FAR 61.75

I would never go through that, just to get N-reg. After all the savings on maintenance are not THAT dramatic (or don’t have to be!), and while you do save some money you also have to pay for the trust, organize maintenance for N-reg, do you biannual FAA checkride … And if you later want to get it back on EASA it will take months, you will have to prove the VAT status again …

Rob2701 wrote:

I’ve just read that for an IR to be included via 61.75 I will need to sit the FAA IR exam.

A very simple theoretical exam, requires maybe 2 days of study. When you fetch your FAA license at the FSDO, you bring the printed test certificate that you get from one of the hundreds of test centers at FTOs. It’s called Foreign IFR and is absolutely harmless.

It took me about 2 weeks to do the computer study for the FAA IR written exam, doing several per day.

I would equate it to the JAA IR Air Law plus Met.

I was about 48 then. For a younger person it would be easier.

These are two different things. The test for FAA validation of foreign IRs is much shorter and easier.

Some here are totally against the 61.75 piggy back licence. Personally I think it’s great for the flying holiday trip to the USA, so I like it, and have gotten it twice in the past.

But if you are getting your own aircraft, and putting it on the N reg, it seems like a recipe for disaster to get a piggy back licence. It’s only a matter of time that something changes and you then need to go through the whole process again.

I first got a piggy back licence in 2002. Since then the following events triggered a need to get a new one (if needed at the time)
1. Change from cardboard to plastic
2. Change from JAA to EASA licences.

On top of this, if you change your home address, you can’t just notify the FAA like anyone else. You need to go through the piggy back process. If your EASA licence number changes for any reason (eg administrative change in your country, or by EASA, or you add ratings to it) then you need to go through the Piggy back process again.

It seems that this would always be an issue with there always being something every few years that triggered a need to go through it again.

If you’re getting an N reg aircraft for your own, then I’d knuckle down and get a full FAA Airman’s cert and save the hassle long term.

And if you later want to get it back on EASA it will take months, you will have to prove the VAT status again …

Which cases require proof of VAT status, upon registry transfer?

I would agree that N-reg is nowadays suitable only for owners who are proactive on the maintenance front. If you just take your plane to the dealer, with keys and a blank signed cheque on the seat (as many do), you will quite likely get more issues that with a local reg. But as with all these things it depends on the details of your local setup. Aircraft operation involves building of a trusted and competent “team” and this is easier on N-reg because you are less over the (EASA Part M) barrel, but from what I see most owners don’t want to get that involved.

then I’d knuckle down and get a full FAA Airman’s cert and save the hassle long term.

100% agree, but then

• you can’t do the Foreign Pilot IR route; you have to do the full FAA IR
• the European options for FAA checkrides are poor now (I am not going to openly post the URL of the guy who claims to have the exclusive rights, and has threatened me and others with litigation )

I did the exam three and a half years ago, when we bought our N-reg Mooney. It’s really not a problem. Somebody even told me, it’s sufficient to prepare on the flight to the US (when doing it there). While I wouldn’t do that, IMHO two days are plenty.

terbang wrote:

While I wouldn’t do that, IMHO two days are plenty.

it took me more than that. Actually, if I spend two days just looking at that, it might be enough. But I didn´t have any full day to spend at it.

Michal wrote:

if I spend two days just looking at that, it might be enough

it was meant like that. A week or ten days in advance, an hour or two each evening.