Nickmatic, I like to add a few points not yet mentioned in this thread (sorry if I’ve missed them).
Firstly, if you intend to fly your N reg Mooney IFR in Europe on your FAA IR then you can up to April next year IF you are or become a European resident. After 8 April 2015, and you are a European resident, then you need an EASA IR to fly IFR in Europe. There are many threads here on the subject which if you are not aware you should look up.
Secondly, if you intend to fly from the US to Europe you need to look into insurance. It’s pretty difficult getting insurance for an Atlantic crossing unless you take someone who has done it at least 5 times. I flew my 182 from Kansas to the Isle of Man in 2010 and the only way to get insurance was to take a ferry pilot with me.
Thirdly, if you are importing your Mooney and you live in say France then there is VAT to pay on your aircraft. Again, this has been covered many times here and you should look into it carefully.
If you are familiar with these points then OK, good. Just thought its worth mentioning these gotchas.
Avoid food in UK…
That shouldn’t be exaggerated. I have had very good restaurant meals in the UK, and have contrarily happened upon unpalatable stuff in France. Cheese us, one can even find decent eateries in Holland these days. Much has improved, in this respect, over the last few decades. Few general rules still hold true.
I’m conversational in Spanish, almost so in French, and can get by in German and Portuguese. I love language
Well, that makes you a most unusual US’an… but it makes me join those who recommend France for you. And you will certainly enjoy Europe very much!
Jan, there are about 38 million people living in the US who speak Spanish as their primary language, included among the 45 million who speak it regularly. 
At work in the I am surrounded by non-native speakers because the rate of immigration. Polish and Mandarin are big.
If I had half a brain I’d have learned Spanish, but I’ve always been worried that I’d mess up my barely passable Italian. German remains a challenge, but I’m making progress.
boscomantico: Sounds like Spain is not the best first choice… except your comment about unlicensed airstrips made me wonder: what’s the legality/practicality of buying some land in the Spanish countryside and paving a 900m airstrip there for myself? I had thought of this but it seemed like a ridiculous idea until you mentioned unlicensed airstrips.
STOLMan: Good gotchas, thanks. Your point about using my FAA IR in Europe is something I’ve read a bit about, but of course the issue is clear as mud in terms of who is the operator and what determines whether it is based in the EU. My understanding is that if I’m not officially an EU resident, I can use my FAA IR there without restriction, even after next April. Now, whether I’m actually a resident or not becomes the question. Who’s to say whether or not I’m a resident for these purposes? Will anyone be checking these things or will business go on as usual for flyers like me? The overall feeling I get from other threads here is that this isn’t really clear cut and may just be a problem if there’s an accident or enforcement issue. I may be in denial about it, but my feeling is that I’ll take my chances. Please correct me if I’m horribly wrong.
As for insurance… that will definitely be tough, but I think not impossible, even if I have to go with a ferry pilot.
As for being most unusual, guilty as charged. I even like British food.
My understanding is that if I’m not officially an EU resident, I can use my FAA IR there without restriction, even after next April.
Your issue there will not just be your IR rating but the sufficiency of your pilot certificate itself. I will probably end up living 6 months each in US and EU sometime in the future – I have citizenship in both. My read on the legal issue is that if you can avoid being a registered resident in an EU county you are legally clean regardless of citizenship(s). In a practical sense, I suspect that if you show a US passport and fly a N-registered plane, no official is likely to take it further regardless because there is no central EU database of resident registration, only some individual national databases.
Nicholas,
it enitrely depends on the country (welcome to Europe ). I am not sure about the details for Spain, but I can tell you for Italy. In order to legally fly with something certified like the Mooney, the airstrip needs to be classed as an “aviosuperficie”, which is an unlicensed, but registered airstrip. Apart from the need for the proper piece of land, one will need to do some paperwork with the local municipality as well as the Italian CAA (ENAC). Depending on the circumstances, this can get tedious; in some cases, it is very straightforward. You also need to do a land survey, possibly a noise survey and install a windsock as well as runway markers. Some basic insurance is required. That’s about it.
AFAIK, in the UK it is even simpler than that, i.e. no real interaction with the CAA required in order to “open” your own strip, but it will be subject to a lot of restrictions. However, there is no destinction between airfields being only approved for gliders, microlights or for other aircraft. Other forumites will sure have more detailed information.
On the other end of the scale is Germany. Over here, forget it. There is no such thing as an unlicensed airfield in Germany. If you want to fly a Mooney, it has to be at an “official” (licensed) airfield. Almost impossible to license a new airfield nowadays (even with endless patience and money). Those that do open up (usually after conversion from a “gliding only” site) get massive restrictions imposed on their license.
Avoid food in UK…
That shouldn’t be exaggerated.
OK,I will modify it. Avoid food at UK airports.
In the UK you can establish your own airstrip IF you use it for a maximum of 28 days per annum. If you use it more than that it means you need planning permission which is impossible to get. Farmers use their “set aside” land for an airstrip normally and a log must be kept of the airstrips use. If you manage to establish the airstrip for 5 years without huge protests from the neighbours then you start to build up a “right of use”. After ten years nobody can stop you. It helps to have a real need for an airstrip and not just because you want one.
It’s the same for me in the Isle of Man. The 28 day rule does not apply here but the planners will start to take an interest if there are complaints. I have 5 years under my belt now with the use of the strip and so far so good.
Nicholas, I’d look at living outside the EU, like Switzerland for example or the Channel Islands. The there is no problem about flying your N reg aircraft on your FAA IR in Europe then because you are certainly not an EU resident.
Same is true for the Isle of Man and Norway. Just a thought.
I flew my 182 from Kansas to the Isle of Man in 2010 and the only way to get insurance was to take a ferry pilot with me.
Well there goes my hopes for a big flying adventure in the Auster to Oshkosh sometime in the future :-( There’s no way I’m doing it unless I can do it solo. (Two people in immersion suits plus ferry tank just won’t fit).
OK,I will modify it. Avoid food at UK airports.
I found the food to be perfectly good at the café at Gloucestershire (EGBJ), and even the greasy spoon at Carlisle is pretty good.
A friend of mine just got approval for his own field here in Mallorca, Spain. Took him 5 years. An endless amount of stamps needed, both municipal and aviation-related. The field is miles from any neighbours. So he got his permit: for Microlights only.. The funny thing is that he found a law of 1962 that would imply that light aircraft could also use such a field. Reaction of the Spanish CAA: “Yes, but we don’t like that law, so you better not use it”.
