Hello,
I just found this forum and I have a few questions that I’m hoping someone can help answer.
I have an FAA PPL and about 300 hours flight time. I own a 1958 Piper PA-22 Tripacer with an engine that is over TBO.
My wife and I plan to move to the Valencia region of Spain within the year. I’m wondering if I will be able to continue to fly once I arrive.
I’d like to try my hand at sailplanes but it appears that there are no flight clubs in the Valencia region. I’m going to see what the story is on renting a plane.
I could pull the wings off my Piper and ship it. This doesn’t really seem like a likely choice but it’s worth at least exploring. To do so I would need to find someone who could sign off the maintenance on an FAA certified aircraft. Either that or register it as EASA. Then there is the cost of fuel and landing fees. I’ve done some web searches and it looks like I can expect to pay about $12 a gallon for avgas. Then there’s hangar and landing fees. This doesn’t sound very attractive but it’s still worth taking a look at.
Other options are joining a flight club or just giving it up and doing something else.
Does anyone have any thoughts or insights to share with me?
We’re flying out to Spain in three days and I’ll be visiting some airports while I’m there.
Regards,
Eric
Eric, $12 a gallon is probably a gross exaggeration, and regardless of that, most (if not all) engines ever installed in PA-22 can be run on mogas anyway.
Remember the Tri-Paced is Annex II, so you don’t need any EASA license to fly it, not even long term.
Anyway, just fly it over. I wouldn’t belittle the aircraft; it’s comparable to an old 172 and loads of people fly it across Europe, for fun, every year.
Then, base it at one of the many small strips in Spain. Requena comes to
mind for the Valencia area. As said, fuel it up using (ethanol-free) gas from the gas station. And just continue to run it and enjoy it!
You will obviously need an IA once in a year for the annual and I guess there aren’t dozens of them in Spain, but there will be a few.
I looked at bringing a similar aircraft to Europe for two years, and decided it was too much hassle and expense. This is an excellent site, and I think some study here will show that flying and aircraft ownership in Europe is nothing like in the US. Not necessarily insane, but much more difficult and requiring much more money and commitment. Whatever you decide do, study the issues closely. Boscomantico saying he wouldn’t “belittle” a Tri-Pacer says a lot, I think it’s a part of the world in which most people expect aircraft ownership to be very expensive, and obviously there isn’t the same culture to support classic US aircraft.
You can probably find an FAA A&P (IA) for Annuals and maintenance on N-register but you may have to pay him to travel. You would not want to put it on European register. You can find threads here on aircraft maintenance under EASA and I’d recommend you read them for general background, to understand the culture and complexity: pre-filed maintenance plans, mandatory compliance with every service bulletin in some countries, periodic checks you’ve never heard of etc.
Storage is a potential issue. Obviously you need a hangar, then you need to establish the limits of what you can do within it. If you can work on the plane in the hangar that is a huge advantage… but it’s apparently not always possible.
Other aircraft issues are Mode S transponder and 8.33 radio requirements, and it’d be important to look at airspace in the area where you’d be flying. If you have an Autogas STC for the Tri-Pacer that may be useful… but check the fine print of applicable fuel specifications. I suspect the auto fuel you buy in Spain will work fine but may not meet the ‘letter of the law’ of the US STC. Given the cost and logistics of a Lycoming engine overhaul in Europe, I think you’d want to consider overhauling your over TBO engine before shipping the plane.
I’d certainly encourage you to meet people where you’re going to live, and see what they think. Who you know and who they know is likely to be very important, and potentially make things much easier.
Should you decide not to bring the tri-pacer over, indeed joining a flying club is a good idea.
Bosco made a good suggestion: Requena (LERE) is a nice field. Also: while the certified aircraft scene in Spain is quite down, the UL community is quite active. Quite a few of these at Requena. If it’s you and your wife, and mostly local flying, I’d certainly have a look at that. The hourly cost of rental is about half to a third.. Castellon (LECN) is also nice, right on the beach. Like Requena, a bit of a drive from Valencia, but most Americans don’t seem to have an issue with that ;)
I think the very first point will be to learn some Spanish – even if you do not go flying at all that might be very recommendable, or even necessary – not many Spanish people practice foreign (to them) languages.
Regarding aerodromes and aeroclubs around Valencia: take a look at a good map and you will find plenty. But as we discussed in another thread, several of these may be unfit for your purpose, being private but then really private, or reserved for the military or for civilian rescue services, or restricted to ultralights. “ultralights” in the European way, which may more correspond with the US’an LSA concept.
I think the very first point will be to learn some Spanish – even if you do not go flying at all that might be very recommendable, or even necessary – not many Spanish people practice foreign (to them) languages.
That’s true for all of “southern” Europe (in which I would include France). Local language speaking works wonders, the more south you go in Europe. It works for everything, from buying property (and keeping local govt officials on your site), through getting a phone connection to the property, etc…
Regarding the OP – welcome to EuroGA, emarsh 
– I would say Silvaire’s post pretty well covers the main points to check. It follows that all possible maintenance and avionics work should be done in the USA before flying over here. It will be much cheaper and generally better. You don’t want to be chasing after a good avionics shop in some of these places – they are hard enough to find anywhere in Europe! I use a US engine shop…
Obviously flying from the USA to Europe, via the usual Canada – Greenland – Iceland – Scotland route, is a significant task, in terms of range (ferry tank is likely needed) and the weather needs to be assessed with great care.
Are 8.33 and Mode S are big issues in Spain? I heard they basically abandoned any interest in Mode S. But Spain has a lot of CAS so it is difficult to fly anywhere useful without going into CAS.
Language would be very important when it comes to learning the ropes of aircraft ownership in any country. Fortunately about 45 million US residents already speak Spanish, 15% of the US population and about the same as the population of Spain, so Spanish speaking countries are often attractive as places for Americans to live 
Another point came to mind, which is that a ‘short-wing’ Piper like the Tri-Pacer should be a relatively easy plane to ship in a container. Easier than any other four seat aircraft that comes to my mind.
boscomantico wrote:
As said, fuel it up using (ethanol-free) gas from the gas station.
Herein lies the problem – when I lived there, getting ethanol-free gas from a gas station was impossible.
Peter wrote:
Are 8.33 and Mode S are big issues in Spain? I heard they basically abandoned any interest in Mode S. But Spain has a lot of CAS so it is difficult to fly anywhere useful without going into CAS.
8.33 is not required (for VFR flights) until 2023 in Spain.
Mode S is not required at all. Transponder is only required inside TMAs.
