right in the out-of-date scenario. However, I'm not even 100% sure of this, but don't have time now to dig into the FARs. I'm sure SoCal will be along shortly to sort this out

[LB1985]

Thanks for all the helpful replies! Now I need to make a decision, find a decent FTO (probably in the USA) and get the whole process started! Any recommendations?

[IO540]

Generally, Arizona is the place, due to 363/365 flyable days.

Pretty hot and turbulent in the summer though. The winter is bad enough - OK to fly in the mornings; less so in the afternoon.

Florida is most popular but is more risky re weather. Also, from recent reports, the schools are busy with large #s of Inidian students.

I've sent you a PM.

[172driver]

Southern California is great, as it exposes you to pretty much anything you will encounter later: coast, mountains, desert, variable weather, all sorts of airspace. Good place to learn.