EASA ATPL Exams

I finally decided where I am going to take my EASA ATPL exams. I am going to Prague, Czech Republic. I’ve chosen Prague mainly because of the following reasons: they have a great online booking system, I already have my PPL there, and I am going to get my CPL there.

The application was easy, and I got access to the booking system very quickly. There are not so many available slots though, but I managed to book Air Law, Operational Procedures, General Navigation, Mass & Balance, IFR Communications and VFR communications in the beginning of June.

Performance, Human Performance, Aircraft General Knowledge, Radio Navigation and Principles of Flight were available in the beginning of July.

Meteorology, Instrumentation, Flight Planning and Monitoring were available only in the beginning of August, but that’s probably even an advantage since I will have more time for preparation, these subjects are not so easy.

So, if everything goes well, I would be able to obtain a frozen EASA ATPL by the end of the summer.

My EASA SEP rating (Single Engine Piston) was about to expire too, so I flew 1 hour with the EASA FI. I met the flight time criteria as well, so I just asked for administrative revalidation and got a new rating for the next 2 years.

I still was not able to get my night rating (which is required for the EASA CPL with IR), but it is not critical for now.

For different jurisdictions license holder it’s critical to keep all papers in order, and the main problem is a pilot’s logbook. EASA and FAA count PIC hours differently. Now I have a separate columns for FAA and EASA PIC hours, but instrument time, amount of approaches and some other specific stuff should be logged too. I use the ‘remarks’ section for as much additional info as possible, and fill both electronic and paper logbook versions. Electronic logbook greatly helps to count different kind of flights, and the paper one contains all primary info and signatures.