I hold both FAA and GACA licenses and am interested in renting a Cessna 172SP. However, I haven’t flown this aircraft in the past 8 years. I’m looking for rental options in Asia, Europe, or Africa where I can complete any necessary refresher training or checkout to regain currency
Jhieminga
5th August 2025 18:23
Can you be a bit more specific? Perhaps narrow it down to one continent at a time, or preferably one country? There are loads of places with 172s but it depends a bit on how you want to go about this. Any ATO with a 172 in the fleet will be able to do this, but depending on the country the options for exercising your privileges will be different. It mostly depends on the country you want to fly in, the time you want to spend there and the registration of the aircraft concerned.
a320aka
5th August 2025 18:27
Good day and thanks for your reply. I can go anywhere close to Middle East but looking for green areas. That’s the most important thing I worry about and the price.
Pilot DAR
6th August 2025 22:36
a320aka, your parameters are much too vague to be useful for anyone to offer a suggestion. Is it to be understood that you'd like to fly off a grass runway? There are certainly choices for that. "Close" to the middle east? Like a 172 trip away? And why specifically a 172SP model? There are many models of 172's available for rent, you are limiting yourself if you seek only a 172SP.
a320aka
7th August 2025 05:50
Good day pilot Dar,
Thanks for your reply.
I chose c172sp because I did all of ky pilot license training , and I am not sure if there is a similar airplane. Second is, I am willing to travel to fly c172sp close to Middle East. I would gather all of the options then I will decide based on the price, location and etc. Shall I clarify more?
Pilot DAR
7th August 2025 10:44
and I am not sure if there is a similar airplane.
I offer that all 172's are similar (they're all designated within the same approved design). Yes, the very earliest ones (which you won't find for rent) are more simple, lighter, a Continental engine (as opposed to Lycoming), and have manual flaps. And, the R172K and other most recent 172's, are fuel injected, and a little more powerful (and heavier), but they all fly similarly, such that if you can fly any 172, flying any other should require nothing more than a review of POH (which you should be doing anyway) and a few circuits (which the renter will insist on anyway). Instead of trying to fly the same airplane, you should be trying to fly different airplanes, broadening out their characteristics as you grow your pilot skills. Think in terms of being a pilot who can fly an airplane, rather than a pilot who can fly that airplane.
fly c172sp close to Middle East
Is very non specific, but that's up to you. I have no idea of the availability of rental airplanes in that part of the world, and I note that there have not been any responses with suggestions. Hopefully those companies who provide rental airplanes make themselves "findable". Sure, if someone here has a suggestion, great, but it's not my locale, and I don't see other suggestions for you. I have no idea myself for that region, but I presume that some consideration has to be given to international acceptance of the license you may already have, so best understand that too.