Robbie,
I am currently going through this and have had a
lot of correspondence with the CAA, so am quite clued up on this farce.
Irv, you are right, the CAA will incorporate an NPPL to EASA PPL section in the next CAP804. I have a draft copy of it. Currently, if you go for NPPL to EASA PPL you have to fulfill both requirements for NPPL to LAPL and LAPL to PPL in CAP 804, but the CAA will process the license as a direct NPPL to EASA PPL, and not charge a LAPL fee.
Robbie, of the 83 hours you have done so far, only
5 can be used towards the 15 hours NPPL to PPL requirement. You
MUST do 10 hours training at an RTF/ATO, and create a “Training Package” (quoting a CAA licensing Officer), that is tailored to you, based on your previous flying experience.
Of those 10 hours aforementioned, as per CAP 804, you must do
4 hours of supervised solo flight time, including at least 2 hours
of solo cross-country flight time with at least 1 cross-country flight of at least
270 km (150 NM)
Furthermore, you must have evidence of every exercise of the PPL syllabus in your logbook; look here (starts on page 178):
http://easa.europa.eu/agency-measures/docs/agency-decisions/2011/2011-016-R/AMC%20and%20GM%20to%20Part-FCL.pdfAssuming you are a normal NPPL holder, you will need to fly a couple of dual hours for the exercises omitted from the full PPL syllabus, like radio nav / instrument flying appreciation. Once they have been completed, and you have flown the 4 hours supervised solo, including the 2 hours of solo cross country and 150NM cross country, the remaining time can be whatever your instructor decides; be it more dual or more supervised solo! So, the majority of the "training" may turn out to be supervised solo if you are already up to the required standard. There is no upper limit to the amount of supervised solo, just a lower limit (4 hours). In my case, it means I
must do 6 hours "Supervised Solo" as "Training"
The flying club I spoke to about the conversion even said I would have to pay the dual rate for the supervised solo because it will be essentially flying under their supervision, despite having a current license! The process is ridiculous and, no, I don't understand how you can be "supervised" when you already hold an appropriate license either
You can credit any dual flying you have done so far towards meeting the
syllabus criteria but you cannot count the actual hours towards the 10 hours training; unless they are flown for the purpose of the 10 hour “training package”. For example, and again in my case, the CAA will accept I meet the
syllabus criteria for spinning, slow flight etc as I completed an AOPA aerobatic course but will not let me log those
hours towards the 10 because it was not a recognised PPL training course; despite being done at an FTO, with a PPL instructor!.
Also, if you already completed a 150NM cross country when doing the NPPL, in preparation for a future upgrade,forget about it. You
MUST redo another 150NM cross country, they will not accept previous ones unless they have been done at an FTO for the purpose of the NPPL to PPL. I know of a guy who had his NPPL to PPL application sent back, despite meeting all the other requirements, because he tried to use his previous 150NM XC he did during NPPL training for a future NPPL to PPL!
Once you have the 10 hours "training" package completed, complete a skills test and send off the application.. simple, right?
I have spent months trying to get the CAA give me some leniency on this and accredit some of my previous flying but they won’t budge on this. It’s a dreadful, ambiguous and (purposefully?) expensive process; but it’s the ONLY way!