AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2019 - 89

Hook, Line &
Sea Eagle
IN EARLY 2016, I moved from Wyoming to

Germany, shipping a U.S.-registered Piper
PA-11 Cub Special as part of the move.
During my planning, I had learned that
International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) norms would function in Germany,
and I would be able to fly the Cub using my
FAA pilot certificate. Whether I pursued a
European equivalent was something left for
another time.
I became aware of a complexity of
European regulation after arrival. The
European Aviation Safety Agency, a panEuropean regulator, had passed a regulation
some years earlier requiring that European
residents acquire a European equivalent
license to fly an N-registered aircraft in
Europe. This requirement didn't apply to
nonresident foreigners. EASA had been suspending the implementation of the rule for
five years at that point, on an annual basis.
Later that year, I moved to Spain, flying
the Cub south, continuing what had become
a grand adventure. When the time came in
April for continued derogation of the EASA
regulation, I checked on its status and found
a new wrinkle: EASA does not suspend the
regulation. Rather, it allows each European
nation to decide on annual derogation.
Spain had not gotten around to derogation,
whereas France, Switzerland, Germany, and
a pile of other nations had.
I had a problem to solve. As a European
resident, did I have a license to fly the
Cub or not? I checked with AOPA-Spain
and couldn't get an answer. Local instructors said I'd be fine, as did just about every
hangar and online forum "lawyer" I spoke
with, basing their determination on my
U.S. citizenship (ICAO technically affords
protection in this instance). It seemed that
the Spanish didn't care and the rest of the
world kept pointing me to the question:
How would they know? My only reply was
that an incident would be the most likely
way, for which I'd face potential personal
injury, third-party damage, a hull claim, and
enforcement action-all at the same time.
It would be cheaper to get another license
than fly around in a semi-legal fog.
While Europe as a continent can be
complex, they have done some interesting things here with the European project.
EASA is one of them, where one license in

any of 32 countries is equivalent in all others. That means that with one license I can
legally fly aircraft on any of 32 national
registers, without additional validation,
conversion, or any other hassles. Certain
mechanical and other elements also have
such transnational recognition.
I began the process with the local flying club, which kicked me to headquarters
in Barcelona. EASA has a stipulated FAA
conversion process, which-among other
things-requires taking two written exams,
down from seven if I started from scratch.
Since I initially wanted a Spanish license,
Spanish ground school requirements
engaged, requiring lots of driving and a
stunning cost for ground school. I decided
to get the medical out of the way before
worrying about school, which triggered a
wrinkle I had forgotten about: I was born
with poor vision in one eye. This problem
had been solved in the United States as a
student pilot with a special FAA flight.
Phoning a Spanish aviation medical
examiner, I was directed to the one and only
AME in Spain who could handle the problem. Learning a bit about Spanish culture,
unanswered phone calls and emails for two
months indicated he wasn't interested, so I
threw my hands up and went to the United
Kingdom. Doing all of this in English, with
cultural similarities and a newfound permission to self-study under U.K. regulations,
was just what I needed.
After extensive consultation with the
Civil Aviation Authority and an AME in the
United Kingdom, it was determined I would
need to do another flight test as well as a
comprehensive eye exam. While it was extra
work, any European flight instructor with a
Class 1 medical could do the flight, and any
board-certified eye doctor in Europe could
do the eye exam. The Spanish were reluctant to do the flight test, so I drove to France
and found a Piper Super Cub instructor who
was incredibly helpful. Three hours at an
eye doctor at the local Spanish hospital
was enough to complete the eye exam, and
I was off to London to get my Class 2 medical, which was a success, valid for 5 years
because I was under age 40.
One technicality of EASA is that the
entire license must be done under one
national authority. Medical, written exams,

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www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 89

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2019
