FLYER Forums

Yes, you're right. I had thought that there was some solo nav in there.

I've checked with the LAA. So here's the definitive answer.
To convert, you need
3 hours training (min), incl one hour of instrument familiarisation and two hours of stalls and spins
Aircraft general exam
Principles of flight exam
NST
GST

Paul_Sengupta wrote:Also for a UK licence flying a UK non-EASA aeroplane, you don't need an aerobatics rating to fly aerobatics.

Nor do you for aerobatics in an SSDR ML.

agfoxx wrote:I've checked with the LAA. So here's the definitive answer.
To convert, you need
3 hours training (min), incl one hour of instrument familiarisation and two hours of stalls and spins
Aircraft general exam
Principles of flight exam
NST
GST

interesting, I got quoted "that'll take at least 10 hours" by one school!

Just to be clear to any hopefuls who read page 2 in conjunction with the title, this LAA advice is about Microlight to ssea within the Nppl.
However, there may be scope soon for LAPL changes. When LAPLs first came in, fcl said they could be "short-coursed" on a national basis to keep the French happy about BdB, a change slipped into fcl against all normal procedures, having lost the Basic Lapl vote 26-1. Then with extensions like we had for ssea, i don't think the BdB actually went away but end dates moved. Now Easa seem to be emphasising that nationally driven Lapl course-curtailing ability. We should soon see what it means in practice for nppl holders.... I hope.

Regulation (EU) 2019/430 comes into effect on 8 Apr 2019. This concerns the 'Modular LAPL', primarily. Unfortunately, unlike the earlier draft which proposed the concept of 'national' licences, the actual law only applies to the LAPL.

EASA Member States are under no obligation to introduce the Modular LAPL.

There has been no change to the lack of credit for holders of microlight-only pilot licences.

So - just to be clear - you're saying that, with my freshly minted NPPL SEP (or SSEA, as it probably should be known), I can wave good-bye to the idea of flying EASA aircraft after April next year; and that the door to potential recognition of NPPL SEP or easy conversion is now finally closed?

agfoxx wrote:So - just to be clear - you're saying that, with my freshly minted NPPL SEP (or SSEA, as it probably should be known), I can wave good-bye to the idea of flying EASA aircraft after April next year;

No, I don't see any reason for assuming that is the final definite non-extendable end date

agfoxx wrote: and that the door to ... easy conversion is now finally closed?

Well, wait and see what the CAA do with the ability to shorten initial LAPL courses..... I would imagine/hope they will do the maximum not the minimum for already-licensed pilots, but what that will be, I don't know.

I was under the impression that significant pressure was being applied to EASA by a number of countries to allow the use of 3-axis microlight hours to count towards PPL and CPL through the consultation process. I thought the French were particularly vocal and that some traction on this was expected.

Luckily I managed to convert NPPL(M) to NPPL(SSEA) to LAPL(A) a few years ago and last year converted LAPL(A) to PPL(A) so I can train towards a CPL(A). In order to qualify for the CPL, I had to re-fly the 90hrs I have on 3-axis microlights and I have done most of this hour-building on permit types (Jodel and Cub) which are as simple as and have the same performance as my 3-axis microlight.

Now I am keen to become a CRI as a stepping stone to FI(A). Although I have the 300hrs TT, 90 are on 3-axis microlights and so I have to wait till I have flown a further 90hrs SEP. This seems silly since as a CRI AFAIK I can teach Microlight to SSEA differences training. Yet my 90hrs of 3-axis microlight flying is seen as irrelevant!!

I suppose the argument would be there is no such thing as a CRI(microlights) you are doing a CRI course for SEP.

Interestingly t hours flown in a Kolb and a eurostar will count towards an FAA PPL or CPL and in fact I know someone who used his 700 hours of microlight time to get an FAA CPL and now works commercially on that licence flying SEP's and SET's

Bathman wrote:I suppose the argument would be there is no such thing as a CRI(microlights) you are doing a CRI course for SEP.

Interestingly t hours flown in a Kolb and a eurostar will count towards an FAA PPL or CPL and in fact I know someone who used his 700 hours of microlight time to get an FAA CPL and now works commercially on that licence flying SEP's and SET's

Interesting... I've asked some American flying schools about whether my Eurostar, Jabiru etc hours would count towards an FAA PPL, and they all said no.

Try Chandler Air Service in Arizona

Try this for NPPL Microlight > PPL(A)SEP:

NPPL(A) Microlight > NPPL(A) SLMG
- CAP804 Part II Section 5 Part A Appendix 1 p8 para 3.1.2

NPPL(A) SLMG > LAPL(S) TMG
- because sailplane conversions are still going, I believe that the Apr 2018 cut off quoted in CAP804 does not apply
- although it is a sailplane licence, no 'pure' sailplane experience is required ( the lack of launch methods prevents it being used for them)
- CAP804 Part I Section 4 Part P p19

LAPL(S) TMG > PPL(A) TMG
- FCL.210.A(c)

PPL(A) TMG > PPL(A) SEP
- FCL.725

agfoxx wrote:

Bathman wrote:I suppose the argument would be there is no such thing as a CRI(microlights) you are doing a CRI course for SEP.

Interestingly t hours flown in a Kolb and a eurostar will count towards an FAA PPL or CPL and in fact I know someone who used his 700 hours of microlight time to get an FAA CPL and now works commercially on that licence flying SEP's and SET's

Interesting... I've asked some American flying schools about whether my Eurostar, Jabiru etc hours would count towards an FAA PPL, and they all said no.

They were counted towards my FAA PPL and CPL. I did my CPL this year in the USA with a very punctilious examiner.

G

For everybody who flies an EASA aircraft on an NPPL SSEA and missed the LAPL conversion window - like I did.
I asked both the CAA and the LAA today about what the future would be - whether we'd still be allowed to operate EASA aircraft after April 2020 (the current cut-off point).
Both organisations told me that people like me would not be grounded.
The CAA said that we'll either make a deal with EASA, or, if we do achieve a Brexit, "you'll be flying a UK-registered aircraft on a UK-issued licence, really simple".
The LAA said that they expected the current derogation to be extended again, like it was the year before and the year before that.
What nobody seems to know is:
- What the process of going from an NPPL to a PPL will look like after 2020
- What privileges NPPL holders will have outside the UK (i.e., whether we'll still be allowed to fly in France, for example).
More detail on the next The Two Thousand Feet Podcast.