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Is a U.S. FAA CPL pilot able to fly commercially with an N reg US aircraft in the UK ?

I stumbled on this excellent site via an article written by Peter2000 writing in depth about pros and cons of N reg (U.S. ) aircraft. I have enjoyed reading the forums however I have a question which I hope someone can shed some light on.

I am a UK citizen with a UK PPL but I have just been to the states and achieved a FAA CPL

I understand the FAA CPL is not recognised in the UK by the CAA and would require me starting again from scratch , ……however if I owned an US N reg aircraft could I undertake commercial tasks as a FAA CPL in that N Reg aircraft?

No idea who this Peter character might be…

( I would have thought that the answer to your question is yes, but EASA regs for place of domicile might say no.)

Last Edited by flybymike at 03 Oct 23:06
Egnm, United Kingdom

The answer is a straight no. Your FAA Commercial is useless for flying commercially in Europe, even if you do have an N-reg. It’s a pure vanity thing.

Last Edited by boscomantico at 04 Oct 05:12
Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

There are N reg operators under Part 91 I believe in Europe. Presumably the passengers own the aircraft and the CPL is paid to operate it. There may be other registrations (Cayman?) where the aircraft is on a Part 91 and flown in Europe with an FAA ticket. Don’t plenty of fractional biz jets operate under Part 91?

It would be useful to get some real life examples, but I have come across at least one French based Cessna Conquest N reg with an FAA licensed (CPL) crew.

Oxford (EGTK), United Kingdom

I understand the FAA CPL is not recognised in the UK by the CAA and would require me starting again from scratch , ……however if I owned an US N reg aircraft could I undertake commercial tasks as a FAA CPL in that N Reg aircraft?

An FAA CPL is always valid as far as the FAA is concerned, regardless of location. This means for example you can be a paid pilot for an aircraft owner, and this is how e.g. bizjet ops work, worldwide. The aircraft can be maintained to Part 91 because the operation is “private”.

The issue is that commercial work is locally regulated. Most of it needs an AOC and you won’t get an EASA AOC if your operation is purely FAA-licensed and FAA-requirements-maintained (there may be rare exceptions, and obviously that is how airlines work; a US airline doesn’t maintain to EASA Part M!). You can get an AOC which allows an N-reg to be used but AFAIK it needs to be maintained as per EASA standards which for most AOC work means an EASA Part 145 company has to do all the work. I have heard of a company doing pleasure flights, under a UK CAA AOC, which discovered they don’t need the full 145 treatment, but that was just a quick remark by the owner and I don’t know any details. So the Q is what exact kind of commercial work you want to do.

You do get some credits for ICAO training and experience, converting to EASA licenses and ratings. For example there is a huge credit towards the IR (the EASA CB IR conversion route). But e.g. to do an EASA CPL you have to sit 13 exams! Practically you have to do the 14 ATPL (CPL/IR) exams because you will be doing the CPL/IR. A CPL alone is worthless in Europe (no crop spraying done here) except for a few rare things (I think pipeline inspection in helicopters is one, some obscure exemptions to the charity flight regs…). Instructing needs just the 13 CPL exams. Ferrying needs a CPL because you are getting paid but you need the IR also.

I don’t know what credits you get FAA CPL to EASA CPL but obviously your total time will count. It’s the exams which deter all but the most determined people.

Your FAA Commercial is useless for flying commercially in Europe, even if you do have an N-reg. It’s a pure vanity thing.

Well, I have an FAA CPL/IR but I am the scruffiest bloke you will ever meet (wear my t-shirts for several days and don’t have a hipster beard) so I don’t think vanity came into it

Historically, an ICAO CPL entitled one to easier conversion/validation routes. These don’t exist under EASA for private pilots but they do exist if you get a job with a commercial operator. For example if you have an FAA CPL/IR you can get a job with a paradropping outfit which operates EASA-reg twin turboprops, and you can get an EASA validation of your FAA CPL/IR, without doing the 14 exams. This validation is officially valid only for that operation (well, only that aircraft registry) but where are ways to move on from there… With some maneuvering in later years this validation can be converted into a full conversion, but there is no official route for that I was offered such a route in a piece of former Yugoslavia, it would have involved working as an instructor for 6 months. I would have ended up with a full JAR-FCL CPL/IR. And there were other routes e.g. Ireland would give an Irish JAR-FCL CPL/IR/ATPL to anybody with an FAA one and they were doing that for about 3 years.

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Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom
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