Thanks so much for the discussion. Once this is settled, I will publish it in a visible place for everyone to see.
I am waiting for the answer by the CAA. The CAA wrote to me on 4.3.2024 the following (and I asked back to make sure because there some bits in her discourse that I don’t understand):
Dear …
Thank you for your validation application.
I have noted that you are applying for a validation for a RV-8. As this is a non Part 21 aircraft a validation is not required.
The ANO states that the pilot can fly the non-Part 21 SEP under the cover of his 3rd country ICAO licence/rating/medical. The residency is only an issue for Part 21 aircraft. If you wish to fly other SEP that fall under Part 21, we cannot accept the flight as G-… only holds a Permit to fly. We would require a further test in a Part 21 aircraft. Please confirm if this is the case.
The reg ref is Article 150 of the ANO:
Deeming a non-United Kingdom flight crew licence and any Part-FCL licence valid for [non-Part-21] aircraft registered in the United Kingdom and deeming a non-United Kingdom radiotelephony licence valid for any aircraft…
Based on the above, please can you confirm if you require a UK validation to fly any Part 21 G registered aircraft. If you do not require this, please confirm and we will arrange a refund of the validation fee.
Kind Regards
…
BTW, I put considerable effort into obtaining a UK CAA PPL when this email dropped…just the language test and medical missing to obtain it…
Peter wrote:
Everything not prohibited is permitted.
This is an explicit permission. It’s as clear as it gets IMO. Different places, different customs I guess.
Hugo66 wrote:
just the language test and medical missing to obtain it…
Mmmmh, there’s another thing to consider once you would have that coveted UK CAA PPL… the periodical revalidation.
And this was the final straw leading me to re-exchange my UK CAA for an EASA/CH one… good thing I did 
…I will keep you posted when the answers from BAZL/FOCA and UK CAA come in…
Aviation licencing is a complex area for which you often need a PhD in bureaucracy to successfully navigate. So, I am willing to concede that anything I say could be contradicted by someone who has delved even deeper than me into the bowels of flight crew licencing, especially as it applies to homebuilds. However, let me share my experience.
I held a UK (EASA) PPL and legally flew G reg aircraft in the UK before moving to France in 2016. Because the UK was at that time a member of the EU, my licence was an EASA one, and I was therefore legally able to fly F reg aircraft in France. Until Brexit and the UK’s consequential withdrawal from EASA. As a result, at 2259 on 31st Dec 2020, my UK licence allowed me to fly both F reg and G reg aircraft, but at 2301 on 31st December 2020, I was no longer able to fly the same F reg aircraft that I had happily been flying for the past 5 years.
Like many UK pilots living in the EU who had been caught in this trap, I scrabbled to transfer my licence to an EASA state, and for a variety of reasons, now fly F reg aircraft using an EASA licence issued by Malta. Being an EASA licence, I can indeed fly any aircraft within the relevant class/type registered in any EU state. The flip side of this coin was that, having moved my licence to an EU state, my UK licence was no longer valid, and my EASA licence did not permit me to fly the same G reg aircraft that I had happily and legally been flying in the UK prior to Brexit. One day someone will explain the logic, but for now, I fail to see it.
Having seen so many pilots move their UK licences to an EU state, the UK CAA had a rethink and offered a short amnesty for pilots like me to regain my UK licence whilst retaining their EASA licence. After completing the relevant paperwork and handing over a shedload of cash, my UK licence duly arrived, and I can now fly EU registered aircraft using my EASA licence and G registered aircraft using my UK CAA licence.
But. And there is always a BUT! I can only use my UK licence if I have a current medical certificate issued by a UK AME. Notwithstanding the fact that I choose to use the Centre d’Expertise Médicale du Personnel Navigant de Toulouse-Blagnac, whose raison d’être is to perform Class 1 medicals for a range of EU airlines and whose medical examinations are, as you would expect, as thorough and comprehensive as any I have ever had in the UK, the UK CAA does not recognise my EASA medical. All my attempts to persuade the CAA’s medical department to reconsider, have received a firm rebuttal. Rules are rules!
It would take me a while to dig out all the UK/EASA references to support the above, but I offer the links below as a starter for those interested. However, the bottom line is that my personal, painful and very expense experience, supported by a large number of emails, is that, today, if you want to fly a G reg aircraft anywhere in the world you need a UK licence supported by a valid UK medical.
https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/faq/127231
“As of January 01, 2021, licenses and certificates issued by the UK are no longer valid in EASA Member States and are treated as a third-country licences and certificates. As of that date, the holder of a UK-issued PPL may apply for its conversion in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/723. LAPLs can however not be converted in accordance with that Regulation. “
The UK did, however, allow a 2-year period of grace:
https://www.caa.co.uk/commercial-industry/pilot-licences/non-uk-licences/conversion-of-an-easa-flight-crew-licence-to-a-uk-part-equivalent-licence/
“The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended and supplemented by the Aviation Safety (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 included some regulatory arrangements that allowed for the recognition of EASA approvals and licences for a period of two years from the 31 December 2020 when the UK left the EU.
