I moved here in May from Texas, and have been flying for 8 years. Got my Private in 2001, Instrument Rating in 2006, and my Commercial just before I came here (all ratings are FAA of course). Flew with CAP and for fun, member of AOPA and EAA, been to Sun N Fun and Oshkosh, the usual.
Now slowly working with the BAZL to get my JAR license. Looked into flying out of Grenchen or Speck.
Are there any other pilots hanging out here?
Thanks.
PS: How do you know if there is a pilot at an Apéro? Oh, don't worry, he will tell you.
3. The edges of the air can be recognised by the appearance of ground, buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space. It is much more difficult to fly there.
No I got an FAA license. It seems to work everywhere I need to fly - in the US (the best place in the world for a private pilot) and the UK - but not seemingly in Switzerland.
I am planning to go to Florida to finish my PPL in Nov (solo in SA in 2003 but no time to finish til now) and to start my IR at the Diamond accredited air-school. What is the consensus on FAA vs JAR for European flying?
My end goal is to find a group of like-minded types in an existing syndicate or starting a new one, perhaps with a DA42 Twinstar at Lausanne...?
There is an existing club for Diamond aircraft called Next aviation and I have been speaking to the founder of that (who is also Swiss country rep for Diamond) but apparently there has not been enough interest to order the aircraft in.
Tomcat, you sound like a keen and current pilot: how/ where/ what do you fly now you're in CH?
Well howdy fellow pilot. Florida is not a bad place, but around you definitely need a JAR license to get anywhere, FAA won't help you much. You also need a certain amount of PIC hours in your logbook to convert FAA > JAR, then it's quite doable. The BAZL Web site has a checklist:
DA 42 is a bird, with those Thielert Diesel engines it flies good, and it looks damn fine, too.
Probably even a 1/10 share is way out of my price range, and Lausanne is a bit too far for this ZRH based wannabe banker.
I recently joined the MFGZ at ZRH airport and am taking some ground school (air law and human factors) so I can get those pieces of the knowledge test out of the way, then I will start flying (maybe next weekend?) to get the checkride done ... first PPL.
Planning to head to TX for some intense flying in Oct or Nov, then back over here to get my IR converted.
Hope this helps, holler with any FAA training or test questions. I nearly got my CFI just before I left the states and still have most of my knowledge and all of my books.
I appreciate your offer for help, and thanks for the reply. I was beginning to think I was doing something wrong - no reply to my intro thread!
Reading between the lines and looking at what you're doing, I think I will still go off to FL to get 'a' license and build some hours and then worry about my conversion when I get back.
I am beginning to think I am dreaming about the whole thing to be honest. I want to be able to fly my family back to the UK every once in a while and to UK and Croatia on business, but what with the need for two engines, the lack of DA42s in the country (you only need a type-rating from single engine rather than multi-engine rating to fly one of these), the conversion from FAA to JAR issues, the weather, the time (and price) of completing my trianing here and IR... well, I start to think 'no chance'. But you have to have a dream right? I just need to figure out the most practical way of turning that into a reality.
If you have any words of wisdom on this I would appreciate that too!
A DA 42 is a multi-engine aircraft and as such it requires a multi-engine rating, here (JAR land) as well as FAA land.
There was a discussion at one time that a DA 42 could not be used for multi-engine training, because it is in theory not a complex airplane (no constant speed props because of FADEC), but that has been decided by the FAA.
Didn't mean type rating in the 737 type rating way - rather in the way clubs have it here where they want you to have x total time plus x time (like half hour or one hour) with instructor on type before they let you skedaddle alone
I think Swiss aviation law even has a term for that ... depending on the scope it's called a familiarization or a difference training, both of which are conducted by an FI and entered in your log book. Could also be due to club insurance requirements.
I think you have a well-defined mission, that's a good start. There are several planes that fit the mission, not all of them may fit the wallet. It's not a bad idea to get your license (PP with IR) elsewhere, but please make sure it's a reputable school that will get the job done and that you get the hours in your logbook to get it converted here. The BAZL checklist will have that info.
Zurich to London City airport is about 473 miles ... if you get an older Bonanza (can be had for around $100k) that cruises around 140 KIAS that's about a 3.4 hour trip, pretty easy assuming weather and air traffic control play nice.
Not sure why you are so focused on a twin ... increases the price tag (initial and ongoing) significantly while only yielding marginal speed and safety improvements. Now a Diamond Twin Star is nice, but it's also pretty darn expensive. And as a fresh multi-engine pilot it is really hard to get affordable insurance.
Here is a good start:
Get your PPL and IR in the US. Fly enough hours to make the BAZL happy. Then get your JAR license. Slowly spread your wings in Switzerland. Rent. It's expensive and not as flexible, but you skip the initial cash outlay. And nice birds can be rented ... there is a cute Mooney in Wangen-Lachen that will cruise fast.
Then when you got the hang of it, buy a share of a plane that fits you. 1/4 or 1/3 is what I will be looking for in a while. Helps offset incidental costs and still gives you the joy of (co-) ownership.
Hope that helps. And yes, a DA 42 requires a multi engine rating, hither (BAZL land) and yonder (FAA land). Heck, even a Cessna Skymaster (inline thrust) requires it ...
Especially in Switzerland. There was a story of a lady who won a small single (maybe an Archer? really don't remember) at a lottery organised by a flying club. She had to resell (or donate it back? really can't remember) to the club as she couldn't afford insurance.
The funny part being that the club couldn't afford it either any longer, thus their decision to get rid of it...