How to get a FAA licence...
 

Sorry if it's already been covered, but can't seem to find it...

I have recently got my JAA PPL and fancy a bit of hour building in the USA early next year. I've been trying to look for a ''Getting an FAA PPL for Dummies'' guide. I'm just a bit unsure about it all... What forms to fill in, who to give them to and so on. So, any help would be fantastic.:)

Thanks,
Alex

Hi Alex,
Answers on the FAA website;
http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certific..._verification/
I think the CAA charges for the service, something like 35BP.

Thankyou B2N2,
Can I just confirm (I have this horrid dread that I will send it all off wrong otherwise...). Download the form, fill it in. As for the FSDO, does it matter which I chose? Or just the easiest for me to get to? Once that is all done (this is where I get lost...) I have to send it to the CAA rather than the FAA? I get somewhat frustrated with navigating around the CAA website, and can't seem to find any details about applying for it.

Thanks,
Alex

You need to fill in the CAA documents and fax them to the CAA

You also need to fill in some FAA documents and fax them to the FAA.

You will then get a letter from the FAA confirming the application and tellling you to book an appointment with the FSDO to have an application interview.

You then turn up for the interview...fill in a load more paperwork (ensure you take your logbook and license). At this point the FSDO officer will decide if you can have an FAA license based on your JAA one. They might insist on a test flight to make sure you wont kill yourslef. If you have not passed the FAA pre solo you will have to do that exam. They might also insist that you have an FAA medical.

If they are happy to issue you with an FAA license, you will get a piece o paper stating that it is a temporary license and is valid for 120 days. At some time during the 120 days a nice green credit card style FAA PPL will arrive in the post.

I used the Albany FSDO...very very helpful and friendly. Plus i know a few of the bods there.

Just a quick addition to the above replies.


When you arrive at the FSDO, make sure you have a photo ID (passport) with your other paperwork.

I have taken students to the local FSDO in San Diego and some of the FAA can be quite anal, especially with completing the 8710 Airman application form.

Good example is a student put "n/a" in the box for social security number, and where it says citizenship, he put British. The FSDO officer tore up the application and really gave the poor guy some stick because he didn't write 'NONE' and 'UNITED KINGDOM'. I'm not trying to scare you off, but be warned some of the FAA FSDO officers can be :mad: :mad: :mad: .

Happy flying stateside :ok:

Ok,Ok, something in the defense of the FAA.
The form you will get to fill out at the FSDO is an 8710 (airmen application)
You can find one here:
http://forms.faa.gov/forms/faa8710-1...rch=%228710%22
You need to fill it out without help, that is how they test the "read speak and understand" the English language requirements.
Read the instructions and it is not a problem.
For Social Security number fill in "none" for country "United Kingdom".
Easy enough. Your height will need to be in inches and your weight in lbs.
You don't need a US medical since what they give you will be based on a foreign license and a valid foreign medical.
You will need a "flight review" (proficiency check) with a US instructor before you can fly as PIC.

The flight review with the FAA is not mandatory, neither is the medical. Although the FAA did insist i have an FAA medical.

The FAA pre solo exam is mandatory to fly PIC/solo.

Any club or operator is bound to ask you to do a check flight though.

i am thinking also at the moment what to do: temporary (validation) or do FAA exams...I think independent FAA License better choice and less paperwork or not?

A validation of a non-US licence isn't temporary; the FAA license you receive is valid for as long as the original licence is.

A "full" FAA PPL is worth getting if you want to add ratings (e.g. IR) to it.

there is more bad things i think, in case of validation. Night Flying prohibited for example....

what do you mean as FAA license in that case? Validation? How FAA-validation actually looks like, anybody knows? It is also plastic cardformat like normal FAA-license or just piece of paper?

An FAA license based on your non-US licence is exactly that - a license. It is the same credit card sized format as a stand-alone FAA license.

On the back, under "Limitations", it says:

Yours would say "German", I presume.

If you have a night validation on your non-US licence then you can fly at night in the US. (As you're probably aware, the stand-alone FAA PPL includes night.)

well, i have JAA-PPL issued by UK CAA (also british;)), but no NQ yet.
So how long it can take, whole procedure of validation?

Not long - just a few weeks. Here's a step-by-step guide (scroll down a screen to "PPL Flying in the United States").

A few misconceptions here....ca_flyer has it right (should do with a name like that ;) )

You can still add FAA ratings to the FAA certicate based on your JAR one. These are endorsed "US Test Passed" on the back. I added IR and ME to my one when I had it. Eventually I went for the CPL without ever doing a FAA PPL.

A BFR IS indeed required, and every two years afterwards. The FAA certificate is valid as long as the JAR one is, the "temporary" comes from the bit of paper the FSDO will give you which is valid for 4 months. By month 4 the nice credit card one should come through your post box, if not you must contact the FAA and get them to send it.

No test is required, no exams are required.

FAA Medical is NOT required if the foreign (JAR) medical is valid.

On a "based on" FAA certificate you are restricted to the privileges of your JAR licence, so if you have no NQ, then no night flying. Some of these restrictions can be "undone" by passing the US test (IR for example). There is no NQ in FAA land though, the FAA PPL includes night flying.

Alaska in the summer is FAA land ;)

Oops. I knew that, as I have such an endorsement. Apologies for the duff gen.

I agree there is no legal FAA requirement to have an FAA medical for a license based on a foreign license.

But they can insist that you do have one, as is the case with myself.

They can actualy refuse you license application if they want to. juste because you fill in the paperwork does not mean you are entitled to the license.

I agree there is no legal FAA requirement to have an FAA medical for a license based on a foreign license.

That may be correct for just a PPL but (depending on one's reading of the FARs) it may not be correct if one is also adding an FAA IR to it.

Separately to what I have written above, under ICAO every State has a right to demand that a pilot landing in its airspace meets its medical requirements. I don't have a ref but I remember who posted one here a while ago.

This is rarely invoked for obvious practical reasons (like making international aviation grind to a halt) but I believe (it is a year or two since I had the details of an actual case) the UK CAA have used it to ground one or two pilots who had a bit of a "history" in various departments.