Sir - Recent correspondence from Capt Rackham (Flight International, 20-26 September, P76) and British Airline Pilots Association general secretary Chris Darke (Flight International, 11-17 October, P49) highlights the differences between European Community member states on licence validation.
Capt Rackham's experiences are very different to the requirements which would have been necessary for a French validation of his UK air-transport pilot's licence. In addition to a multiple-choice examination on flight rules and regulations, an exam must be passed in air law, in which the candidate must make written replies to the questions in French.
Furthermore, a highly experienced pilot, typically one with 13,000h total, a holder of a UK ATPL for 22 years and with more than 20 years captaincy, has to follow a three-month course which includes simulator, general handling and line-training elements. At the end of this course, the exam, conducted by a French civil-aviation authority tester, consists of a general handling test on the aircraft and a line check.
As a further example of Gallic independence, the pilot may well be galled to discover that, for the French authorities, his UK medical certificate is valid for only six months from the date of the medical (not from the end of the month). To maintain concurrency of his validation, which must be renewed after every medical, our pilot would need to pass five medical examinations in a two-year period.
P H R JOHNSTON
Quimper, France
Source: Flight International
