Europe hostile to NA GA pilots

[Colonel Sanders]

http://www.aopa.org/advocacy/articles/2 ... lease.html

In a move that had been in the works for years, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA—the European Union’s equivalent of the FAA) took a major step in revamping its flight crew licensing (FCL) regulations. The new rules, which went into effect April 8, officially end the reciprocity agreements that have existed for decades between Europe and the United States. Where once an American—or any other non-European-certificated—pilot could fly to Europe, have the authorities quickly recognize the validity of a U.S.-issued pilot certificate, and fly general aviation airplanes with minimal hassle, he or she must now face the end of such privileges.

Now, non-Europeans must jump through numerous bureaucratic hoops. These include enduring a series of written tests and checkrides. The good news is that thanks to efforts by AOPA-US and the AOPAs in Europe the full-blown regulations—the ones that must be completed in order for non-European-certified pilots to earn fully equivalent, European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) pilot certificates—don’t kick in until a two-year grace period elapses. Americans and other non-Europeans seeking to fly in either the United Kingdom or Germany can apply for a validation of their certificates under less-restrictive rules, until 2014, when the new rules come into full effect.

For VFR flying in Germany, for example, the validation rules in the grace period involve passing written exams on aviation law and human performance. Each test has 100 questions, and some 10 hours of study will usually be needed to prepare for each of these exams. Then comes an EASA-endorsed medical exam, a background check for security purposes, and a test of your English proficiency. You also have to prove you have at least 100 hours flying time in the category of aircraft you intend to fly. Finally, there’s a checkride—which must be carried out in an airplane operated by a flight school.

An IFR validation involves additional written exams on meteorology and flight planning, plus proof you’ve logged 100 hours of flying time as pilot in command under instrument flight rules.

These new European validations are valid for one year only, and nonrenewable. After the year has expired, pilots seeking flying privileges will have to earn JAA certificates and ratings. For non-Europeans wanting to fly in the rest of the 25 nations in the European Union, the rule mandating full JAA certification apparently kick in immediately.

However, rules can always be changed, and the International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations (IAOPA) is working hard to secure liberalization of the new regulations. AOPA-Germany and AOPA-UK have already demonstrated an impressive persuasive power, as evidenced by the temporary validation clauses for those two nations.

Craig Spence, AOPA vice president of operations and international affairs, said, “AOPA-US has been working with the FAA, and the AOPAs in Europe have been working with EASA to make sure that pilots continue to have the right to fly. The bottom line is yes, the rule goes into effect, but each nation has a two-year grace period to implement it. AOPA-US and the AOPAs in Europe continue to fight this battle on several fronts.”

The new rules will have a potentially massive effect on American flying schools that cater to European students. For years, Europeans having been coming to the United States to earn U.S. pilot certificates at prices thousands of dollars less than what it would have cost had they learned in Europe. Then they return to Europe and fly N-registered aircraft. Now, American flight schools will presumably have to alter their curricula to conform to EASA standards.

European pilots, many of whom have benefitted from reciprocity, are justifiably concerned and upset by the new rules. To get a taste of the sentiment and a sense of the full-blown JAA pilot certification requirements, read the editorial by Jan Brill, editor in chief of Germany’s Pilot und Flugzeug magazine, a popular monthly that caters to a wide GA audience.

Get out the crumpets!

[Go Juice]

EDITED

[bmc]

Bit of an over dramatic subject heading.

[oh yeah baby]

Lets kick all the non canadian pilot out of the country... We look like a banana republic. Congo has less foreign pilot flying within the country than us...

Write to your deputy



The Honourable Denis Lebel
Minister of Transport
330 Sparks Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N5

By Fax : 613-995-0327

[Meatservo]

So you live in a country, and want to have an aeroplane and fly it in that country, you have to meet that country's requirements for pilot proficiency? Big f**kin' deal. I think if the government decides that you should meet a certain standard in order to fly, you shouldn't be able to circumvent the system by going to another country with lower standards and expect to come back and enjoy the same privileges as the people who do meet the standard.

Sounds like a tempest in a teapot to me.

[Colonel Sanders]

The GA European pilots are pissed about it:

http://www.pilotundflugzeug.de/artikel/ ... ign_pilots

Dear International Pilots, You Are Not Welcome In Europe

For many decades, European pilots have ventured out into the world, enjoyed the beauty of private flying from Queensland to Alaska, have undergone training in all parts of the English speaking world, have validated and converted their licenses and gained valuable flying-experience in some of the most wonderful parts of the globe. We were welcomed with open arms by our international flying-friends, instructors, flight schools and authorities.

Now, as of April 8, 2012, we have decided to repay that hospitality and opportunity by effectively slamming shut our own doors and borders to all non EU pilots. By implementing new licensing regulations, that in cumbersomeness and plain old viciousness may only be surpassed by traditionally freedom-loving countries such as China or North Korea, we‘re telling our flying-friends all over the world:

Stay away! You‘re not welcome in the EU!

You might have guessed it at one time or another. You may have had a feeling, that beneath our friendly and cheerful ways we Europeans are a bit arrogant in nature. Fortunately, it didn‘t matter to you. Whether you were an Australian Licensing Officer, validating our PPL effortlessly into a CASA Special Pilot Licence to allow us to see the beauty of your country from above, whether you were a Transport Canada Employee converting our SEP-Classrating in order to enable us to fulfil that livelong dream of getting seaplane-training or whether you were a US flight instructor, doing the grunt work of teaching us how to fly straight and level in the smouldering heat of the Arizona desert, you welcomed us with open arms and there was always a way to make it happen.

