JAA (JAR-FCL) and FAA Pilot License Validations in South Africa

Anyone with a foreign pilot license wanting to fly a South African registered aircraft (ZS) fortunately can validate his/her license (JAA (EASA), FAA) in a very easy manner. The only alternative would be to take a safety pilot along, who then acts as pilot-in-command (PIC).

For license validations we’ve teamed up with a local flying school in the Johannesburg area to make this process as seamless as possible. Hour-building of foreign license holders in South Africa is very popular. We are experienced in serving international students for their time-building needs at low costs. Most of our international pilots start from our private airfield for border crossing self-flying safaris; countries like Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe are the eye-catching events of our international bush pilots. We assist you in planning the routes, clearance for Namibia and can give advice on where to stay. Most of our international private and commercial pilots gain their solo hours swiftly towards completing their CPL or ATPL requirements.

• We’ll need a certified copy of your pilot’s license, medical, English proficiency certificate and radio license (if separate), last three pages of the logbook, passport, 2 colour photographs (passport/ID size) and a completed application form.
• Your validation will be valid for a maximum period of 60 months, or date of expiry of your license if sooner than 60 months.
• The validation is issued before your arrival, with the following endorsement:

“For private day VFR operations only, provided the holder first successfully completes an appropriate South African Air Law examination and a flight test at an approved ATO, with a Grade I or ll flight instructor”.

1. The Air Law Examination.
   This 25 question, multiple choice exam covers basic air law in SA. Decent preparation is required. The pass mark is 75%. We’ll send you the book on SA air law so that you can review this before arriving in SA.
2. A practical flight test.
   You must pass a flight test of about 2-3hrs on the aircraft type you wish to be validated on. This is a basic test of your proficiency on that particular aircraft type, and will include steep turns, stalls, forced landings, a triangular cross country flight and other basic checks.
3. A briefing / tutorial on local conditions.
   You’ll be briefed on the differences in airspaces and terminology, and performance planning mainly with regards to density altitude.

On top of this you’ll need to be rated on the specific type of aircraft you wish to fly. This means at least 2hrs time on the specific type aircraft is recorded in your logbook.

In theory you could complete the flight test and air law exam within a day, however rather allow a minimum of two days for poor weather or other unforeseen obstacles. The more time you have the better; there is an endless amount of exploration to do in and around South Africa.