Applying for PPL Licence
 

Just a quickie...
A friend of mine has just passed their PPL(A) and wants to get his licence asap to take some friends up next weekend.
He has all paperwork required....
Whats quickest at the moment? Going down to Gatwick and sitting there all day (are they likely to issue same day?)
Or - posting off and sitting and hoping?
I seem to remember it taking at least 5 weeks for the issue of my PPL(H) via post...
any help much appreciated! :ok:

Post and hope.

Although you should have a stamp in your log book for the date you passed. You also get a piece of paper with all the exam passes and flight test pass.

These two should be enough for a club to let you fly until your license arrives. Well it worked for me anyway.

CAA dont issue licences on same day. Coming to counter will only save a few days in postage, obviously you can collect it when its ready. They quote 10 working days, so flying with a JAR PPL (A) in your friends hand next week, is very unlikely.

HB

Yes ... but not with passengers I hope.

Absolutely! You have to have your licence in your grubby little mitt before you can take passengers. As with Rotorspin, mine took 5 or 6 weeks. In that time, I flew solo with my school but had to be signed out by an instructor.

Cheers

Whirls

Firstly, send it next day recorded delivery.

I sent all my stuff off with a letter telling them it would be great if they could do it ASAP as I was going on holiday and needed my passport back. Seemed to work... posted it Monday morning, got it back Friday morning! Needless to say I almost fainted!

I too heard they won't issue same-day any more. Bloody cheek if you ask me considering you're paying them £160 for the privilege of shuffling a couple of bits of paper, printing a license out, and pulling a nasty brown license wallet out of a box under their desk.

As for the "license in hand" thing, a friend of mine down south got signed off by his school's CFI (a rather big school incidentily) to take his girlfriend up an hour after passing his skills test.

Eeech - at that point you're technically still classed as a student pilot - that can't be legal?

they never have issued same day for licence issue. plus you shouldnt complan. I'd rather pay £160 and get my licence in 2 weeks, then get it for free but have to wait 5 months, as I have done for my FAA licence.

What's the deal with Europe and stupid deals like this? When you've passed the skill test, then everything should be good, shouldn't it?

The FAA gives you a temp liscence valid for 120 days when you pass the checkride. This is just as good as the creditcard-sized proper one...

Not really, when I pass my test an paid however many thousand of pounds to do so, I want the actual licence. I am well aware what the FAA do, but it seems after all that hard work, all you get is a little temp cert, and an age to wait for the actual licence. I would rather pay and get the licence quicker. Plus its been over 120 days, and I don't have a licence....not the point anyway

when you pass your driving test, you are allowed to drive solo inc pax. straight away. i dont see why the difference?

when u pass driving test, the examiner says you are ok to have licence. in UK you may pass a LST with a FE, but you still may not meet requirements for licence issue.

for me it took about one Mounth in July. You can actually see status of licenses being proceeded at the moment and know approximatelly waiting time. Here is the link http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?categoryid=137

It's possible, if you speak nicely to PLD and have a special need for early issue, that they may be able to issue your licence earlier.

There is a backlog of applications, many applications are rejected the first time due to admin errors - and the CAA will check your logbook carefully to ensure that everything is correct. The time taken to process and issue a licence is factored into the overall CAA cost (it isn't a government run charity), so everything has a cost. The PPL used to be reasonable value when it was a 'lifetime' licence (as is the NPPL), but the 5-yearly JAR-FCL re-issue requirement is a complete rip-off.

No-one can legally fly with passengers until they physically hold a licence; merely passing the PPL Skill Test is insufficient. Whoever the 'CFI of the large flying school' was, he condoned an illegal act if he 'signed off' a pilot to take his girl friend flying an hour after he passed the skill test - unless there was also a FI on board as PIC.