SEP renewal States.

[LHRPony]

I wonder if anyone can offer any advice.
I’m flying commercially on the airbus, my SEP rating has expired about 10-15 years ago and is on the back page of my EASA licence.
I would like to head out to the USA to renew my SEP and thought, while I’m at it I might as well do it on a Cub (always wanted to fly one) and do my tailwheel at the same time.
I have a UK issued EASA ATPL, but live in Europe. I have looked at doing it locally to keep general aviation alive, but at nearly €300 /hour (I used to rent a Seneca for that price years ago!) for a cub near where I live, I thought I’d use staff travel and do it in the states.
Can anyone offer any good recommendations? Any words of advice or things to be wary of are much appreciated.

Many thansk
LP

[lilpilot]

I think you are trying to do too many things at once, outsourced to FAA land, while your NAA is in the process of extracting itself from EASA land, under much uncertainty.
The short answer is no, not feasible. Long answer: you could do it with a lot of IF's and more planning and preparation then what you currently anticipate. Are you currently in a SOLI process for your ATPL? Are you keeping the UK as your NAA? Do you hold an FAA pilot certificate issued on the basis of a foreign license? Do you hold a stand alone FAA certificate? A lot has changed since you last held a SEP-SPA license and there's a lot going on right now. The best option for you also depends on your future plans.

[Fl1ingfrog]

Where in Europe are you?

I see nothing wrong with your plans. Why not do the renewal in a tailwheel and have some fun, you are allowed to enjoy yourself you know. Wherever you chose to do some/most of your training you will have to be assessed for training and then signed off by an EASA ATO/DTO. They will certainly require you to do at least some flying with them, so speak to them first. Then you must do the renewal test with an EASA examiner appointed/approved by the state who have issued your current licence.

The simplest way is to renew your SEPL at a local ATO/DTO in whatever aeroplane they use and have the SEPL re-issued first. Tailwheel is not a rating but is called "differences" and although this must be done with an EASA Flight Instructor (for your EASA licence) in the first instance it is not required to be done at an ATO/DTO and therefore no national authority administration is part of it - a simple sign off by the instructor suffices.

[Whopity]

If your SEP has expired, before you can do the Prof Check, you need a Course Completion Certificate issued by an ATO, a DTO or an RF, then you need an EASA Examiner. Whatever happens, your lience has to be reissued by Gatwick with the SEP on the front, but the Exainer if UK, can issue you with a Temporary Certificate. I doubt that there are many locations in the US where you can combine these requirements with yours, but give it a try.

[eagleflyer]

I went to the US (FL) in 2016 and just did the stand-alone PPL since I could not validate my then-LAPL. The only issue is the visa, which is a hassle but not really a problem. I had the written test done before, arrived on Monday evening, did the checkride on Friday, took me about 6 hours of flying ( I did not have the three hours simulated IR time at the time, the rest of my training was recognized by FAA). I´m glad I did it that way, now I only have to worry about my medical (which I can do together with the EASA one) and a current BFR.

[LHRPony]

Hey Folks,
Thankyou all for taking the time to repond, I appreciate it.
Ill keep doing some research, looking at 2 avenues, 1) renew sepl in a cub in the U.K. then head out to the states and do some flying.
2) Do it all there, but I am having a little trouble getting them to understand the fact my rating is on the back of my easa licence. And as was mentioned above I would have to send the paper work over to the U.K. anyway.

Thanks again every one.
LP.

[Level_FL370]

Hi all,
Similar to LHR pony above, I’m looking to do some flying in the states in April. Current EASA ATPL, with SEP expired in April 2018 (fortunately not on the back of my licence). So I guess would need to renew my SEP (if I can in the US) and then have an FAA conversion at a flightschool in order to hold the required licence to hire an aircraft in the USA for 5-10 hours?

Anyone else done this, probably a lot more complicated than I’m hoping it to be!

thanks for any replies...

[LTCTerry]

Unless one finds a suitable EASA FI(A) and Examiner in the US, I don't think one can "renew a SEP" in FAA land. You have to follow EASA rules. Don't you need an ATO with an approved training plan, etc?

I renewed my PPL SEP in Germany in February 2017 after leaving Europe four years before. The approved training plan served well for me to expand my glider aerobatic rating to airplanes. Much more fun that just "circuits and bumps."

My German point of contact will revalidate my SEP - which expires the end of this month - with an hour training flight with an FAA instructor as a "one time good deal." (I did do an hour in a TMG in Germany, though it's difficult to do all the paperwork/signatures by mail.) I have to pay for a new piece of paper with a new date - no pen and ink changes allowed. So, in 18 months I need to be sure to go flying in Europe!

For posters above, once current you can apply to the FAA for private pilot certificate on the basis of your PPL. You'll need a flight review (Please, it has not been a biennial flight review since 1997!) and a medical.

With a little time and effort you could get a fully independent FAA Private Pilot Certificate that remains valid regardless of EASA/CAA paperwork status.

You can do dual flying even if you are unable to fix any EASA paperwork. Certainly there will be currency/value to that experience.

Have fun and good luck!

Terry

[hoodie]

Originally Posted by LTCTerry

You'll need a flight review (Please, it has not been a biennial flight review since 1997!)

They're still done biennially, though.

So "biennial Flight Review" rather than "Biennial Flight Review"!