Know when your rating renewals are


So, the first step is to establish whether the rating has expired or not. If it has you’ll need to take a proficiency check with an examiner, which will generally be an abbreviated version of your initial PPL skills test, or whatever the test was to gain the rating in the first place.


There is a requirement to have some refresher training beforehand, although if only a few months have elapsed since expiry, it’s possible to get a Training Organisation (Approved or Declared, it matters not which) to certify no training is required.


There were also changes towards the end of 2019 which mean refresher training for SEP or TMG can now be done by an independent instructor if the rating has expired by not more than three years. If you possess the same rating on a foreign ICAO licence (for example FAA) which is still valid, you are not required to do any refresher training before taking the check. If the rating has not yet expired, you’ll be interested in knowing how to revalidate it for another period. In 2020 while the first lockdown was in force there was a process that allowed an extension of validity via a briefing with an examiner, but this is no longer applicable. The standard experience requirements for the SEP or TMG consist of 12 hours in the 12 months preceding the expiry date of the rating, including six hours as pilot in command, 12 take-offs and landings and one hour’s ‘refresher’ training with an instructor. Note that the experience requirements must be completed in the second 12 months of the rating’s 24-month validity period. If you meet the experience requirements you need to find an examiner qualified to sign the new rating validity period on the Certificate of Revalidation section of your licence. This can also be done with an instructor qualified under the FCL.945 rule, but the catch is that the instructor must also have done the one-hour refresher training, whereas if an examiner signs they are just assessing that the


20 CLUED UP SPRING 2021


experience requirements have been met, there is no need to fly with them.


ALTERNATIVE EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS


As part of the Covid related alleviations, there is still an active exemption (At the time of writing ORS4 1418 for ANO licences, 1416 for Part-FCL licences, see caa.co.uk/ors4 for full details.) that allows some reductions in the normal experience requirements for the SEP, TMG, Self- Launching Motor Glider (SLMG) and the suite of ratings that may be attached to an NPPL(A). Please note it does not cover the LAPL ‘rolling validity’ requirements, which must be met as normal if you hold a LAPL.


Essentially there is sliding scale of


experience which means if you are just short of the normal 12 hours you might be able to revalidate either by doing some more take-offs and landings or taking a slightly longer flight with an instructor. If you are further off the total, you are back into proficiency check territory. The exemption is currently in force until April 30, 2021. Both exemptions No.1416 and 1418 are likely to be extended until the end of July 2021 and for those who have managed some flying but not the magic 12 hours prior to rating expiry, this may provide an alternative to taking a proficiency check with an examiner. The CAA provide the following (see below) alternative revalidation by experience requirements that are permitted until April 30, 2021:


Flight Time Relevant for Revalidation by Experience*


11 or more – less than 12 10 or more – less than 11 9 or more – less than 10 8 or more – less than 09 Less than 8


Now the sharp-eyed might have noticed that at the time of writing there is a two-week gap between when solo flying for leisure is permitted under the Covid rules (March 29) and when flights with instructors can begin (April 12). This mismatch is obviously driven by the general approach taken to the lifting of social restrictions — it doesn’t make much sense purely in the context of flying since those out of practice (even if they do not need to revalidate a rating) will likely want to fly with an instructor before going solo. The Department for Transport and CAA are keen to emphasise that if in any doubt about skill level, it is better to wait until you can fly with an instructor. For other ratings that always require a proficiency check to revalidate, such as Multi-Engine Piston (MEP), Instrument Rating, or aeroplane or helicopter type ratings, the normal rules apply since the rating extension procedure from 2020 is no longer available.


THE LIGHT AIRCRAFT PILOT’S LICENCE


The LAPL probably merits a special mention since it has slightly different requirements to that of the PPL and other licences. The LAPL has its own associated medical and also works on a rolling validity concept in which on the day of intended flight rather than checking you are ‘in date’ for the relevant rating, you need to ‘look back’ over the previous two years and determine whether you have have completed: • At least 12 hours of flight time as PIC or flying dual or solo under the supervision of an instructor, including:12 take-offs and landings; and


• Refresher training of at least 1 hour of total flight time with an instructor.


If you do not have the above, then you must have taken a LAPL proficiency check with an examiner within the previous


Minimum Take-Offs/Landings Minimum Cumulative Total Refresher Training with an Instructor


15/15 16/16 17/17 18/18


1 hour 1 hour


1.5 hours 1.5 hours


Proficiency Check or Flight Test required *This must include the normal required PIC time (6hrs for PPL, 8hrs for NPPL)


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