PPL for recreational flying taken in Argentina

[exekcabincrew]

Hi all,

I don't want to become a pro pilot. I want to learn to fly for fun as a hobby. A PPL seems to be the best option for me.

I was thinking of doing it in Argentina due to the FX rate.

My question is, would I be able to just arrive at an airport and rent a cessna for a few hours in any country with this licence? Or would I be restricted?

I read a PPL in the US is better, but also much more expensive.

Thank you!

[PPRuNeUser0222]

For starters, where are you based and where do you wish to fly? Different countries have different aviation authorities, so - for example - an EASA license allows you to fly an EASA-reg aircraft but a UK license only allows you to fly a UK-reg aircraft. Once you've decided on the right license for you, it's time to get a class 2 medical.

[exekcabincrew]

Thank you for your reply!

So the thing is that I have a remote job, so, at least for for now, I am changing countries every 2 months, so I would prefer a licence that is as widely accepted as possible. My usual residence is Portugal, lately I've been living in S america, I might move to Asia soon. Argentina has very favourable FX rate, that's why I was considering it.

I know my knowledge is very rudimentary, in my mind a good PPL is like a driver licence from a "nice" country, you just show it anywhere in the world and they rent you the car.

I didn't know about the part that the AC has to be registered ina jurisdiction that matches the PPL 😅

Btw, does the same apply to the medical? Would it be better to do the medical in a specific country?

Best!

[PPRuNeUser0222]

Originally Posted by exekcabincrew

Thank you for your reply!

So the thing is that I have a remote job, so, at least for for now, I am changing countries every 2 months, so I would prefer a licence that is as widely accepted as possible. My usual residence is Portugal, lately I've been living in S america, I might move to Asia soon. Argentina has very favourable FX rate, that's why I was considering it.

I know my knowledge is very rudimentary, in my mind a good PPL is like a driver licence from a "nice" country, you just show it anywhere in the world and they rent you the car.

I didn't know about the part that the AC has to be registered ina jurisdiction that matches the PPL 😅

Btw, does the same apply to the medical? Would it be better to do the medical in a specific country?

Best!

This makes it a bit tricky. As far as I'm aware, you'd need to transfer your license to the aviation authority of the country that you reside in each time you migrate. This will come with admin fees, possibly tests and you may need a minimum number of hours i.e. UK PPL to EASA PPL requires 100hr PIC. For example, a conversion of a foreign PPL to Singapore would require a theory and skills test, as stated in chapter 2 here. My point being that it'll be a bit of a pain to do multiple conversions, and it will get expensive. Should you decide to return to Portugal 'full-time', EASA would be the right license. I can't really help with answering your initial question as I don't know about the legislation of it all. If you're really adament on acquiring a PPL and you know the countries that you'll be living in over the next few months, perhaps it's worth looking at their legal documents on converison from foreign PPLs. Then there's the issue of finding aicrafts for rental in some countries.

Here are a few other (old) Pprune threads regarding the Argentinian PPL. It doesn't look promising to be honest, especially as the theory exams are in Spanish, unless that's changed.
Getting private pilot license in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Private Pilot would like to fly in Argentina.
EASA licence - South America?

The medical needs to be done in the country of your licensing authority. If you get a PPL in Argentina, I read that your class 2 must be done in Argentina. However if you acquire an EASA PPL (which covers multiple states), then you can get the class 2 medical done in any of those EASA states (Croatia is apparently cheap for EASA).

[B2N2]

This makes it a bit tricky. As far as I'm aware, you'd need to transfer your license to the aviation authority of the country that you reside in each time you migrate.

That is categorically incorrect.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilo..._certification

Around 190 countries are members of ICAO, it goes a little far to go through every agreement here. ICAO agreements cover passenger rights, flying through each others airspace and amongst a lot of other things also licensing.
In short in order for a country to be an ICAO member they must have a similar licensing system with similar requirements. Same for the medical. ICAO is a ‘minimum’ standard, as a country you can require stricter but not any less. A medical usually needs to match the country of the pilot certification but not always.
Now to fly a particulars countries registration you usually need a license issue by that country…but not always.
ICAO agreements also covers license conversion or validation.
For instance it is very easy to get a FAA PPL based on an ICAO PPL.
https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certifi...e_verification

[PPRuNeUser0222]

I don't really understand your point about ICAO. There are 193 ICAO member states and 195 countries worldwide - unless they happen to be getting a PPL in those 2 outlier countries, all this about ICAO should be a given?

[B2N2]

Understanding there is such an organization and in very broad terms what it does should help with some of the questions.

[exekcabincrew]

Wow thank you so much for the answers!

Pff yeah it seems that the savings I would get in Argentina would cost me a lot of time and headache down the line. Actually, I will be in Portugal for 5 months pretty soon, i think if I put in the effort, I can complete a PPL in this time.

I will focus on gathering info about taking my licence in Pt