[Bluewings]

Not posted for a while here, been really busy trying to get the PPL done! so with QXC and the final exam done (the practical RT) I booked up my skills test that I was going to take today! woke up this morning feeling good about the test, drove to the airport a good hours drive, arrived to see a few clouds at 3500 and good visibility and calm wind conditions, so after getting everything planned and ready to present to the examiner someone from the club who had been looking through my logbook noted my hours may not be valid from previous experience, and if I took the test there's a strong chance id have to take it again.

so I started training in 2005 and built up 15 hours finishing in 2007, I then started again late 2015 under EASA it appears that If I had taken my skills test in april this year it wouldn't of been a problem, but the CAA have now released a information notice saying I need to have them validated before I can take the test.

has anybody been in this situation? if I just threw away those old hours I and just count the hours I have since late 2015 I would have 39, so not enough with out those old hours being Valid for the licence,

I have emailed the CAA with details of what hours I got when but I have a feeling ill be waiting quite a while! so not sure if I just do the extra 6 hours, or if I wait it out hoping!
other than that the flyings good! thanks in advance for any advice or experience.

[Nick T]

I've been through the exact thing.

You have to apply for an exemption, at the cost of £53, to allow those hours to count (mine were 12 hours from 2004), along with reasons why safety won't be affected and why it's taken so long.

The exemption's valid for two months from issue, so apply when you're ready for your skills test (sounds like now, in your case!)

http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/modalapplic ... il&id=7429

Then hope that when you apply, the CAA remember they granted you an exemption, instead of messing you around 50 days after you applied and telling you that you should have applied for an exemption and you may need to retake the skills test. Oh yes, I've been there too (which was sorted with a friendly email to the CAA CEO).

Any questions just ask, I did the whole process in August

Edit: form SRG2137 is what you need, and there's a bit more info on this old thread here... viewtopic.php?t=100254

[Paul_Sengupta]

Change the rules, then charge extra for extra bureaucracy to get around those rules. Can't be our esteemed authorities can it, surely...?

[Bathman]

what a load of ...,

And to make an even greater mockery of the system these out of date hours would count towards an FAA PPL. You really couldn't make this up.

The people who have come out with this and are quite frankly distorting this industry and people likelihoods who rely on it. Should be lined up against a wall and be shot.

[Paul_Sengupta]

And according to some, EASA are trying to right the wrongs of the past...

[MarkJPK]

I'm about to go through the same thing - I have 20 hours from a flying scholarship in 1995 that I'd like to use. My current total is 55 so I'm 10 hours short without my old hours and I'm just about ready for my skills test.

Do any of you guys know what supporting documentation they need, log book, signatures etc? I'm trying to get through to the CAA to ask in person but it's proving impossible so far.

Any help to get it right first time would be appreciated.

[Bluewings]

Thank you so much for the help and advice, so I amazingly got reply in 2 days! Stating I need to get the exemption form filled out and sent in and I've done just that. So a waiting game now for them to take the money and process the application. Will let you know how it goes

Thanks again!

[Irv Lee]

MarkJPK, this is probably just too late for you to be worthwhile, but I'm posting it for others in the same (flying) boat to see....
There is currently a route to an EASA LAPL via paperwork and a £41 cheque if you get yourself an NPPL-SSEA if you get such a thing issued by 7/4/2018. (I can't remember any particular restriction on how "old" hours have to be before they drop off an historic cliff, but easy to check with LAA.) NPPL-SSEAs need fewer hours in training than an EASA PPL anyway.
Once you have an EASA LAPL, there is a defined way to an EASA PPL (anytime, no 2018 limit) which is 15 hours, but some of that could be supervised (signed off) nav going where you want to go, and anyway, you might find at first, possibly for some time, that a LAPL suits you anyway, e.g. you get to fly around (even abroad in EASA countries) in the sort of aircraft 'normal' new licence holders fly around in.
So, as there are fewer hours to the LAPL course than the PPL, and then you can always step up to a PPL later when you have more experience and the bank account has recovered (but you may find a LAPL is all you want anyway), it might be that someone with zero hours in their distant history would want to go 0-LAPL then PPL(maybe, sometime), even when the NPPL-SSEA to LAPL to PPL route expires in 2018. The only thing with the latter (do the LAPL course) is that once you have a lapl, you cannot take passengers until you have done 10 pilot in command hours, and of course, taking passengers is one of the pleasures of getting the licence. If you went the NPPL-SSEA route, there is no taking passenger restriction on the NPPL-SSEA, so you could get that, do flying with passengers, then when you convert to LAPL the hours done as pilot in command using NPPL-SSEA count towards the 10 you need to take passengers on the LAPL!

[ChrisRowland]

If you have enough gliding experience to get a BGA glider pilots license (about Bronze C) then you can get a NPPL for 10 hours plus the NST and GST. Then follow Irv's path to the LAPL.

This isn't going to be effective if you are starting from nothing but if you already have gliding experience it could be useful.

Chris

[Irv Lee]

I have not explored the gliding side, but like the nppl ssea route, I assume that the gliding to lapl conversion route is only available to gliding qualifications gained by 7th April 2018.
Also, not knowing the gliding side myself, do you know if the conversion from gliding has to be to a lapl (a) on motor gliders first (which then can be further extended to "Sep" with further training/test) or can it be direct from the gliding side to the "Sep" version at an Sep only school?

[ChrisRowland]

I'm planning to add SSEA to the NPPL before 2018 and convert to various LAPL licenses for what I do. I guess it will be something like LAPL (S) for the sailplane, possibly including self launch as a launch method, and a LAPL (A) for the SSEA . There should be a FI on the sailplane and whatever the equivalent to the MGIR is - somewhere. AFAIK the TMG is on the LAPL (A).

Or something like that. It looks easier to get things on the NPPL and convert to EASA.

Might be worth doing something on a 3 axis microlight as well.

Chris

[low&slow]

You can add TMG privileges to the LAPL(S) as well, doesn't cost anything so no reason not to. The MGIR converts to TMG (Sailplane training only) in the remarks column next to your FI(S).

[ChrisRowland]

Thanks, wasn't sure if the TMG went on the LAPL(S) or the LAPL(A). It looks as if will definitely be worth doing the differences to SSEA before EASA.

Chris

[Bluewings]

update: Friday I had a phone call from the CAA to say they would be processing my application for an exemption this week, I was very surprised to get emailed with a PDF of the certificate at 10:00AM this morning! so ready to go! test booked for Saturday weather dependant happy days.

thanks once more for the advice and help getting this!