Yasser’s Flying Blog

I thought since I’ve officially gone through the whole process now that I would post a summary of my experience of converting an Australian Private Pilot License to a United States Private Pilot Certificate.

First of all, Technically there is no additional training required to have a US Private Pilot Certificate, as the FAA will issue you a license based on your current Australian license. ie. You’re technically still flying under the rules of your Australian license. The difference between the two however is minimal.

Probably the biggest difference is that in Australia, a private license is typically issued with DAY VFR rules. In order to fly at night, you would require a Night VFR rating. In the United States, both DAY and NIGHT VFR are standard as part of your Private Pilot Certificate.

In Australia in order to qualify for Night VFR, you would typically require at least 10 hours dual training and a flight test. In the United States, to be cleared for night flying requires just 3 hours of total night flying which must include a minimum of 10 takeoffs and landings.

STEP 1 Verification of License:

The FAA requires a verification of license before issuing a US PPC.

First you must file form 452 with CASA and pay the $50 fee for CASA to release the information. On the form enter the details of the FAA Airmen Certification Branch:

“Federal Aviation Administration
Airmen Certification Branch, AFS-760
P.O. Box 25082
Oklahoma City, OK 73125-0082″

Fax or email the form to CASA, you can scan it and email to clarc@casa.gov.au

It takes about 5-7 days for CASA to respond to the form and debit your credit card. It might be a good idea to give them a call after a few days of lodging the form. Once you have confirmed that they payment has been made, then you can move onto the next step…

Second you must file the verification of foreign license form from the FAA’s website.

Enter the details of the Flight Standards District Office that you intend on picking up your US license from. You can find your nearest one on the FAA website.

Mail the form to the Airmen Certification Branch at the Oklahoma address above.

Once the branch has received the form, the will immediately contact CASA and request verification of the license. CASA takes just one day to respond to the request and a few days later, you will receive the letter in the mail from the Airmen Certification Branch that your license has been verified as current and you may now make your appointment at the Flight Standards District Office that you requested on the form. If it takes longer than a week, I would give the Certification branch a call to check up on it.

This whole process took less than 2 weeks for me.

Call your requested FSDO, and tell them you want to make an appointment to obtain your US Private Pilot Certificate based on your foreign license. When you visit the office, you will meet with a testing officer who will look over your license, medical, and logbook, and then issue you with a temporary US Private Pilot Certificate on the spot! It is valid as long as your current Australian PPL and medical are both valid .

You will receive your permanent credit-card style one in the mail within 3 months, but feel free to fly using your temporary one.

STEP 2 Check rides and Biennial Flight Review

So you have a US license but unfortunately that doesn’t mean you can go out and get a plane and off you go!! …

The rules are very similar in the US to Australia but that said there is still a lot to know and you will likely need a few check flights with an instructor before you are cleared for solo flying.

For me, this was a pretty big deal as I was used to flying in rural Australia and now all of a sudden I need to learn to fly in Los Angeles!

I had to learn to read US VTCs and various charts, understand the various airspace rules here, radio communication with ATC pretty much all the time, mostly navigating by GPS and VOR rather than compass, and basic US air law.

Be prepared to spend about 5-10 hours with an instructor before you are actually cleared to fly in the US.

Once the instructor is happy with the way you’re flying. You will then be subjected to a Biennial Flight Review which is an FAA requirement. To act as Pilot in Command in the US, you must have had a US Biennial flight review within the past 24 months. The Biennial Flight Review is a formality and consists of a one hour ground and one hour flight component. Once approved, you’ll get a sticker in your logbook and you’re ready to go!

I get this question a lot…..Everyone wants to know how long it takes and how much it costs…

CASA’s requirements for issue of a Private Pilot License are:

1. be at least 17 years of age
2. be able to speak, read and understand the English Language
3. hold or be eligible to hold a flight radiotelephone operator licence
4. have passed a written examination and flight test
5. have a total of 40 hours flight time including at least

• 5 hours of general flight time as pilot in command
• 5 hours of cross country flight time as pilot in command
• 2 hours of instrument flight time

What will the flight schools tell you?

• 20 hours dual general handling
• 8 hours solo
• 15 hours dual navigation
• 5 hours solo navigation
• Pre-licence and Flight Test: 5 hours

They will say it takes about 10-15 hours of flying before you are ready for your first solo.

Total Time: 53 hours (Quotes are often 50-60 hours)

What will I tell you?….This the breakdown taken from my actual pilot’s logbook.

• 34 hours Dual General Handling (Controls, Straight and Level, Turns, Climbing/Descending, Circuits, Forced Landings, Stalls, Plane Type Endorsements)
• 8 hours solo General Handling
• 19 hours Dual Navigation
• 6 hours solo Navigation
• Pre-license and Flight Test: 5 hours

It took me 18 hours to qualify for my first solo flight.

Total Time: 72 hours

Total Cost (according to my receipts and including admin costs and exams etc.): $12,342.55 AU

In all honesty however, 50-60 hours is pretty damn fast.
If you’re a fast learner, really focused, go flying frequently (every day), absolutely love it, have some good luck with the weather, and have a good pre-understanding of aviation. Then this seems reasonable.

Some pilots I have spoken to at school were taking an average of 80+ hours, some even took over 100.

So if money is something that really concerns you, then this isn’t the best hobby to take up. Learn to surf instead, it costs nothing.
If however this is something that you are sure you want to do, then from my experience, I highly recommend you save up about $20kAU (should be plenty if in Australia), take 3 months off (spring/summer where you’re most likely to get consistent good weather), and do this full time (fly every day).

You will probably learn to fly 2 planes. Commonly the Cessna 152, a 2 seater tiny thing, mostly used for teaching General Handling, and the Piper Warrior, a 4 seater slightly bigger thing that is mostly used for navigational training.

What about theory? Do I need to do courses/tuition?:

Na, I wouldn’t waste my money. Buy the Bob Tait BAK and Private Pilot Licence books. Read through every word and do the practice exam questions at the back.
This is the best book in my opnion. The practice exam questions are in a very similar style to the actual ones.
I studied my entire Private Pilot Theory in a week and I got 88%. The pass mark for PPL theory is 70%.

What is the theory? There are a few tests….

First Solo Test
First Area Solo Test
Basic Aeronautical Knowledge Test
Private Pilot Theory Test
Radio Operator Licence Test
English Proficiency Test

Also for every plane you want to fly, there are endorsment questionaires you need to do.
This isn’t a test though, it’s an open book questionaire where you read through the Plane’s Manual, and answer some questions. e.g. What’s Max Takeoff Weight? etc.
You will probably do 2 of these, one for the Cessna 152, and one for the Piper Warrior.