The real difficulty of getting a CPL
 

Hello
I find myself in a situation close to the guy having filmed this video :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ivo42eoD7bI

Basically I'm lost in all the EASA paperwork.

I have or will have just before my CPL course :
- A French class 1 medical, expiring just 1 month after the beginning of the course
- A Belgian ELP test
- A French ATPL Theory (if this has any meaning?)
- A French PPL

I will most probably attend DFAS in Sweden
What's my best bet to get my CPL license emitted, at a minimal cost ?

Do I really have to convert my PPL and pass a Swedish medical ? What about ELP and ATPL theory, do I have to "convert" them too... ?

Please feel free to make general answers so as to be useful to as many people as possible.

Thank you

If you want minimal cost, follow the procedure and wait..

If the hold up is getting the medical records transferred, why not just surrender your French medical and do a class 1 initial in sweden?

Overall, what am I going to do ?
Aim for a French CPL or a Swedish one ?

And what is the soli process, the conversion process from France to Sweden ?
Can I do a renewal in Sweden ?
My medical will expire so I will have to re-take it anyways.

You would advise to transfer everything to Sweden and get a Swedish CPL ?

If you want it to be easy - do your CPL in France. Or do it outside of France with a French-approved examiner. But if you want to go to Sweden and take the course, the easiest thing would be to convert your medical and PPL to either Sweden or the UK (DFAS has a UK approved examiner). To transfer your medical records will take a lot of time, so you might just as well start with a fresh initial class 1. Once you have that it should be easy to transfer the PPL

I still want a job afterwards so no French CPL :p

I will ask DFAS for the french approved examiner. But it could be unavailable or possible only at a very expensive price.

Regarding yearly license renewal (IR-ME qualification and SEP) : won't it complicate things to have a Swedish license ? I will renew my SEP via experience in France and my IR-ME with the training test (DFAS will have reduced prices for the first renewal at least) in Sweden : it looks complicated.

You can renew your EASA medical anywhere in Europe, but if you want to have a Swedish licence then you will need to start the SOLI process, in which the French authorities will send to the Swedish authorities your medical files and you will be issued a Swedish medical. You can do this at any time. The process takes, on average, 2-3 weeks, but it depends on the authorities involved. I would expect the French and Swedish authorities to be somewhat more efficient than the Italian, Polish or Greek ones...
And why would a French CPL limit your job opportunities?

Holding two medical certificates is not allowed. At least theoretically... Don't know what would happen in case you get caught. You're fit to fly, maybe just a fine.

I still don't understand why the CAA from EASA country A would not accept the class 1 medical from country B and a PPL from county C as well...

Yes, correction, a French CPL *training* would limit my job opportunities, not a French CPL in itself.

So basically a French CPL examiner would be ideal ? But it could be more costly ?

Do I need to transfer my PPL as well ? And ATPL theory ?

The examiner doesn't have to be French, you just need an examiner authorised to carry examinations under the French authorities. My school has examiners authorised to carry exams under the Italian, French, Finnish, Norwegian, Dutch, Belgian and Irish authority.

You just need to do the SOLI process, which is a transfer of medical records from country A to country B which will then issue a new medical. You won't have to worry about your ATPL scores.

In the best case scenario, DFAS will have an examiner authorised by the French CAA (DGAC), I will ask their opinion about this whole thing.

What about MCC : is it possible to do an MCC course in country A if I have a CPL license with its IR ME ratings from country B ?

I'm thinking about getting a UK license since CTC says that their airline partner prefer or sometimes even require to have a UK license.

The MCC is not a licence, you can do it everywhere, same story for any kind of rating–you can do your IR in Sweden with a French licence or viceversa. I don't think you even need to have the CPL in hand to book and attend the course, but I stand to be correct on this one.

I'm in a similar situation, at the moment doing ATPL Theory at CAE Oxford,
with a Croatian PPL & Class 1 Medical,
planning to do my CPLIRMEP at DFAS Sweden.

As far as I understand, it's either finishing the course and getting the CPL license issued back in Croatia,

or,

doing the SOLI and getting the CPL issued in Sweden - am I correct?


In the 2nd case, do I need to convert my PPL to a Swedish one?
Also, would a third case be possible, converting Medical&PPL to UK, then having a UK recognized examiner at DFAS for a UK CPL ?
Would this be an advisable thing to do?
How long would it take (I have until June 24th before I finish theory and in August is DFAS?)
I haven't yet done ICAO English or Night rating either. Planned to do it between end of theory and beginning of course at DFAS.

Any thoughts much appreciated!

Thank you

You do the SOLI and that's it. You do the training in the meanwhile and your CPL will be issued by the country where you transferred your medical. Regardless of where you got your PPL, regardless of where yous at your ATPL exams.

And you can do your Night Rating even in Portugal, then the school/instructor will give you the paperwork needed which you will send to your authority and they will print a new PPL with the NVFR on it.


So long story short, you can also have a UK licence and be tested under the UK CAA.

no PPL transfer needed?
This is good news.

So,

ICAO Eng & Night Rating in Croatian PPL,
Medical SOLI-changed to UK,
finish course at DFAS with UK authorized examiner,
And it's a UK CPL ?


Thanks

As for the PPL you might want to contact the authorities or the school you will train at, however, what I can tell you is that those students at my school that were requested to change their state of licence issue to Ireland due to a problem with an authority, were continuing their training towards the CPL on their PPL normally whilst waiting for the new medical to arrive. Their CPLs will be issued by IAA.

If you want a UK licence and you have an EASA PPL you must transfer your medical and licence from that EASA state to the UK. You cannot have a class 1 medical from one EASA state and a class 2 medical from another EASA state. Therefore, if you are doing the SOLI process you will need to transfer your medical and your PPL licence (you cannot hold a licence from an authority if the medicals are transfered to another authority). I am going to train in DFAS and I used to have an EASA Spanish PPL but I did the SOLI process and I changed to UK (the UK CAA is easier to deal with and more flexible).

For the SOLI process you need:

- Certified copy of your licence, medical and passport from a UK examiner.
- fill the required forms.
- contact your NAAs and the UK caa.
- and a lot of patience.

Good luck!

I'll check this out with the UK & Cro CAA's, hopefully it's the same as in Ireland. Cheers

In my DFAS course there were french guys, they did the necessary paperwork for the examiner to be registered in the french system and that was it. They got at the end french licence with no big deal. Ask henrik and he will know how to do it if you want to keep the french licence.

Ok, thanks, this sounds like good news.
I think it will be easier to have my license issued from my home country.
+ no transfer to do
I will be able to do all the paperwork directly from my hometown, where we have a branch of the local CAA.

Thanks for the info can you just explain what do you mean with having a "certified copy of licence medical and passport from a UK examiner" ?
Do I need to give these documents to a UK examiner to certify them first and then I can give them to the UK CAA?