SEP revalidation using hours flown abroad
 

Hi al,

Looking for some information regarding SEP revalidation.

I live in the US and hold both CAA and FAA private pilot licenses.
My CAA SEP rating expires at the end of January 2024 — I'm wondering if the hours I've flown in the US under my FAA license count towards the 12 hours/12 takeoff and landings required for SEP revalidation in the UK?

i.e. does the CAA recognise hours flown in a different country?

Thanks in advance for any input!

Good news and bad I’m afraid…

Yes your hours/landings accrued in the USA do count assuming they were flown on an S.E.P. that fits with your UK licence.
The problem is the one hour review flight and the examiner signature which can only be a UK Flight Examiner.
I realise the advice “just pop back to UK” might not fit with your plans…

The UK SEPL revalidation can be done by the UK flight instructor who undertakes the revalidation training flight, but, the flight must complete all of the requirements and the instructor must have the appropriate endorsement to do this.

I would think that it will be easier to find an appropriate UK Flight Instructor locally in the US than an Examiner.

Yes I should have added Flying instructor with FCL.945 privileges. Also whoever you fly with will need an FAA licence or piggyback if using N reg aircraft

PM me for details of Florida instructors/locations.

Thanks everyone for the great responses!

ETOPS, do you happen to have a reference/reg for this, or is it just common knowledge?

And by this do you mean whether it's SEP land or sea? I've done all my hours in an SLG2, which is an LSA so I think that should be fine...

I think (but I'm interested in the official answer myself) that it needs to be a type that you can/would fly as a SEP under the UK regulations. I'm guessing that the SLG2 would be a Permit to Fly type in the UK, being an experimental/kit built aircraft, unless I'm mixing up my types. But I'll leave it to someone else to fill in the blanks from here on.

So I'm guessing that's a Sling 2 which is an LSA in America. So 2 questions; is that a factory built or amateur built aircraft. Also what type of CAA licence do you hold?

CAA revalidation regs makes no mention of whether your 12 hours are logged on G reg or not. Local group operating a C182 on N reg never had any problems with this..

Yup! It's a Sling 2 LSA, factory built, and my license is a Part-FCL PPL (A) SEP (land).

Thanks again!

The idea is that those twelve hours are experience that you have, logged on a representative type. It doesn't matter one bit whether that experience was on a G-reg or N-reg as long as it's on a type that fits your UK licence/rating. In the end it's up to the person signing your licence, is he/she happy to accept those hours and extend the validity of your rating? I know I would happily accept it, but I'm no examiner.

Great - as noted above you can use your flighttime in the USA but will still need the one hour trip with a UK instructor/examiner and a sign-off before the expiry date or you will need a proficiency check. All you need now is contact with a suitable ex-pat and you are set for another 24 months :ok:

I certainly hope not. It is the responsibility for any examiner to be wholly objective and only to apply the rules whatever their personal views or likes may be.

No one is saying that examiners should apply their own unique interpretations to the rules; they are pointing out that it is the examiner's responsibility to ensure that the claimed hours are flown in the appropriate class of aircraft. If they are satisfied, the hours count.

State of registration is irrelevant, homebuilt or factory built is aso irrelevant. Even hours flown in what the UK CAA would call 3-axis microlights count, so LSA hours are also acceptable.

Thanks everyone for all the informative responses. Great to know for now, and all future revalidations.

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