N-Registered or F-Register Plane in Spain

[SpainCub]

Hello,

I just got my PPL JAA(well itīs not physically here but should arrive any time) I came here since there seems to be a wealth of knowledge that I hope can pint me in the right direction.
My plan is for Sports flying so no intention to move forward other that getting extra ratings for Mountain and tail wheel. I am about to buy a plane now and had two quick questions where I canīt seem to fid the answer:
If I buy a plane with Frech registry, can I put it under my name and fly it Spain? I see that there are many F-reg planes in Italy???
I see that there are many N-registered planes in UK and Germany, so what do I need to do to fly a N-reg plane now and how can i buy a plane in the US bring it over and keep it with the N-registry here in Spain???
Ah, can the N-reg plane be experimental?
Thank you all!

[IO540]

I have seen plenty of N-reg planes in Spain so it's clear that Spain does not prohibit long term parking of foreign registered planes.

US Experimentals cannot be flown outside the USA because they do not have an ICAO Certificate of Airworthiness. To fly them outside the USA, you need permission from the owner of each bit of national airspace. The UK CAA will, AFAIK, give you a permit for 30 days at a time. Other CAAs around Europe are known to be much less efficient, so this option is basically useless over here.

[Donalk]

Also remember that you need an FAA license to fly the N reg aircraft which must also be owned by a US citizen or corporation whose composition includes a majority of US citizens. I

I think this subject has been done extensively on here so a search of the forum will yield some good information. Failing that, there are some people on here with first hand experience of the process involved in acquiring and flying an N reg so I'll defer to their superior knowledge. I'm sure someone will be along soon.

[IO540]

You can fly an N-reg on any non-US license so long as that license is issued by the owner of the airspace. So, in Spain only, you could fly an N-reg on a Spanish issued national or JAA license.

Not very practical (nobody is going to be N-reg just to fly around locally) but worth mentioning for completeness.

Reference FAR 61.3.

p.s. if you go for an FAA PPL do not go for the piggyback (61.75) version. It is sure to cause you massive headaches in years to come. Go to the USA and get a standalone one.

[S-Works]

To my knowledge Spain does prevent the long term parking of foreign registered planes to 6 months. We have an operating base in Spain and the Spanish required us to re register the fleet aircraft that were based their for more than six months to the Spanish register and our aircraft are EASA aircraft on an AOC.

[172driver]

This seems to be a bit of a grey area. I know of people who've run into problems with non-Spanish regs, yet I also know of FTO's (and private individuals) using non-Spanish reg'd a/c without any apparent problems.

[IO540]

With an overtly commercial (or quasi commercial ) outfit, perhaps doing paradropping using Hungarian or similar regd planes, attracting attention should not suprise anybody.

I'd like a reference in Spanish law on any long term parking limits on privately owned planes.

[SpainCub]

Thanks for all the comments. This plane will strictly be flown by me for no commercial purpose. I am a US citizen living in Spain, so that would not be a major issue. EXPERIMENTAL planes I guess are out of the question, although there is plenty of gray area in this matter all together.

Also, IO540, when you say get as stand alone license, what not the piggyback license?

Thank again to all.

[IO540]

what not the piggyback license?

In short, the 61.75 suffers from needing to be reissued by the FAA or a suitable FAA agency whenever anything on the underlying (European) license changes, and while it has been possible, quite recently, to process these updates in Europe, the availability of this mechanism has been rather "fluid" and not short on controversy, forcing most people to visit the USA. The last example of this has been the addition of the ICAO English Proficiency statement. It can be a huge hassle.

[SpainCub]

thank for that! I will contact a school there to see what I can do about getting the full license while I am visiting the folks.
JM

[Donalk]

You can fly an N-reg on any non-US license so long as that license is issued by the owner of the airspace. So, in Spain only, you could fly an N-reg on a Spanish issued national or JAA license.

IO540 - I was'nt aware of this. Your post seems to suggest this is applicable in Spain only or is it possible, for example, to fly an N reg here in Belgium with a Belgian issued JAA license?

[IO540]

Read FAR 61.3. It's all there, very clear. You can google on it. You can fly an N-reg in Mongolia if you have a Mongolia issued license.

Now, we could have a very long thread on JAA licenses e.g. can an N-reg be flown in the UK on a German PPL. The way 61.3 is worded, you cannot do this because it uses the word issued whereas the JAA mutual recognition works on validation.

This is why, for an N-reg, the only practical way to fly it is on an FAA license. Anything else is of temporary/limited use.

[Donalk]

Good explanation - thanks