Fenland_Flyer wrote:
Fenland_Flyer30-Dec-15 21:18
#38
JWL wrote:
Renew my IMC, and then convert to EASA plus IR (R)
Please forgive my lack of knowledge but what is this? Is the British IMC if current not just automatic on an EASA PPL? So would you not be “renewing” and have your EASA licence stamped with the coveted IR(R)?
Thanks
No forgiveness needed, you’re in good company! I’m not sure I fully understand it myelf, but this is the order that has been recomended by my ATO. Apparently if done this way, it will be in the ‘front’ of the EASA licence, and can be revaldated by an instructor. If not performed this way, then it (the IMC, now IR(R)) goes into the ‘back’ of the licence which means more CAA paperwork / costs when revalidated.
I’m on an old style CAA licence for life at the moment.
Fly310 wrote:
@Tigerflyer, there is one of those in Sweden. C177RG -76, built by Reims, I think it has low hours as well.
Currently registration N177LP, previously SE-GME. Same owner since new more or less.
I don’t think it is for sale, yet. But perhaps good for you to know that it exists. ;)
Found some pics of the plane. Nice that it exists but worthless for me when it is not for sale. So coming back to the topic and aspirations for 2016.
My aspiration for 2016:
Exchange of my plane and doing some nice trips. Unfortunately the trips will be no longer than 2 or 3 days because of my duty schedule.
This year I flew slightly more than last year – just over 60 hours – but managed to fulfil my desire to carry out a night flight along the Ruhr Valley when the clocks strike midnight on the 31 December (yesterday). The last couple of years have been poor in terms of flying out from my home base to a location which is open 24/7 (either Muenster (EDDG) or Paderborn (EDLP), but last night visibility was perfect so at 22:40 local I took off, heading west and arrived over Dortmund just as the fireworks went off.
A few colleagues said “you’ll be disappointed because you don’t have the vertical separation to allow you to appreciate the display” but because visibility was around 30km and the night sky was clear, it was as if you were flying over a sparkling carpet stretching out into the distance as far as the eye can see…. Oh, anybody interested in a relatively cheap location with an ILS, Hotel directly opposite the airport and where GA can take off and land 24/7 – try EDLP. Total cost was just under 55 euros which included 3 circuits, approach and departure fees (including surcharge for starting landing after 22:00 local) and parking fees…..
The highlight of my 2015 was flying the family IFR from Blackbushe to Bergerac for the summer holiday which was a fantastic flight 2.5hrs flat and considerably less hassle than commercial. Not quite in the same league as some of the other impressive trips on this thread but I guess thats the great thing about aviation, its about personal milestones. I got my IR (EASA) about 6 years ago but I am still relatively low hours so completing a successful Airways trip is still a thrill. I am pretty comfortable with Airways now, the challenging bit is taking the family. My wife is a reluctant light aircraft passenger so avoiding weather and making it seamless is the main challenge.
So my aspiration for 2016 is to do more IFR (and VFR) flying. Up until now I have relied on either renting or non-equity groups but its getting very hard to find something IFR capable so I am considering buying an equity stake in a group. Given that my wife refuses to fly in anything but a Cirrus with a parachute, my options are 1) Change wife 
, 2) fly without the family or 3) try to find a Cirrus group. I know someone selling a Cirrus SR22 (2006) G-reg and if I could find 8-10 equity partners then this might be an option. If anyone is interested let me know. Ballpark figures would be £18-23k for equity stake (depending on number of members), £150pm, £60ph dry. It wouldn’t suit pilots wanting to fly 100+hrs but might suit those wanting less financial risk and flying sub-50hrs and want something IFR (it has a DME&ADF). Blackbushe, Fairoaks or Solent based depending on members. There was also a thought of changing it to 2-reg (Guernsey) so that FAA pilots could also fly it.
Apart from that, I was considering getting some mountain flying experience. Inverness (Highland Aviation) is offering a short course (2hrs ground/3hrs air). Anyone ever tried them? Just to improve my flying skills and have some fun.