Yes, our Euros, our Deutschmarks, our Francs or our Guldens may have helped, but at the very core you have welcomed us into your licensing systems, training schools and aircraft cockpits and if there ever was a nagging feeling, that the guy from Germany might be some sort of a know-it-all or that the chick from the Netherlands should really lighten up a bit, you never did let us know.

However, now you have proof that we are in fact a bunch of arrogant pricks. Because after taking in your training, enjoying your country and using your aviation-system to the fullest, we have made it all too clear how much we really value your skills and your experience: Not at all. The same instructor, who patiently taught us patterns and crosswind landings in Florida will not even be allowed to fly a Cessna 152 under VFR here in Europe, thanks to our brave new licensing-system. Not without a ridiculous amount of training, exams and bureaucratic red tape.

The same flight-examiner-god who gave us our ATP checkride and typerating in the CJ or the 737 will not even be allowed to convert his certificate into a lowly PPL/IR in my country, not without writing at least 9 written exams, proving his English language skills, undergoing at least 15 hours of practical training and passing a checkride plus another barrage of bureaucratic bs.

This is how much we value your skills.
This is how much we value your certificates.
This is how much we value ICAO.

To really appreciate just what kind of tremendous clever dicks we really are, let‘s look at an example from the real world:

Take John C. He is an American Airline Transport rated Pilot with more than 20 years and many thousands of hours experience in everything from a Cessna 172 to a King Air 350. He is also an experienced and highly skilled Air Traffic Controller who worked in many of the busiest US Air Traffic Control Centers. On the invitation of a large European Air Traffic Control Agency he has come to our shores to help us out with our ATC staff shortage and train future European Air Traffic Controllers. His contract is for three years. It might not be unreasonable for someone in his profession and his position to keep up with his flying-proficiency during his time here in Europe. Any sane country or licensing system would probably trust John C. with a small General Aviation aircraft after a minimum of due process for validation or conversion.

Nevertheless, here is what John C. would have to do to fly any C172 or SR20 under IFR in his host country of Germany (no, not just a German registered rental, but even his very own US-registered aircraft if he had decided to bring it along for the three years):

Pass two written PPL exams in Air Law and Human Performance (study-time about 10 hrs each), which have to be done at one of the very few test-centers run by the authority and at certain predetermined times.

Pass a PPL Checkride (preparation time about 1 hr, but you can‘t use your own aircraft, it has to be an aircraft registered to a flight school!)

Prove your English language skills in a separate exam or assessment.

Obtain an EU medical.

Pass another 7 written exams for the Instrument Rating, where you learn everything from the precise anatomy of the inner ear to the details of DME pulse-pair timing (study-time about 70-100 hrs), again only at the authority on certain dates.

Register at a flight school and undergo about 15 to 20 hours of practical IFR-training depending on the whim of the authority and the flight school.

Pass the IFR Checkride (again, you can‘t use your own aircraft neither for training nor checkride, it has to be an aircraft registered to a flight school!)

Work around a lot of red tape, starting from obtaining a security check (all German) to producing your motor vehicle drivers history file (which will be challenging without a local drivers license).

Pay the bill for all of the above, which will amount to at least 7.000 Euros ($ 10.000), depending on the amount of practical training the school and the authority deem necessary.

And please note: John C. has to do all of the above, no matter whether he wants to rent an aircraft or just fly his own US-registered aeroplane here in Europe. Why? Because as soon as you‘re a resident of this beautiful part of the world, you have to comply with all European licensing regs, regardless of the registration of your aircraft! And you can only get a validation for 12 months. Once. Thereafter you have to obtain a complete EU-license including ATP-level written tests and a significant amount of training in a flight school.

As a commercial pilot and flight instructor, licensed in Europe as well as in the US, having undergone training in many parts of the world and having enjoyed General Aviation on all continents of the globe, this blinkered vulgarity of my people towards my international pilot-friends and colleagues is a source of deep personal shame.

It would appear this has nothing to do with safety, and everything to do with bureaucrats exercising their muscle.

This might be a "tempest in a teapot" to you, but they're pissed off over there.

[Meatservo]

Oh, I agree, it probably doesn't have much to do with the private pilots' ability to fly a small aeroplane. I just don't philosophically have much sympathy. Imagine a person in Canada who was repeatedly unable to finish his license or meet the requirements, deciding to go off to, I don't know, Belize or something, in order to get whatever passes for a private license there, and then coming back to Canada and expecting to have the legal right to flounder around in a 'plane over here, not knowing the local rules, and generally performing to a lower standard than everyone else.

What I think the Europeans should be doing is petitioning their aviation authority to invent some sort of version of the "Light Sport Aircraft" license over there so they can continue flying legally with a license issued in their own country. I understand why they are cross, but I don't really think it stands to reason that every country in the world necessarily needs to respect the licensing requirements of a foreign country for its own citizens. What if they did the same thing for other important factors of government oversight, like health codes or building codes? I guess one of the great things about living in the USA is that you get to be an American pilot if you want. I guess one of the bummers about being a German now, is that if you want to be a pilot in Germany, you have to be a German pilot. Makes sense to me.

They should get a "light sport license". It's worked for years in the USA for those who are too lazy or maybe not smart enough to get a real private pilots' license.

I'm sorry that I believe in high standards. On the other hand I may have benefitted, financially at least, from the low Canadian ones. One of the good things about actually being a Canadian, I guess.



P.S. I actually do see the point in your example above. But the same system that would allow the American Space-Shuttle astronaut in the example to putz around IFR in rented 172 also allows European citizens to obtain an American license, buy a plane and register it in the States, even thought the plane has never been there, and totally circumvent the licensing requirements of his own country. That's probably why they want to change the rules.