Learning to fly, or thinking of learning? Post your questions, comments and experiences here

Moderator: AndyR

By Sthackrey
#1680620
Good moring all,

I really need some advice/help. In 2001 I gained my CAA JAR-FCL PPL prior to going to university. As a student I could never afford to fly and have only recently been able to start flying again. I have been training in France where I live. After a few flights the instructor was really happy with my flying, planning etc and said I would only need 10hrs training to get to the point of SEP renewal. The issue I am having just now is with the CAA. I am trying to change my JAR-FCL to an Easa PPL. They are requesting for an English proficiency level 6 certificate and medical exam details (which I did in France). I note that they don't accept English tests from abroad so I'll have to go back to the UK to do this which is crazy as I am a native speaker. The thing I'm more worried about is whether they will accept my SEP rating after I have my flight exam in France. I have tried contacting CAA for advice but they never respond to me. Has anyone gone through a similar experience? Or does anyone have any advice? Do you think changing issue country to France might work?

All the best,
Scott.
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By Irv Lee
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1680677
You can get a UK flight examiner to assess your English on the ground with a chat and fill in form 1199 - there are such beasts living in France... where are you?
Your question on renewing of course depends on EASA and hard or soft Brexit, but I suspect whatever EASA says about recognising UK issued paperwork or not, we will probably allow it all to work the other way round. Personal opinion only, if the CAA have medical data, English level, and renewal paperwork from France, I suspect you will be ok to get your licence/rating reissued. What then happens (if you live in France) is yet another question on what happends with Brexit.
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By Flyin'Dutch'
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1680685
Whether you are going to continue with etc UK licence or get a French one - you will need a Medical and the AME needs to mark up the exam as being a UK one and send the paperwork to the UK medical department (medicalweb(at)car(dot)co(dot)uk.

James 33 of this parish lives in la Douce France and sorts out language exams so that should not be a problem either.

The EASA examiner and paperwork should work, at least until 29/3 and probably thereafter.
By James33
#1680756
Hi Scott,

As mentioned, I can do English assessments in France, but sadly not for UK licence holders.

I actually asked the CAA directly a few weeks ago and the response was a firm "niet".

Unfortunately, if your UK licence is of the JAA type, you can't switch it to a French EASA PPL.

You have to go JAA UK > EASA UK > EASA FR (stupid I know!).

The problematic part is the JAA UK>EASA UK bit : an EASA licence is not valid without at least 1 language proficiency endorsement (not necessarily in English but any ICAO language).

In the UK the only one you can get is English, and they won't issue the licence without it, even if you're a native English speaker.

As Irv says, you can do an "informal" assessment with a UK RT examiner for level 6. There's a guy down near me (southwest France) who can do it, but he's not in France all the time.

Which part of France are you in ?

Feel free to private message.

Best
James