"Southern Europe" FTOs
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"Southern Europe" FTOs
I have an FAA CPL/IR and am working towards the JAA PPL/IR (Have the UK PPL and both medicals sorted) as an EASA insurance policy.
Doing the 7 IR exams at present, then will start looking at FTOs.
Over the last year or two I have had a look at Spain and Greece - both locations where I have flown quite a bit in my TB20 and obviously I favour the weather
The schools have a reputation for less formality compared with the UK system, which is exactly what you want if you are already an experienced pilot and are doing this just as an EASA insurance policy, but they have an equal reputation for being disorganised, with some appalling stories coming back (from real people I know). And I know, from trying to check them out by asking some standard questions, that some are very bad communicators. It made me smile to read about some of them in this forum
It also seems that some want a payment up front. One regular name wanted 6k euros. Obviously I know this is a seriously very very very bad idea, but what do people here think?
Can anybody make a personal recommendation for an FTO for an SE IR, somewhere with good wx, which accepts UK CAA exam passes (7, not 14 as I am not doing the ATPL) and which is informal but still hanging together?
One curious thing is that, speaking of Greece, the only one I can find mentioned here is Egnatia, but there are some others down there.
I have not yet found any non-UK FTO willing to do training+checkride in my N-reg TB20. But I wonder if France can do it; they seem to train and do class ratings quite freely in N-reg turboprops etc.
Doing the 7 IR exams at present, then will start looking at FTOs.
Over the last year or two I have had a look at Spain and Greece - both locations where I have flown quite a bit in my TB20 and obviously I favour the weather
The schools have a reputation for less formality compared with the UK system, which is exactly what you want if you are already an experienced pilot and are doing this just as an EASA insurance policy, but they have an equal reputation for being disorganised, with some appalling stories coming back (from real people I know). And I know, from trying to check them out by asking some standard questions, that some are very bad communicators. It made me smile to read about some of them in this forum
It also seems that some want a payment up front. One regular name wanted 6k euros. Obviously I know this is a seriously very very very bad idea, but what do people here think?
Can anybody make a personal recommendation for an FTO for an SE IR, somewhere with good wx, which accepts UK CAA exam passes (7, not 14 as I am not doing the ATPL) and which is informal but still hanging together?
One curious thing is that, speaking of Greece, the only one I can find mentioned here is Egnatia, but there are some others down there.
I have not yet found any non-UK FTO willing to do training+checkride in my N-reg TB20. But I wonder if France can do it; they seem to train and do class ratings quite freely in N-reg turboprops etc.
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You could check Orbifly I'm France. They do mostly FAA training but I met a couple of the instructors because they were going through the JAA conversion due to the new EASA regs. I can't guarantee that they can help you but it wouldnt hurt to ask them.
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I can personally vouch for Fly In Spain at Jerez and Brian Mellor as IR instructor.
I had a FAA CPL/IR, and did the FAA IR to JAA IR in the statutory 15 hours with FIS. I spent flew on 5 days and got through 3 hrs of flying a day. The sixth day was the test day.
FIS are relaxed when compared to FTE next door but I got what I wanted.
A colleague followed me to FIS and did exactly the same.
The supervising FTO is Austrian, you are flying German aircraft in Spain with a British instructor and the examiner is Spanish. It is what JAR should be all about.
Brian is featured in the March Flyer Magazine doing a US to Russia ferry flight.
As an instructor, I was able to learn a lot about instructing too, which gave me more than I had hoped.
PM me if you want to contact Brian directly.
I had a FAA CPL/IR, and did the FAA IR to JAA IR in the statutory 15 hours with FIS. I spent flew on 5 days and got through 3 hrs of flying a day. The sixth day was the test day.
FIS are relaxed when compared to FTE next door but I got what I wanted.
A colleague followed me to FIS and did exactly the same.
The supervising FTO is Austrian, you are flying German aircraft in Spain with a British instructor and the examiner is Spanish. It is what JAR should be all about.
Brian is featured in the March Flyer Magazine doing a US to Russia ferry flight.
As an instructor, I was able to learn a lot about instructing too, which gave me more than I had hoped.
PM me if you want to contact Brian directly.
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Interesting.
There are two outfits in Jerez: this and this.
Does the 1st one do SE IR conversions? The 2nd one certainly does as they replied accordingly to my enquiry.
From posts here, both of them have some sort of German connection.
3hrs/day flying is some going, chrisbl. At my age I would be hard pressed to stay awake in a plane, under the hood, for 3hrs/day When I did the IR in Arizona I was well sh**gged after two 1hr flights in a day. However, doing it in one week does sound attractive.
There are two outfits in Jerez: this and this.
Does the 1st one do SE IR conversions? The 2nd one certainly does as they replied accordingly to my enquiry.
From posts here, both of them have some sort of German connection.
3hrs/day flying is some going, chrisbl. At my age I would be hard pressed to stay awake in a plane, under the hood, for 3hrs/day
When I did the IR in Arizona I was well sh**gged after two 1hr flights in a day. However, doing it in one week does sound attractive.
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FTEJerez (the first link) is a UK approved FTO. They do a lot of integrated training, I contacted them awhile ago about doing a IR/ME conversion for my CPL and they wanted 5 weeks and a lot of money, a little bit different than what you are looking for but they also had set class dates for the conversion, aka i would have had to accommodate to their schedule. Too bad because they seem pretty professional
The second link is the one everyone in this thread was talking about.
The second link is the one everyone in this thread was talking about.
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I have a Q about adding the Spanish IR onto one's UK PPL or CPL.
Normally, a UK resident pilot will have a UK PPL, and cannot get a Spanish PPL until resident in Spain for 180 days.
This exposes him to the theoretical risk of the UK CAA refusing to accept the Spanish IR onto a UK PPL.
AFAICT, this is not a problem these days, provided that
- you sat either Spanish IR exams or the UK CAA IR exams (at LGW)
- you did the flight training and the checkride both in the same Spanish FTO
- you can deliver a photocopy of the Spanish examiner's IR, showing it to be valid at the time of your test
But I wonder if a lot of ATPL students actually do a complete Spanish CPL/IR - because they have spent enough time in Spain to qualify for the Spanish papers.
Normally, a UK resident pilot will have a UK PPL, and cannot get a Spanish PPL until resident in Spain for 180 days.
This exposes him to the theoretical risk of the UK CAA refusing to accept the Spanish IR onto a UK PPL.
AFAICT, this is not a problem these days, provided that
- you sat either Spanish IR exams or the UK CAA IR exams (at LGW)
- you did the flight training and the checkride both in the same Spanish FTO
- you can deliver a photocopy of the Spanish examiner's IR, showing it to be valid at the time of your test
But I wonder if a lot of ATPL students actually do a complete Spanish CPL/IR - because they have spent enough time in Spain to qualify for the Spanish papers.
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IO540, a lot of guys here in Spain are asking how to convert their licence to any country besides Spain. There is a lot of inefficiency dealing with the Spanish authorities. For example, guys passing their flight tests for their CPL and waiting 9 months until they finally get their licence. I haven't met anyone here yet who wants to go from UK to a Spanish licence, but maybe there are a couple out there.
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IO540, the hardest part is convincing the locals that they are allowed to sign the UK CAA´s form. There are several schools in Spain and at least one in Greece that have a lot of experience with doing IRs and MEs for UK licences. They know exactly which forms need to be completed and they´ve been doing it for awhile.
