Private pilot license

US FAA Private Pilot Certificate

EASA glider license

The license for private pilots ( PPL , English private pilot license ) is a license to drive an aircraft based on the guidelines of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). It permits worldwide non-commercial operation of aircraft of various categories and classes on aircraft of the state of the issuing authority. To this day, it has represented the entry-level license for most aircraft classes and is usually a prerequisite for acquiring a professional pilot's license .

Categories and classes

The ICAO guideline divides the private pilot license into categories. Separate training and testing is required for each category to obtain eligibility.

plane
Rotary wing aircraft
Airship with a volume of over 4,600 m³
Free balloon
Glider
Aircraft with vertical takeoff and landing capabilities

Any further aircraft classes are not covered by the ICAO guidelines and are usually regulated multinational or national, e. B. the pilot's license for light aircraft (LAPL) regulated at EU level or the German pilot's license for air sports equipment drivers .

Implementation of the ICAO guideline

European Union

Following the introduction of Regulation (EU) No. 1178/2011 (EU-FCL) on April 8, 2015, the approval, training and licensing of pilots and flight attendants will be regulated by the European Union . The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), based in Cologne , became the implementing authority. The essential part of the regulations for private pilots can be found in Appendix 1 of the regulation. With a private pilot license according to EU-FCL one is entitled to operate all corresponding aircraft of the registered class of all EASA member states without the need for an additional national approval. The aviation authorities of the EASA member states are still responsible for the administration of the private pilot licenses. As a special feature in the EU, the pilot can freely choose the aviation authority of an EASA member state and later switch to another authority at his own request. The responsibility of the license administration arises neither from the nationality nor the residence of the pilot. For example, it is possible for an Italian private pilot residing in Germany to have his license in Austria managed by Austro Control . The following private pilot licenses are issued:

Private pilot license aircraft - PPL (A)
Private pilot license helicopter - PPL (H)
Private pilot license airships - PPL (As)
Glider Pilot License - SPL
Balloon pilot license - BPL

The private pilot license includes the rights of the light aircraft pilot license .

Germany

In Germany, the license for private pilots with the additional qualification for instrument flying is issued and administered by the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt . For all other private pilots it is the aviation authorities of the federal states . As a special German feature within the European Union, there is a background check for pilots in accordance with Section 7 of the Aviation Security Act . For verification purposes, the aviation security authorities may obtain information from the police enforcement and constitutional protection authorities, the Federal Criminal Police Office , the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution , the Federal Intelligence Service , the military counterintelligence service , the Customs Criminal Police Office , the Federal Commissioner for the documents of the State Security Service of the former GDR and the Federal Central Register .

Austria

Austro Control, a federal enterprise of the Republic of Austria organized as a GmbH , took over the task of aviation agency in 1993 and is responsible for the issuing of pilot's licenses and the supervision of the civil aviation schools. The tasks of the regulation for training and examination for pilots for balloonists and glider pilots were transferred to the Austrian Aero Club by regulation of the Federal Ministry of Science and Transport . This is thus a civil aviation authority of the 1st instance. The Commission for Aviation Sports General Aviation Administration (FAA) set up for this purpose is spatially and organizationally separated from the sports association. The Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology is responsible for overseeing its activities as a civil air authority .

United States of America

In the United States, all civil aviation licenses, including the private pilot license, are issued by the Federal Aviation Administration , the aviation authority of the US Department of Transportation . In the private pilot license in the USA, the authorization for night flights and radiotelephony , including the checking of language skills in English, is integrated into the pilot's training and examination and is not checked separately.

education

In order to obtain the private pilot's license, the student pilot must complete theoretical and practical training at a flight school . In the theoretical part of the training, the following subjects are dealt with and relevant knowledge is tested in a final examination:

Air law
human capacity
meteorology
communication
Basics of flying
operational procedures
Flight performance and flight planning
general aircraft knowledge
navigation

In the practical test, the trainee pilot must prove that he has mastered the necessary procedures and maneuvers in the selected aircraft category.

Additional authorizations

Numerous additional authorizations can be acquired for the private pilot license. Typical additional authorizations are:

Instrument flight rating (IR)
Teaching license (FI)
Night flight , if not already part of the training
Aerobatics
Aircraft tow start
Catch or banner tow

There are also type ratings (type ratings) for aircraft that require a corresponding authorization, e.g. B. Turbine powered aircraft.

Reimbursement for flights

In principle, commercial use of the private pilot's license is not permitted; a commercial or commercial pilot license is required for this. However, some countries have regulations for reimbursement.

The following are permitted in the EASA member states:

Cost flights; In accordance with the EU regulation, the direct costs must be shared among all (a maximum of six) occupants, including the pilot. Mitflugzentralen, like Wingly , mediate between pilots and passengers.
Activity as a flight instructor and as an aircraft tug ; for this, the PPL may also be used professionally in non-commercial air traffic.

At EASA, the glider pilot license and the balloon pilot license can be used commercially with a certain amount of flying experience and an additional test. There is consequently no professional pilot license for these aircraft classes.

With a few exceptions, the US FAA allows passengers to be paid for and reimbursed. However, the costs of the pilot and passengers must be shared proportionally. A professional or commercial pilot license is a prerequisite for working as a flight instructor in the USA. The only exception is as an instructor for the Sport Pilot License, which does not conform to ICAO rules .

history

Until 2003 you could acquire the pilot's license for private aircraft pilots (PPL) in Germany . Supplementary sheets were required for special categories of aircraft:

PPL-A for powered aircraft
PPL-B for motor gliders
PPL-C for gliders
PPL-D for balloons
PPL-H for helicopters

Aircraft that were not registered in Germany were in principle not allowed to be flown abroad with a German license. The old entitlement certificates could no longer be purchased since June 1, 2003. Private pilot licenses were then trained under the Joint Aviation Authorities , a technical body of 34 European countries. JAR-FCL licenses were mutually recognized without further restrictions. According to national regulations, the glider pilot license, with which gliders with fold-out auxiliary power units could be flown, the pilot's license for air sports equipment drivers (SPL) and the PPL-N for max. 750 kg single-engine, two-seat aircraft. The PPL-N could be used on four-seat aircraft up to max. 2,000 kg can be expanded. These regulations were replaced by the EU regulation in 2015.

Validation and rewriting

With the license you can only fly the aircraft of the country of the license abroad. With EASA licenses only aircraft from EASA member states. If you want to drive an aircraft from another country, this license must be temporarily recognized, i.e. validated, or rewritten.

The procedures vary from state to state. Validation is a license to operate a state aircraft for a limited time, e.g. B. the Foreign License Validation Certificate in Canada , which is valid for up to one year . The approval depends on the existence of the license of origin and the rights to exercise the license in the country of origin ( medical certificate , current flight experience, radiotelephone certificate ).

An independent license from a second state is acquired during the transfer. The training and flight experience is mostly recognized, in addition, depending on the country, parts of the theoretical and practical test must be taken. Due to the EU regulation, a description is no longer possible within the EASA member states, as an EASA license is valid in all member states.

literature

Winfried Kassera: Compact engine flight: The basic knowledge of a private pilot license . 8th edition. Motorbuchverlag, 2020, ISBN 978-3-613-04251-3 .