Learn to fly in Europe

Silvaire wrote:

With an FAA Private Certificate and 100 hrs flying time, I’m led to believe getting an EASA license is much simpler

Not quite. I at least do not know of any “easy” path from a FAA PPL to an EASA PPL for the moment (except for license validation which is of limited duration and can only be re-issued once). When/if the BASA licensing annex is finalised, that will change.

With 50 hrs of PIC time under IFR you can quite easily obtain an EASA IR.

8. Applicants for the competency-based modular IR holding a Part-FCL PPL or CPL and a valid IR issued in compliance with the requirements of Annex 1 to the Chicago Convention by a third country may be credited in full towards the training course mentioned in paragraph 4. In order to be issued the IR, the applicant shall:
(a) successfully complete the skill test for the IR in accordance with Appendix 7;
(b) demonstrate to the examiner during the skill test that he/she has acquired an adequate level of theoretical knowledge of air law, meteorology and flight planning and performance (IR); and
(c) have a minimum experience of at least 50 hours of flight time under IFR as PIC on aeroplanes

There is the 100hr ICAO PPL to EASA PPL conversion route. Not sure of the latest but in the UK it used to be an air law exam and a checkride. And the UK medical of course.

You needed 100hrs post-PPL; this was done to protect the domestic PPL training business which used to suffer from people training in the USA and then being able to fly a G-reg (worldwide VFR) on the US PPL. That last bit was killed by EASA a few years ago, except for non EASA aircraft.

cucumber wrote:

Now I am wondering if there is any difference between Swiss PPL and German PPL? Would I be able to fly around all of Europe with either one?

I would like to add that with an EASA-PPL ypu could not only fly around the world, but could do so regardless of the registration of the plane, as long as it is registered in an EASA member state, which adds some extra flexibility.

Do you already have an idea in which part of southern Germany you are going to live in?

Peter wrote:

Not sure of the latest but in the UK it used to be an air law exam and a checkride.

Pilot licences for non-commercial activities without an instrument rating

5. In the case of private pilot licences, or CPL and ATPL licences without an instrument rating where the pilot intends only to exercise private pilot privileges, the holder shall comply with the following requirements:
(a) demonstrate that he/she has acquired knowledge of Air Law and Human Performance;
(b) pass the PPL skill test as set out in Part-FCL;
(c) fulfil the relevant requirements of Part-FCL for the issuance of a type or class rating as relevant to the privileges of the licence held;
(d) hold at least a Class 2 medical certificate issued in accordance with Annex 1 to the Chicago Convention;
(e) demonstrate that he/she has acquired language proficiency in accordance with FCL.055;
(f) have a minimum experience of at least 100 hours as pilot in the relevant category of aircraft

Guys you’re dragging this off topic. Cucumber doesn’t care about IR or FAA to EASA license conversation (just yet). He just wants to learn to fly. Talk about the complicated stuff that you’re soo into later.
Do the PPL first, 45 hours of flight training plus ground school lessons. Depending on your available time and cash it can take a few months or longer. I started at the end of 2015 but became a father shortly after and work full time as a doctor, so I’m still not done yet. 13 hours to go…

If the language is not an issue, it should be quite straight forward in Germany. There are flight schools scattered all over around South Germany. Finding one wouldn’t be a problem.
No idea if Swiss and German PPL training are different, most likely not, but it should be cheaper in Germany :)

@cucumber, I second everyone’s comments about flying being worth it despite all of the bureaucratic garbage you have to go through. Once your wheels leave the ground, all of that fades away.

That being said, one word of advice on making your life easier if you are planning to get a German license (which is somewhat orthogonal to getting the training in Germany; you’re free to choose which country issues your licenses). The PPL requires a criminal background check in Germany; as part of the background check, you have to supply police records from everywhere you’ve lived within the last 10 years.

Responsibility for (non-instrument) private pilot licenses is delegated to local fiefdoms, and at least some of them interpret the police-record requirement to mean an FBI criminal background check if you’ve lived in the US; example: https://www.lds.sachsen.de/anlagen/getData2.asp?ID=12248&art_param=403&reduce=0 It’s fairly easy to get a copy of the background check while you’re in the US, fairly difficult otherwise. So plan ahead…

If you’re still in the US for a few months and have the time to spare, I would suggest to get the FAA license while still here and convert to a EASA one once you’re in Germany. As you say you’re still at uni, that means you’re also still very much immersed in the general process of learning, which in turn means that learning the theory shouldn’t be too hard on you (as opposed, say, to someone who hasn’t see the inside of a school in many years). If you’re a quick study, you can easily get your FAA ticket before you leave the US (are these three months a hard date or a time horizon you’ve set yourself?). Having both standalone licenses makes flying in the future one hell of a lot easier, especially if you intend to fly globally, as in general an FAA validation / conversion is much easier and quicker than an EASA one (at least if your EASA license is UK issued, don’t know about Germany or Switzerland). You also learn more about practical flying ‘in the system’ in the US, which helps.

cucumber wrote:

@jmuelmen Is this only in Germany? I looked it up on the FBI website and it says it takes 12-14 weeks + mailing time. Considering I have less than 3 months left, I don’t think that would work out. So maybe I’d have to do it in a different country after all.

The UK doesn’t require it. I don’t know about other countries. I think there was a thread here recently discussing the relative merits of various EASA states.

If you do want to go with a German license (which I am not by any means advocating, since my personal opinion is that Germany is the wrong choice for basically any bureaucratic transaction), you could request that the FBI mail to a German address, assuming you have one already. Or you could go through one of the private middlemen that reduce the processing time to a few days (for a fee); they are called “facilitators” or “enablers” or something euphonic like that. The main problems with getting the background check from outside the US are (1) you have to find someone who will take your fingerprints in a way that’s acceptable to the FBI and (2) you no longer have the option of the private middlemen, so you are stuck with the 12-14 weeks wait time.