Time to do UK CPL if already have FAA CPL?
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Time to do UK CPL if already have FAA CPL?
Weighing the advantages and disadvantages of doing the online ATPL course in the UK (reside in Scandinavia) which requires me to do at least the CPL in the UK.
Can't remember the minimum hours off the top of my head, but it wasn't a lot.
Anybody with experience of doing the UK CPL if already have the FAA CPL? I am wondering if can be done in a week. Two weeks? A month? Are there organizations that cater to such students (much like ATP in the US or focused weekend courses)?
With my experience I know how to fly the plane and want to get it done as fast and as efficiently as possible.
Can't remember the minimum hours off the top of my head, but it wasn't a lot.
Anybody with experience of doing the UK CPL if already have the FAA CPL? I am wondering if can be done in a week. Two weeks? A month? Are there organizations that cater to such students (much like ATP in the US or focused weekend courses)?
With my experience I know how to fly the plane and want to get it done as fast and as efficiently as possible.
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I guess a week is possible for a CPL conversion (there are no formal hour requirements) but you should make sure that you're right up to speed with it first, you do know the cost of a flight test failure in the UK right? 
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A few things to bear in mind about the CPL skills test you will have to do:
1) UK wx - obviously can't be too bad and need some basic minima for the upper air work and navigation stuff.
2) Navigation - you say you know how to fly the plane etc - I assume you have commercial experience in the US. I am similar to you, - comm experience in Canada. Now, the thing is, if you're like me, you will have a ton of time under IFR flight plans, cleared dct, following airways or GPS etc. When was the last time you got out a map, drew a line and used a stop watch / DR technique with reference to the ground below? For me it was a LONG time ago. The UK (and Europe) can look like an unidentifiable blur of little villages and winding roads from the air - this part of the test will be my weak area - could also be yours?
3) Air work - sure we can fly the plane on a daily basis - but again I can't recall (since my Canadian CPL test) the last time I did procedural airwork - time turns, unusual attitudes (ok do that in the IFR recurrent), glides, different config stalls etc etc. Something more I need to polish up on.
4) UK R/T work - quite different from the US/Canada. Things like types of ground agency (a/g, information, etc) MATZ agencies, FIS regions, etc etc and all stuff being done on QNH/QFE including VDF procedures.
Just some stuff to think about in the time frame it will take you to do the CPL test. I am allowing myself up to 10 hours, but hope to do it in less - just very hard to tell.
1) UK wx - obviously can't be too bad and need some basic minima for the upper air work and navigation stuff.
2) Navigation - you say you know how to fly the plane etc - I assume you have commercial experience in the US. I am similar to you, - comm experience in Canada. Now, the thing is, if you're like me, you will have a ton of time under IFR flight plans, cleared dct, following airways or GPS etc. When was the last time you got out a map, drew a line and used a stop watch / DR technique with reference to the ground below? For me it was a LONG time ago. The UK (and Europe) can look like an unidentifiable blur of little villages and winding roads from the air - this part of the test will be my weak area - could also be yours?
3) Air work - sure we can fly the plane on a daily basis - but again I can't recall (since my Canadian CPL test) the last time I did procedural airwork - time turns, unusual attitudes (ok do that in the IFR recurrent), glides, different config stalls etc etc. Something more I need to polish up on.
4) UK R/T work - quite different from the US/Canada. Things like types of ground agency (a/g, information, etc) MATZ agencies, FIS regions, etc etc and all stuff being done on QNH/QFE including VDF procedures.
Just some stuff to think about in the time frame it will take you to do the CPL test. I am allowing myself up to 10 hours, but hope to do it in less - just very hard to tell.
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Finals,
Great post. Thanks. I haven't flown in about 6 months but as an instructor I was recently doing all the airwork. I am sure you would agree that it's like riding a bike, just need to get back into the swing of things.
And yes, the writtens are more of a hassle.
Thanks
Great post. Thanks. I haven't flown in about 6 months but as an instructor I was recently doing all the airwork. I am sure you would agree that it's like riding a bike, just need to get back into the swing of things.
And yes, the writtens are more of a hassle.
Thanks
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That puts you in a much more favourable position then - I found that commercial work (cargo) meant that a lot of the skills you are taught in the CPL go out the window pretty quick...
Yeah, the writtens in Europe are a major pain. Lots of deep breaths and bite the bullet is the order of the day.
Good luck!
Yeah, the writtens in Europe are a major pain. Lots of deep breaths and bite the bullet is the order of the day.
Good luck!
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The cost of failure is around the $1500 mark.
On top of that would be the cost of the aircraft hire for test (around 1.5 hours) £200/$400 and if the examiner feels you need mandatory extra training then that's another £200/$400 per hour.
In other words...be prepared!
Best of luck
P.S. Incidentally, exactly how much is the flight test fee these days?