During this recognition period, Flight Crew Licence holders could apply to the UK CAA to obtain a UK Part-FCL licence on the basis of their EASA Licence.”
Bottom Line:
https://www.caa.co.uk/commercial-industry/pilot-licences/non-uk-licences/conversion-of-an-easa-flight-crew-licence-to-a-uk-part-equivalent-licence/
“From 1 January 2023, the UK can no longer recognise EASA-issued licences.”
As a result, at 2259 on 31st Dec 2020, my UK licence allowed me to fly both F reg and G reg aircraft, but at 2301 on 31st December 2020, I was no longer able to fly the same F reg aircraft that I had happily been flying for the past 5 years.
That’s correct but the UK CAA allowed the opposite for two more years.
The flip side of this coin was that, having moved my licence to an EU state, my UK licence was no longer valid
Are you sure? If you obtained an EASA (ICAO) license by converting a UK (ICAO) license, the latter license is still valid. Like getting a Mongolian PPL as a conversion from a Botswana PPL; the latter remains valid.
my EASA licence did not permit me to fly the same G reg aircraft that I had happily and legally been flying in the UK prior to Brexit.
It did allow that, for two years past 31 Dec 2020.
One day someone will explain the logic, but for now, I fail to see it.
The “logic” is simply to f**k the UK for leaving the “EU club”. Same logic as a postal customs office in say Belgium chucking a UK airmail package on a pile in the corner, and then sending it back after 2 weeks “refused by recipient”, while the recipient has been hassling Belgian Customs re where the hell has his package gone. It is just retribution / rearguard action to trash the UK-EU brexit treaty under the table, not officially sanctioned at top level (probably; I am not actually sure). I know they would not dare do this to US packages because the Belgian ambassador to the US would get an interview at the State Department without tea and biscuits, whereas the UK Govt is useless.
Having seen so many pilots move their UK licences to an EU state
To repeat my Q above, is it really a “move”? Maybe it is but if so there must be another procedure which isn’t a “move”.
After completing the relevant paperwork and handing over a shedload of cash, my UK licence duly arrived, and I can now fly EU registered aircraft using my EASA licence and G registered aircraft using my UK CAA licence.
There is always the 100hr PPL conversion route – like here. This is decades old. You do some UK Air Law (I think) plus a skills test, and you have a pukka UK PPL based on your Botswana PPL (or your German PPL – post brexit they are equivalent)
if you want to fly a G reg aircraft anywhere in the world you need a UK licence supported by a valid UK medical.
Yes; that is standard ICAO. Country of license (or IR if applicable) issue = Country of aircraft reg → worldwide flying privileges (NON commercial, which also means you cannot instruct since FI privileges are wholly national even under EASA). It’s been like that since for ever. There is no “2 out of 3 rule” and never was, BTW.
Peter wrote:
Are you sure? If you obtained an EASA (ICAO) license by converting a UK (ICAO) license, the latter license is still valid
I think AeroSteve said he moved his licence.
AeroSteve wrote:
The flip side of this coin was that, having moved my licence to an EU state, my UK licence was no longer valid
I did the same with my UK CPL. I moved it to Denmark before the end of the transition period in order to retain an EASA licence. I lost my UK licence in the process, because you can only hold one EASA licence at a time. I then reapplied for a UK licence on the bases of having recently held one. I believe this process was introduced as a result of the UK leaving EASA. I don’t know if it was temporary or still possible to do so. As painful, expensive, and time-consuming as this was, it was significantly easier and cheaper than converting my UK licence to an EASA licence after the end of the transition period.
Peter wrote:
The “logic” is simply to f**k the UK for leaving the “EU club”
In this specific example, I don’t follow your logic. The UK chose to leave EASA (stupid choice in my opinion), and now is being treated the same as any other non-EASA country that doesn’t have a special arrangement. I don’t know specifically, but I suspect it would take legislation to make a permanent exception to allow UK licences to be converted more easily than most others. The EASA / US FAA agreement to allow just that doesn’t seem to me to have been quick or easy, and I don’t even know if it is in force.
This thread refers to the dual-papers situation better.
Yes I can certainly see you could not hold UK and EASA papers while the UK was still in EASA.
I am still waiting for the response from the UK CAA (just to make sure) and the Swiss FOCA (to know with what licence to fly in Switzerland; other countries in EU will follow)… I will keep you informed.
