Canadian License

[HeliRico]

Good day all,

just like to know/see if anyone in here have some information/advise about wich part of the world is accepting Canadian liscence CPL-H in there contry without any conversion..

 

Thanks !

[Helilog56]

Not as simple as that. For all the countries I worked in, I could only fly there if it was under contract and the aircraft was either Canadian registered or US registered.

[Skidz]

Good day all,

just like to know/see if anyone in here have some information/advise about wich part of the world is accepting Canadian liscence CPL-H in there contry without any conversion..

 

Thanks !

 

By ICAO convention, you have to hold a valid license issued by the country where the aircraft is registered. In addition to that, you may have to obtain a work visa. For example, if you go fly for a Canadian operator flying in the USA, your employer will have to raise a work visa for you. Relatively easy under NAFTA. Can get more complicated in other places. Places where I know Canadian registered helicopters regularly fly VFR: USA, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Columbia, Papua-New-Guinee, Australia, the carribean, sub-sahara Africa (Nigeria, Gabon, etc.).

 

Because your employer needs to raise a work visa for you to go fly their aircraft in those countries, you generally need to be hired by those companies right here at home in Canada, so it would be pretty pointless to start banging on doors in those countries...

[pilot5]

A good question but not as simple as one would think. You can convert any ICAO license, some countries require a Airlaw exam some require that you write the entire CPL exam. The more difficult issue is what the company will accept and this more often than not for the higher paying jobs is an ATPL. More and More the ATPL is becoming the entrance level for those sought after International jobs... The Airlaw exam in this case is the only requirement to convert. By far the hardest license I have ever converted is to the Kenyan License... The exam is based on the entire JAA question bank..( crushed into 100 random questions). So brush up on your knowledge of inertial navigation systems failures and calculating and navigating using meridians. Even seasoned ATP's have difficulty in this case.

 

So the best thing to have for converting is the ATPL. If you do not have a Canadian one go get a US ATP, which is accepted by fewer companies for the most part... Then as was mentioned there is the work permit issue... in most cases you will be offered a temporary work permit sponsored by the company at the begining, as those annual ones for expats are limited in numbers and the company will want to feel you out before giving out the coveted longer term permits....

 

Hope this is helpful.

[dinofootball]

Pilot5 you figure the FAA atpl isn't as recognized as others?

[Speedgeeza]

The only license I know of which is recognised outside the country of origin which requires no additional conversion, is the UK JAA. It's accepted in several Middle East countries as their airspace, training etc is based on the very same curricular. I've seen jobs ads which stipulate that a JAA license is required.

I believe, to convert to a JAA license requires taking all nine (it used to be twelve) exams for the commercial. And I can tell you, the depth and spread of knowledge will have you thinking you know nothing about flying. Very demoralising...

[HeliRico]

The only license I know of which is recognised outside the country of origin which requires no additional conversion, is the UK JAA. It's accepted in several Middle East countries as their airspace, training etc is based on the very same curricular. I've seen jobs ads which stipulate that a JAA license is required.

I believe, to convert to a JAA license requires taking all nine (it used to be twelve) exams for the commercial. And I can tell you, the depth and spread of knowledge will have you thinking you know nothing about flying. Very demoralising...

 

I hear ya .. Desmoralised me when i saw this thing about being "fluent" in Morse code language !! lol , How useless ! knowing more seems good to me but wasting time does not .

[HeliRico]

JSfirm overflows of opportunity just in the U.S still make me wonder why Helicopter pilot are not consider the same as fixed wing pilot in terms of conversion ... Aren't the struggling with finding pilots ? Sure , There is jobs all over the contry .

[pilot5]

Pilot5 you figure the FAA atpl isn't as recognized as others?

 

Definately not. I work internationally and there are several companies that won't look at you with a US ATP lucky I have both. There is a compounded additional problem to getting a Canadian ATPLH if you dont have one and the only way is to work for a company where you can get one ( HeliJet- Orange- doubt Stars still hires commerical IFR but may) Paying for it is not possible either for 2 reasons 1. it requires a multi engine 2 crew type rated helicopter 212,222,or 76. 2. The you have to get an operator to do it and as most are busy so its slim chances not to mention extremely expensive. As far as doing a check out at Flight Safety or CAA for the initial PPC forget that too as most companies that have the approved TC ACP's ( that work at flight safety) wont lend them out if you are an independent. In other words the Canadian ATPL helicopter license is not impossible to get but next to it ,if not employed by a Canadian operator. One company I know in quebec started doing checks on the A109 the TC stepped on it although it was fully duel pilot equiped, it qualified as a single IFR on the type cert so no go. I have a feeing that the accessibility of an independent ( who doesn't work for a company) to get the Canadian ATPL is out of reach

 

The US ATP is however accessible and the check ride can be done on a single. However less accepted..One company I applies to with both Canadian and US just scoffed at the US ATP...

 

P5

[Phil Croucher]

It seems there are still a couple of misconcetions flying around.

 

First of all, it's not the UK JAA - it was always JAA which has now morphed into EASA - it is a European wide licence, so assuming you have immigration sorted out you can fly all over Europe with that licence (EASA is to Europe what the FAA is to the USA). The UK just happens to have the best system - it isn't perfect, but it's a highly regarded licence if it is issued by the UK CAA (some countries like Spain are still not even JAA compliant after all these years, let alone EASA compliant!) Your licence is based in whatever country holds your medical records.

 

It is true that many non-European countries also require a JAA/EASA licence - Mauretania being one. The OGP companies also prefer you to have an EASA licence because of its perceived "higher standards". That's bullshit, as they play simply mind games with the questions (the sylllabus is reasonable, though there is a lot of it - the knowledge required is not actually that deep). The irony is that everyone cheats like mad and the OGP gets pilots with no real knowledge.

 

The EASA CPL(H) has 13 exams based on at least 250 hours of study, the ATP has 14 based on 550 hours (the extra being IFR comms).

 

The UAE do not use EASA rules as such, they just take the rules and change the name, so they are not technically EASA - they still have their own sovereign licences and dodgy questions. They will accept the FAA ATP, though, and the Saudis definitely do.

 

You have to be signed off by an approved school - mine being the only real game in town for helicopters (www.captonline.com).

 

You do NOT have to learn Morse!

 

The Australians will accept a JAA/EASA licence with just a law exam. Once you have an Australian one, you can do the paperwork and exchange it for a NZ one. The Canadian/FAA exchange thingy is still ongoing but stalled for the moment because TC don't have any spare people to do the legal drafting as i understand it.

 

If you guys need any advice on European/Canadian stuff please feel free to PM.

 

 

As to the original question - hardly any country accepts any licence without some sort of conversion, except Oz/NZ as mentioned above and Canada/USA for fixed wing. You should always expect at least a law exam.

 

Phil