Hello,
First let me thank you all. I’ve been reading all the old posts and been learning a lot.
I have a CPL license with frozen ATPL, I had MEP and IR but is expired since 2011 so I have to redo them. I am though about to renew my also expired SEP to restart flying. My last SEP flight was back in 2012.
My idea was to go for a airline pilot carrer, but due to crisis and low demanding of fresh trained pilots I had to put project on the drawer.
I am portuguese but I am living in Germany for almost 3 years now, working for Pratt&Whitney Canada aftermarket support based in Berlin.
Basically I want to renew all my qualifications and re-gain the proeficiency.
I am planning either to by a cheap piper cherokee or cessna to fly at least 100h (to make a total of 300 in my logbook) either to by a share or rent long term. Does any of you know about an opportunity around here ?
With my very limited german skills will definitely be a challenge to find an hangar, proper CAMO, insurance, etc. Although I am in the business, I can’t afford a PT6A maintenance :)
Well, all advice will be very welcome, thanks for reading.
Tiago
Shoot, just noticed I posted this in the wrong place. Any way to move it to “Hangar talk” ?
Done 
Pre overhaul, PT6A maintenance is a heck of a lot cheaper than piston engine maintenance!
Hello!
Tiagoarne wrote:
Well, all advice will be very welcome, thanks for reading
First I have to say that Berlin is not my region, so I can’t help with specific names and addresses. But a few general comments:
1) Good that you have not forgotten about your flying ambitions, a lot of pilots in your position just give up and stay with their “second best” job.
2) German language currency is not really required for flying in Germany. Unless you want to join some countryside flying club, but this is not what I think you need (see below).
3) What you need is an FTO with a license to instruct up to EASA ATPL level. Everything else will be a waste of time and money. Like starting to renew the PPL in a flying club and then hiring aeroplanes for so and so many hours and then starting to renew the remaining ratings. One can do that for the initial issue of a license to save some money (at the expense of a lot of time) but not for license renewal. Go the EASA way right from the start, which would be your PPL renewal. EASA. Nothing else. Talk to the head of training (nobody else – always the head of training!) of the FTO what exactly needs to be done. There is still a great confusion about EASA licenses and asking an ordinary instructor (like myself) tricky questions about renewal of lapsed foreign licenses will lead to nothing 
4) You did not state your age, but if already above 30, it might be difficult to impossible to find employment with airlines around here. There are lots and lots of unemployed youngsters straight out of the flying schools flooding the market. Unless you can afford (and want?) to buy your way into the cockpit through some “pay to fly” scheme. But then, you could have done that five years ago already… But it’s never too late for business aviation where real-world working experience like the one you are getting right now counts more than a few years of age or a couple of hundred flying hours.
5) If you want to fly those 100 hours (to complete 300 hours total time) with the aim of improving your chances to find employment, forget it. Nobody in the commercial sector (airline & bizjet) cares the least bit for privately flown single engine piston hours. Instructing or aerial work counts a little bit though, but the chances to find employment there are as thin as with the airlines right now. You will only lose one more year for flying those hours and age is more important than flying time for an airline. Your hundred hours will be flown there in the first two months and on a real airplane and not some puddle-jumper (in their view).
6) Once you have your license back and start applying for jobs, especially airline jobs, you will need good preparation for passing their assessment centres and simulator screenings. There are companies specialised in these preparation courses. Rather spend your money there than flying around in a C172. (Unless you want to do it for your enjoyment.) The only thing that will help you pass a screening in a 737 simulator are training sessions on a 737 simulator. One hour on that thing helps more than 100 hours in a real-life C172.
Happy landings!
Max
PT6A maintenance is a heck of a lot cheaper than piston engine maintenance!
Any figures, Jason?
PT6 annual maintenance consists only of replacing filters and doing a visual inspection. There is hardly anything to do.
Incidentally I have observed a PT6 hot section inspection on a Cheyenne I this week. A specialist came to the shop and he brought a few suitcases with tools. He basically remove a lot of screws and had the turbine in two halves. Then he measured some stuff and had a close look which took some hours. After that he bolted the halves together and safety wired the dozens of screws. That was all. I wonder why a HSI is so expensive, it did not seem to be very difficult nor did it require any major parts.
Thanks for your comments Max, let me give mine:
3) My license is an EASA ATPL level, it means it has all the necessary ratings for airline job plus the theory. These ratings, as you know, have different expiration dates. The MEP and the IR are already expired for more than 3 years so the FTO needs to define what type of refreshment I need to have, but I already know it is close to the entire MEP and IR on a modular scheme. The SEP is expired since August 2012 meaning that if I renew it before that date I just need to have a 2h flight with instructor and then the check ride.
4) I am 34. I know it would be very difficult if not impossible as you said, but I already invested a lot of money and I cannot go back in time. I doing pretty good in my career on the ground and I am grateful that I am not unemployed nor frustrated as many youngsters but at the same time I don’t want to miss any rare opportunity that might show up just because I don’t have my qualifications up to date.
5) I’ve seen some job posts asking for a minimum of hours, it looks it is just a number to filter but yet it is a requirement. Mainly, thankfully I know have the conditions to get the conditions that I find the minimum, I want to achieve them and then we’ll see what happens.
6) I love to fly. I want to have fun with a goal in mind. I want to learn more stuff and to improve my skills. I think I will get that by flying a plane no matter how small it is. The major part of the process is the planning and preparation. Maybe I will take your advice on the 737 sim if I some day have a real chance of getting a job.
Cheers
Tiago
achimha,
My job is to organize these on-site visits in all EMEA region on behalf of P&WC.
What you have seen is a straight forward inspection where everything is alright. What might bring the costs up is any parts refurbishment or replacement.
I recommend you talk to this flying school:
http://www.flugschule-ardex.de/index.html
If you want to do some nice and affordable flying there are some flying clubs around. I can recommend the hfc and their D-ELKN C172:
http://wp.hfc-berlin.de/?page_id=116
If you want to meet up with some other pilots from the area, each month we have a meeting. The next date is 3rd July when we do an evening flyout to Hannover, have some food there and fly back. Send me a private message and we might be able to find you a seat.
