[Paul_Sengupta]

pay

Ok...

I can't really see what the point is of wanting pilots to do this.

Uh-huh. I think I can.

Similar to the reasoning of putting ratings on the back of the licence.

[Berri]

The extension from 2015 to 2018 seems pointless to me as anyone's SEP rating would have run out well before 2018.

[Irv Lee]

I think the point of the exemption is to let them fly whilst they get an SSEA rating issued, (which they can then revalidate every two years), but of course for anyone over 50, this could be a means of having an EASA medical every 2 years instead of every 1.

[Gertie]

I think the point of the exemption is to let them fly whilst they get an SSEA rating issued, (which they can then revalidate every two years), but of course for anyone over 50, this could be a means of having an EASA medical every 2 years instead of every 1.

Whereas I used it because I couldn't get a medical for a couple of years, until the CAA finally accepted the opinion of several consultants that "there is nothing wrong with this person". I'm sure there are plenty of others who are temporarily unable to obtain a medical, but expect (or at least hope) to get one again one day, and in the meantime can make a declaration.

[Geronimo]

For my part I think the opacity is clearing. The UK PPL holder can fly with NPPL privileges until expiry of his Gp A rating, by which time he has to have obtained a SSEA rating on his licence at the cost of £150 plus. This does seem barmy, as as far as I can see SSEA aircraft are a (large) subset of group A aircraft, hence your average C 150 flyer will have gone through all this to carry on doing what he or she has always done.

[Berri]

Thank Irv and Geronimo - makes sense now.

[Irv Lee]

I think more people are scared of insurance companies than the CAA, but the insurers haven't a clue until someone from the AAIB mentions a 'fact about validity' as a sideline in a report, by which time the cheque has been cashed anyway.
ps: £80+ not £150+ for the rating

[Keef]

The simple advice I was given was "get an NPPL with an SSEA in it while you can". I've paid my £153 and am waiting for the postman to deliver. In the meantime, I can fly on my old CAA PPL and Medical Declaration until the end of the year.

As to how I renew, and what I renew, I'll worry about that after the next lot of treatment.

[Irv Lee]

Optimists pay 80+, pessimists pay 150+

[Keef]

Me, I'm an optimist! I hope I'll get to pole a little Jodel in August or so...

The form for the NPPL made it clear it's £102 to the LAA and £51 to the CAA.
LAPL is no use cos it means surrendering the PPL which has stuff on it that I may just get to use again (like night and IMC).

[Paul_Sengupta]

I believe Irv was talking about getting an SSEA rating attached to one's UK PPL.

Sounds dubious, but there was a photo posted on here of someone who has both SEP and SSEA ratings on his PPL.

[Irv Lee]

SSEA and SEP in a (non-EASA, non-JAA) PPL - nowt wrong with that!
The only licence you surrender to get a LAPL is a JAA or EASA licence.

[Hmmnnn]

This is an exemption to allow a 'not properly licensed' pilot to fly UK Registered Aircraft in the UK.

When it was first promulgated the CAA stated it was to remove the admin (& fee) of applying for an NPPL & SSEA Rating for those pilots who wished to continue flying but were temporarily not fit for Class 1/2.

We may not agree with it but It is, therefore, understandable that the CAA put a time limit on this exemption.
A bit unlucky for those who were only temporarily unfit for 6 weeks in month 23 of their SEP validity, compared to those who were temporarily unfit for 7 months from month 11 to month 18 of their SEP validity.

However, the CAA did, and have, cocked up in the way they have worded the Explanatory Note. They have confused Revalidation requirements with the Exemption requirements.

The ANO did not, and does not, require a valid medical to be held to revalidate or renew a Rating held on a UK National Licence, nor does EASA (which the CAA cannot overrule) require it for Ratings on Part-FCL Licences.

In this exemption a specified pilot licence is a pilot licence issued by the CAA, other than a National Private Pilot’s Licence (Aeroplanes) or a licence issued or deemed to have been issued in accordance with the Aircrew Regulation,

‘Aircrew Regulation’ means Commission Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 of 3 November 2011 as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No 290/2012 of 30 March 2012;

Exactly how is the UK CAA going to tell the German CAA (for example) that they cannot revalidate a Rating on a German issued Part-FCL Licence just because the pilot has obtained a UK NPPL Med Dec.

The Explanatory Note should have said something like:
This exemption may be relied upon from the date a pilot first falls below Class 2 Medical standards until the earlier of either:
a) A valid Class 2 (or Class 1) medical is regained
or
b) The expiry date of the SEP Rating which was held at the time that this exemption was first relied upon.

Basically, it is down to the pilot to know they can no longer rely on the exemption - not for an Examiner (or now Instructor) to refuse to action a revalidation request.

[Paultheparaglider]

I would have thought this was exactly the sort of low hanging fruit that could have been grasped by the red tape challenge.

Personally, I'd do away with PPL medicals entirely, but I guess doing it the same way as motorists is a step too far for some.

[Robin500]

Personally, I'd do away with PPL medicals entirely, but I guess doing it the same way as motorists is a step too far for some.

+1