What I have to do to fly over the USA?

[thepilots]

Hello pilots,

My name is Maxime, I come from Paris 1 week ago and I will stay 18 months in Boston.

In France, I passed my “ULM multiaxe” license. It's a pilot license really similar to your LSA license but the France limit the maximum take off weight of the aircraft to 450 kilos (472,5kilos w/ parachute). I know that in US, this weight is limited to 600 kilos. It is, according to me, the main difference between these 2 licenses.

I also know that in US, you have to firstly pass your driving license and after begin a training for the LSA license.
I already training myself to pass the US driving license asap.

My question is: With my ULM multiaxe french license, what I have to do if I want to fly over the USA with an LSA aircraft?

I don’t plan to buy an LSA aircraft but just sometimes rent one and make some local flights, at least to maintain my pilot knowledges.

English radio test? Theoretical test? Practical test?


Thank you for your answers.

Maxime

[Frank Giger]

If your certificate says it is ICAO compliant (my Sport Pilot license says I am not), you should have emailed the FAA with your pilot credentials 90 days before arriving, and they'd of done the check with France against it and had a nice piece of US plastic waiting on you.

That's the purpose of those international standards - a pilot trained in France or the UK or Germany or the USA all have the same skills and can operate aircraft safely.

Now that you're here, go visit the local FDSO (FAA office) and explain the situation. You'd wind up there anyway, as the last step in the process is talking to a guy for an English proficiency test (and from what I gather is informal, based on whether or not you can speak English to him - apologies if those in Boston speak something close, but not quite, English back to you). He might be able to expedite things for you.

Plus you'll have a great souvenir - a US pilot certificate!

The relevant FAA link: http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/foreign_license_verification/

The limitations are that you are limited to whatever your home certificate says - if you're not IFR rated there, you're not here. But all endorsements are accepted.

[WLIU]

If you are in Boston, the US FAA Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) in just to the west in Burlington. And I believe that East Coast Aero Club at Hanscom Field next door might have an LSA for rent. Ask for Marc Nathanson.

Best of luck,

Wes
N78PS

[thepilots]

Thanks for these answers guys.

So I will go to closest FFA office from Boston and check what I have to do exactly.
After I will contact the East Coast Aero Club to know if an LSA is up to be rent.

I will also probably take some flight hours with an instructor to be more familiar to the US process, aircraft and so on...

If you have other advices/testimonies, I'm here.

Maxime