Light Aircraft Pilot Licence for helicopters

As part of the application for a private licence, you will need to take and pass exams in the following subject areas:

Common subjects

• Air law
• Human performance
• Meteorology
• Communications
• Navigation

Exams specific to the aircraft category

• Principles of flight
• Operational procedures
• Flight performance and planning
• Aircraft general knowledge

You will need to set up a customer portal account to access Private pilot theoretical knowledge e-exams.

If you successfully pass the theoretical exams for the issue of a private pilot's licence, they will be valid for 24 months for you to submit an application for the LAPL issue.

This period is counted from the date you pass your last theoretical knowledge examination.

Within these 24 months you must complete the flight training and pass the skill test, otherwise these exams will expire, and you will have to retake them.

See FCL.025 for more information related to exam validity.

If you have passed the theoretical knowledge examinations for an airline transport pilot licence (ATPL) or for a commercial pilot licence (CPL) in the same category of aircraft, you will be credited with the theoretical knowledge requirements for a light aircraft pilot licence (LAPL). (FCL.035.b.)

Theoretical knowledge credit when applying for a LAPL in another aircraft category

If you are applying for a LAPL in another aircraft category, you will be credited the common theoretical knowledge subjects but not the exams that are specific to the aircraft category.

These will need to be taken and passed before you can submit a valid application.

We recommend that you discuss any theoretical knowledge credits that may apply with your training provider.

Applicants with prior experience as PIC may be credited towards the flight instruction training.

The amount of credit shall be decided by the ATO or the DTO where the pilot undergoes the training course, on the basis of a pre-entry flight test, but shall in any case:

1. Not exceed the total time as PIC,
2. Not exceed 50 % of the 40 hours of flight instruction
3. Not include the requirement of 5 hours of supervised solo flight time that includes the cross-country flight of at least 150 km ( 80 NM)

There has been a change to the rules for the conversion or validation of Third Country ICAO compliant licences/certificates.

For conversion terms, refer to(EU) 2020/723 of Easy Access Rules for Aircrew (Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 for further information.

Applicants for a LAPL who have held another licence in the same category of aircraft shall be fully credited towards the requirements of the LAPL in that category of aircraft.

If the licence has lapsed, the applicant shall have to pass a skill test in accordance with FCL.125 for the issue of an LAPL in the appropriate aircraft category.

Licence privileges will be restricted to the type of aircraft used for the skill test.

However, you can extend your LAPL privileges if you are endorsed to do so by an examiner, similar to applying for ratings on other licence types.

To extend a LAPL(H) to include an additional type or variant you will need to complete the following:

1. 5 hours of flight instruction, including:

• 15 take-offs, approaches and landings under instruction
• 15 supervised solo take-offs, approaches and landings

2. A skill test to demonstrate adequate competence in the new type, during which you will also need to demonstrate an adequate level of theoretical knowledge for the type in the following subjects:

• Operational procedures
• Flight performance and planning
• Aircraft general knowledge

To extend the privileges of a LAPL (H) to include more complex variants of the class in which the skill test was taken, you will need to complete differences or familiarisation training, which will then be entered into your logbook and signed by your instructor.

SERPS  and QMP(H) pilots may be entitled to some credits towards a LAPL(H)), including some theoretical knowledge examinations credits in some instances. Refer to the Military Aircrew Accreditation Scheme (MAAS) (CAP2254).

If you are applying for any pilot licence under the MAAS based on your service as a pilot in the UK military, you will need to upload the following documents alongside those required for the licence application:

• Completed form SRG 2133
• Certified copies of the following logbook pages:
  - the Special Qualifications page
  - the last few pages of your military flying logbook

How to get copies of your documents certified.

If you are applying for your licence on the basis of an ICAO-compliant licence held with another country, you will need to apply for the verification of your third country ICAO licence.

Follow the verification of a third country ICAO licence process and submit an online form SRG2142.

We recommend that the Third Country Verification is obtained prior to your LAPL application as the turn-around of these applications is reliant on the response times of the NAA that has issued your ICAO licence.

Alternatively, you can submit these applications together but that means that the LAPL application will get processed outside our agreed processing time.

When submitting your online LAPL application, you will be asked to upload the following documents alongside those required for the licence application:

• Certified copies of the logbook pages to confirm the hours and experience required for the issue of LAPL.

Training conducted at a non-UK ATO/DTO

The ATO must have been approved prior to 1^st January 2021 or the DTO must have received confirmation of their declared status before that date.

For non-UK ATOs, you will need to upload a copy of the Part-ORA ATO approval certificate with your application. For non-UK DTOs, you will need to upload evidence of their DTO status.

Training conducted in a simulator

For any training undertaken in a simulator, the EASA or EEA Member State FSTD qualification certificates must have been issued prior to 1^st January 2021. If the simulator has been re-evaluated in 2021 by the EASA member state, we are then unable to accept this, unless there is also a current and valid UK approval for the same simulator. In instances where the simulator has been re-evaluated and there is no valid UK approval, contact us prior to conducting any training or testing.

The skill test can be conducted by an EASA state qualified Part-FCL approved examiner, as long as the examiner certificate has been issued prior to 1st January 2021 and the test notification requirement has been met. We will be unable to accept retrospective test notification.

If the examiner certificate has been reissued after 1st January 2021, it is unlikely that we will be able to accept any flight test or assessment of competence conducted by this examiner. Contact us, prior to undertaking any test or AOC.

If the examiner for your skill test was approved by an EASA member state, you will need to upload the following documents alongside those required for the licence application:

• A copy of the examiners authorisation,
• A copy of the examiners licence,
• A copy of the examiners medical certificate

Note: all 3 documents should be uploaded as single document that does not exceed 5mb.