What will I need to do when I get back to Blighty?
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Join Date: May 2003
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What will I need to do when I get back to Blighty?
Looks like my last post was a touch verbose; apologies as this was my first and I now see that getting to the point gets far better results......
If I complete the vast majority of my training in the US (ATPL to JAA standards), what will I need to do on my return to the UK to enable me to fly for a living?
Thanks.
If I complete the vast majority of my training in the US (ATPL to JAA standards), what will I need to do on my return to the UK to enable me to fly for a living?
Thanks.
Why do it if it's not fun?
Join Date: Jul 2001
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Skint,
The reason I didn't answer your first post was because I wasn't sure what you were asking. I'm still not sure, but I'll have a go anyway.
First of all, you can't do an IR skills test in the US, so you will need to do that in the UK. In theory, you could do all of the training for this in the US, and just do the test in the UK, but you might not want to do this. You might prefer to become familiar with the airspace in which you're actually doing your test before the test itself.
In addition to the specific airspace where you're doing your IR test, there are some more general issues if you actually want to be able to use your license in the UK. Specifically, the way in which the UK and the US use various types of airspace is a little different. Some of the R/T is a little different. If you want to fly visually (e.g. if you get a job as an instructor, or any of the other various VFR jobs available, or even if you just want to fly around for fun) you will find that the weather here is very different to the areas where most of the US schools are located. Some US pilots might be wary of taking off with 8-10km vis, simply because they've never seen it before and aren't familiar with the necessary navigation techniques, but that would be quite limiting for UK VFR flying. As for instrument flying, you will do most of your US instrument flying in controlled airspace. Although all the airways in the UK are controlled, it is quite common to fly in uncontrolled airspace in IMC in the UK, so this may take a bit of getting used to I'd have thought. I have to admit I'm making some of this up, because I've never come across the question before... these are just areas where I think you might have to do some extra work.
Have a search through the Private Flying forum - many private pilots get their PPL in the US and are surprised at how much training is required to get them safe and comfortable in the UK. Other than the IR test, I don't think there are any more issues for a fATPL holder than there are for a PPL holder. If anything, there should be fewer issues, because you will be less interested in issues related to visual flying.
Hope that kind of answers your question.
FFF
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The reason I didn't answer your first post was because I wasn't sure what you were asking. I'm still not sure, but I'll have a go anyway.
First of all, you can't do an IR skills test in the US, so you will need to do that in the UK. In theory, you could do all of the training for this in the US, and just do the test in the UK, but you might not want to do this. You might prefer to become familiar with the airspace in which you're actually doing your test before the test itself.
In addition to the specific airspace where you're doing your IR test, there are some more general issues if you actually want to be able to use your license in the UK. Specifically, the way in which the UK and the US use various types of airspace is a little different. Some of the R/T is a little different. If you want to fly visually (e.g. if you get a job as an instructor, or any of the other various VFR jobs available, or even if you just want to fly around for fun) you will find that the weather here is very different to the areas where most of the US schools are located. Some US pilots might be wary of taking off with 8-10km vis, simply because they've never seen it before and aren't familiar with the necessary navigation techniques, but that would be quite limiting for UK VFR flying. As for instrument flying, you will do most of your US instrument flying in controlled airspace. Although all the airways in the UK are controlled, it is quite common to fly in uncontrolled airspace in IMC in the UK, so this may take a bit of getting used to I'd have thought. I have to admit I'm making some of this up, because I've never come across the question before... these are just areas where I think you might have to do some extra work.
Have a search through the Private Flying forum - many private pilots get their PPL in the US and are surprised at how much training is required to get them safe and comfortable in the UK. Other than the IR test, I don't think there are any more issues for a fATPL holder than there are for a PPL holder. If anything, there should be fewer issues, because you will be less interested in issues related to visual flying.
Hope that kind of answers your question.
FFF
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