Get a recreational pilots license in Canada and then fly with passengers in the US?

[ifresh21]

Hi,

I am 16. In the US you have to be 17 to get a pilots license. However, in Canada you can get a recreational license at 16 which allows you to fly with one passenger . Would it be possible to get a recreational license in Canada and somehow fly in the US with a passenger? I am not sure if I could simply fly with that license in the US legally with the Canadian age rules, or if I would have to apply for a US license via the Canadian recreational license.

If I had to apply for the US license, would the age requirement be 16 or 17?

Thank you very much in advance for any help. If I didn't give enough detail somewhere, I would be happy to clarify.

Thanks again.



Disclaimer: Cost and waiting another year are not a concern.

[ifresh21]

Yes I did. I am just looking for help to confirm that there is no way around the US age requirements. Thx

[Pilot DAR]

Or, phrased differently...

Generally, a "license" or a "certificate" issued by the national government is internationally accepted by most other governments by reciprical agreement. If this was not the case, the world would just never get anything done! Again, generally, these licenses and certificates conform to internationally (ICAO) agreed formats and standards. Hence their ready acceptance.

"Permits" on the otherhand, should be thought of as a permit to do something (fly a plane, in this case) without conforming to all of the (ICAO, in this case) requirements for that activity.

So, another nation might allow you to exercise permit privilages in their airspace ("experimental" transborder flights, for example), but are not internationally required to allow this. It is likely that where one nation does not have an equivilent permit privilage themselves, they would not rush to accept another nation's privilage.

Be patient, 17 is not that far off. Many of us had to wait to be old enough. You still have the opportunity to fly by yourself under "supervision", and that is quite fair. Your prospective passenger will be very pleased that you took the extra time, to get that little extra experience. It is their life you take with you to the sky, make sure you are very prepared for that great responsibility!

[S-Works]

How about thinking you are damn lucky to be flying at 16. Wind your neck in quit looking at how to circumvent the rules.........

[ifresh21]

Gotta love people like bose-x . Eloquently put bose.


Thanks a ton for the help and quick replies folks. I really appreciate it. The explanation by Pilot DAR rly helped. I woke up with this idea and thought it would be good so it was worth a shot.

If anyone else has any ideas that's always appreciated.

[IO540]

Very few places allow you to fly solo at 16. 17 is the normal age for a PPL. Here in the UK you can go solo at 16 but only with the instructor's approval and "supervision".

[ifresh21]

Socall App

When I woke up this morning I didn't know any information on the Canadian licenses or pilots with foreign licenses applying for US licenses. I actually did see that the recreational license doesn't allow international travel but didn't fully understand the limits. I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

I'm not looking to "bust the regs", I simply want to ensure that I am not missing anything since I have very little prior knowledge on this topic.

[ChrisVJ]

Not sure because it is a long time ago I looked it up but I think you can use a Canadian Recreational permit in the US "with permission." They probably would not grant the permission if you were under the US license age.

[ifresh21]

See this is the kind of stuff that really helps. Thanks ChrisV - i'll look into that