Best wishes for 2016
I managed 95 hrs in 2015 – the most I’ve flown in a calendar year. About half were flown in my TB20 and the other half in my SR22. (No, I don’t have two planes – I changed steeds during the year!)
Highlight in May was a trip to Hungary (Pecs LHPP) for a TB fly in. Great event, although a bit spoiled by weather forecasts of a wall of CBs over the Alps for the return trip. The sensible pilots left early 
The rest of us got lucky (=correctly forecast!) that they would dissipate next day.
I’ve spent the second half of the year getting used to the SR22. First time visits to Munich and Cologne were great fun.
And for 2016? Never flown over 100hours in the year. Must achieve this in 2016! The EuroGA Carcassonne fly in and a first trip to Greece should help. Not yet managed to make any of the impromptu fly ins – plan to change that this year, so hope to meet some of you then!
Hi TJ, hope to see you back in Munich 2016 – or maybe we’ll meet in Greece at the COPA fly-in?
Hi Flyer59, would be good to see you again. The Greek fly in looks interesting, so maybe we’ll meet there.
My “achievement” for 2015 was eventually getting my JAR licence converted to an EASA licence. I got conned into converting my CAA licence for life into a JAR licence three years back, when it was intimated that if you didn’t convert your CAA license early there would be a massive backlog of licenses to convert and there could be a blank period when you wouldn’t have a licence. So I was conned into payng a fee for my JAR licence, because when it came to converting it into an EASA licence it should have been a smooth easy transtion, but wasn’t.
I applied for my EASA licence a full three months before my JAR licence was to expire. I received two emailed enquiries as to the staus of my IR, about a month before the expiry date, which I answered. I then received a phone call from one of their top johnnys who informed me that I couldn’t have an IR attached to my new EASA licence “because it wasn’t printed on my JAR licence”?
Thinking about it, I remembered that back in the past when the licence changed to the fold-up licence in the plastic folder, the ratings were on a seperate ratings sheet, and not printed on the licence itself. Wether this was an oversight by the CAA or not I don’t know. Eventually after emailling copies of my original pass certificate and ratings renewal sheets for the past 25 years, my licence dropped on the doormat with a week to go before the expiry of my JAR licence. My advice to anybody approaching conversion to EASA is to make sure you have all your old paperwork as it is obvious that the CAA have very poor record keeping.
I would be interested to know if any other UK PPL’s have had a similar experience.
I had a bad sprain that prevented me from flying for months. Nevertheless I could achieve:
- an EASA CRI rating,
- a full French microlight (3-axis or fixed wing as you say in the UK) instructor rating,
- a real (only one) IFR flight with an ILS down to 400 ft,
- my IR revalidation,
- 3 real soaring flights in a SF28.
My aim for 2016:
- get a MEP rating and extend my IR-SE to IR-ME,
- fly a DA42 enough to see if it will be my next plane (a trip in Italy for instance),
- get a full SPL (I only have a TMG rating on my aeroplane licence) this summer in a real glider,
- move to France (isn’t it the best place to fly in Europe?), it’s planned for September,
- start instructing.
I don’t really enjoy anymore the 1 hour Sunday promenade with my 172. So I would like to find something else to do in the winter when the weather is flyable. As travelling is not fun in the winter I’d like to instruct.
So if you are in Belgium and want an EFIS rating (it’s not a rating, it’s a difference training) or to revalidate your SEP, I can do that in my 172. I may sign the revalidation line on your license if it’s issued by the UK CAA as I have a UK license myself, but only if you have flown with me for at least one hour. It would be on a cost sharing basis as I don’t instruct for profit (it would cost too much in paperwork anyway).
(Peter if you think it’s an inappropriate advertisement, delete that last paragraph)
2015 was the second year of ownership of my C172N and even if I was AOG for three months for an engine change I managed to fly my average 70/80 hours. A couple of 3+ hour flights, 5 new airports/strips, a trip to Corfù. I can’t complain.
For 2016 just fly as much as I can/afford
