Currently I have both FAA and EASA licenses, and they have some differences related to maintaining currency or set of endorsements.
Some airplanes require a separate type rating. Usually that applies to large aircrafts like Boeing 737 or Pilatus pc12, requires some training and an exam. The ratings are being added to the license. Some aircrafts do not require a type rating – for example, the most light piston airplanes.
Light single-engine piston airplanes are usually covered by the ASEL rating (Airplane Single Engine Land) for FAA and SEP rating (Single Engine Piston) for EASA.
In the FAA world it is usually enough to have the ASEL rating for all light piston airplanes. Some endorsements could be required as well, for example, high performance or tailwheel, but basically that’s it. For EASA (at least in Czech Republic and Poland) you need an endorsement for each model family (for example, Cessna 150/152 and Piper PA-28R) to act as a PIC. This “endorsement” does not go to a license, only to one’s logbook.
For getting this endorsement you need to go through some theoretical and practical training, and at the end the instructor flies a final check and sign you off.
I have some ideas about my next job options, and for that I need the endorsement for Cessna 210. Czech school where I made my license has one Cessna 210 with a pressurized cabin and a turbocharged engine. I made it in about 3 hours – it is still a single engine piston airplane even though it is heavier, faster and more difficult to fly than, for example, Cessna 182.
Actually it flies almost like Cessna 172RG, but as I already said, it is heavier and much more powerful. The flight controls are more sensitive, the airplane climbs much faster and requires much more precise actions on a landing. But basically it is all similar, and it is still able to take-off and land on very short fields.
Cessna 210 is not just a trainer. It is a real workhorse, and it’s better to nail the piloting skills before jumping into her cockpit. But she is nice and beautiful, and I really missed flying!
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