NPPL to EASA something or other
 

I ask in the hope that someone else has already done the legwork on this.
I currently have a Commercial EASA Sailplane rating. (and the required class 2 medical to go with it)
and
An NPPL with SLMG / Taildragger / Towing sign offs.

As of next year (apparently) I won't be able to fly the club Pawnee's on my NPPL, but can still tow in the Eurofox.

What can (should) I be doing with my NPPL to be able to fly the Pawnee's next year ?

HaiThankYewInAdvance.

As the Pawnee is an EASA aircraft, you need an EASA licence. A LAPL is sufficient. As you already hold an NPPL, you just need to fill out the relevant form and send some money. Along with all the evidence of Class 2 medical etc.

Perhaps with other EASA licences as well but with the LAPL you also have the opportunity to tick a box on the application form to retain your NPPL to run concurrently.

Make sure you keep both your NPPL and the LAPL.

Unlike all other licences, the LAPL has a rolling validity.

So the other day one of the chaps here - who did an hour with an instructor more than 24 months ago - was able to use his NPPL SSEA to fly to another airfield to go for an hour with an instructor. He could then fly home on his LAPL!

He couldn't use the LAPL on the way there because the first-mentioned instructional hour was more than 24 months before the the date of the flight.

OK I understand the NPPL being valid after more than 24 month's. AIUI it can be valid for 2 years 11 months and 30 days....ish, but if the LAPL's rolling validity had run out, I would expect it to be a renewal and not an hour with an instructor.
With reference to the NPPL/LAPL there is no requirement to tick the box and pay 60 odd quid. The NPPL is a stand alone licence and not a UK PPL, which needs to be paid for. I know this as it happened to me. I now have 2 x NPPLs. Both with differing validitties, because I ticked the box and paid.

" LAPL's rolling validity had run out, I would expect it to be a renewal and not an hour with an instructor."

Er, I don't think so.
That isn't the way the LAPL's rolling recency works.
The licence has no revalidation, no renewal, no examiner involvement at all.

Simply great, but it does help to read the regulation.

FCL.140.A LAPL(A) — Recency requirements
(a) Holders of an LAPL(A) shall only exercise the privileges of their licence when they have completed, in the last 24 months, as pilots of aeroplanes or TMG:
(1) at least 12 hours of flight time as PIC, including 12 take-offs and landings; and
(2) refresher training of at least 1 hour of total flight time with an instructor.
(b) Holders of an LAPL(A) who do not comply with the requirements in (a) shall:
(1) undertake a proficiency check with an examiner before they resume the exercise of the privileges of their licence; or
(2) perform the additional flight time or take-offs and landings, flying dual or solo under the supervision of an instructor, in order to fulfil the requirements in (a).

Go on then........explainfcl 740 (b)
Then (1)
If the holder doesn't comply with (a) then a proficiency check with an examiner should be undertaken.
You are obviously right that the regulation should be read.

As you ask ....

FCL.700 Circumstances in which class or type ratings are required
(a) Except in the case of the LAPL, SPL and BPL, holders of a pilot licence shall not act in any capacity as pilots of an aircraft unless they have a valid and appropriate class or type rating, except when undergoing skill tests, or proficiency checks for renewal of class or type ratings, or receiving flight instruction.

FCL.740(b) is about Class or Type Ratings, nothing to do with LAPL.

No. Fcl 740 states that if the pilot hasn't done 12 hrs in the preceding 24 months, he needs a proficiency check with an examiner.
I will leave you with it.

Here's what FCL.740 says.
All about Class or Type ratings; nothing to do with LAPL.

The quote about 12 hours in the preceding 24 months is, I guess, from FCL.140.A

FCL.740 Validity and renewal of class and type ratings
(a) The period of validity of class and type ratings shall be 1 year, except for single-pilot single-engine class ratings, for which the period of validity shall be 2 years, unless otherwise determined by the operational suitability data, established in accordance with Part-21.
(b) Renewal. If a class or type rating has expired, the applicant shall:
(1) take refresher training at an ATO, when necessary to reach the level of proficiency necessary to safely operate the relevant class or type of aircraft; and
(2) pass a proficiency check in accordance with Appendix 9 to this Part.

So, to summarise:
FCL.700 makes it clear that a LAPL holder does not need to have a class rating. This is because a LAPL is, by definition, restricted to SEP of 2000kg of less.
Because of this the requirements of FCL.740 do not apply. If you don't have a class rating, there is no validity period attached to it.

So, only FCL.140.A applies. Simple really... ;)

pre EASA LAPL (S) I had to log time in 2 log books, used the NPPL to be able to take off with glider (SLMG) and logged power time and Glider time :ugh:

However, discussing the wonderfully simple license system in the UK brings me round to:

Which form do I have to fill in ?
gotta link ?

HaiThankYewInAdvanceAgain. :ok:

It's probably no help but it's amusing to me to reflect that things were as bad in 1857 when Dickens wrote Little Dorrit. One of the subplots of the book is about the Circumlocution Office, which is a fictional UK government department dedicated to "how not to do it" and which measures it's effectiveness by how many memos and forms it processes. Nobody ever gets an answer from the Circumlocution Office.

See 'How to apply' here.

SRG1104......