The Qs and the As:

Many pilots prefer to browse through them all in turn, but to jump to a generalised contents list, click here

1. What does a valid NPPL allow me to do?
   The word 'NPPL' is not really enough information to answer the question - it's the rating with in which decides what the answer is. See my GA abbreviations site (link at bottom of page) if you don't know what a rating is.
   The NPPL licence can contain 1 to 3 separate rating:
   'SLMG' (motor glider) or Microlight or 'Simple Single Engine Aircraft' (SSEA).
   Let's assume we're talking about the NPPL with an SSEA rating or what others call an 'SEP' rating (If you wonder why I refer to 'SSEA' yet others refer to 'SEP', see the list of confusions brought in by the new ANO listed after these questions - until these are resolved, I would assume that for the NPPL, the terms SEP and SSEA might be interchangeable).
   The NPPL and SSEA rating will let you fly single engine aircraft in daytime, VFR, in the UK FIR but restricted to a minimum of 5km visibility whatever normal VFR says. Up to 3 passengers will be allowed, providing you have the 'full' NPPL (= HGV) medical. S.E.P. Aircraft up to 2 metric tonnes will be allowed, with 'complexity' and 90 day passenger rules as under JAR. (Aircraft with normal cruise speeds above 140kts are 'complex' for NPPL-SSEA ratings and require instructor differences training)

2. I have a JAR PPL with SEP rating but don't want another JAR medical due to cost. Now the NPPL is here, can I just get the new easy medical and continue on my current PPL providng I then stick to NPPL restrictions?
   Definitely not. The NPPL will be a completely different licence which you have to apply for. You CAN apply for the NPPL and use your JAA medical if that has any time left on it, but just before it expires you will need an NPPL medical. If your JAA medical has expired you cannot apply for the NPPL without having an NPPL medical form signed up first. (The application form asks you what medical you have.).

3. If I swap to an NPPL from my PPL with SEP rating, do I still need to fly all the "12 hours every 2nd year" revalidation requirements as in JAR?
   Well, the NPPL has 3 ratings - for microlights and SLMG, it's 5 hours every 13 months, but you probably mean an NPPL with a 'SSEA' rating (the equivalant of a JAR SEP rating). If so, it is all based on 6 hours per year, with an hour's training with an instructor every 2 years. It is yet unclear whether you will have to do 6 hours every 12 months, (and get a signature every year) but every 2nd time you will have to include an "instructed hour", or whether this will be self-regulating and on on the day you want to go for a flight, you will have to look back and see if you have done 6 hours in the 12 months before the flight, and an hour's flight with an instructor in the previous 24 months. There's a big difference, and it was unclear right up to Jan 2004! (See list of current ANO confusions below these Questions and Answers).

4. If I switch to an NPPL to avoid JAR medical costs, what does the application cost?
   Well, you'll need the NPPL medical which will cost whatever a GP's signature costs, plus £131 one off for a lifetime NPPL. One colleague told me he paid £10 for his GP's signature, annother got it for free, another £20.... It depends on your GP.

5. I have a microlight licence, how do I convert it to a NPPL for SEP aircraft?
   The full and comprehensive list of these sorts of answers is on the official NPPL site - look for "Allowances".If you have an unrestricted microlight licence, there is some (but not all a ridiculous amount of) mandatory training specified but you will have to pass the ground exams, navigation and general skills tests.If you have a restricted microlight licence there is a lot more to do to convert - check the link given.

6. My G.P. won't sign my medical. What can I do?
   This has happened a lot because GPs were not informed about this directly - they hear about it from the first pilot who asks them. In these days of litigation, it's not surprising some are suspicious when you walk in, and without warning a strange form is placed under there noses and you say 'sign here'.
   There is advice for the GP on the form itself, and in a printout available from the CAA website aimed at the GP. I know some pilots who were refused at first, then after two follow up visits, got the signature. Surely the best thing to do is actually write in first to your GP, explaining that you# want to come in shortly to get a signature, explain some of the background and ask the GP to read the supplied advice which you enclose with your letter. Then, having given the GP time to read all about it, you make an appointment and you are not catching them unawares. Everyone I know who has taken this approach has had no trouble at all.
   If the worst comes to the worst, even after discussions with the CAA, your GP will not sign, first of all consider whether the GP might be right! If not, you can always change GPs or perhaps a more expensive option is the JAR medical itself, but the cost or requirements for a JAR medical might be the reason you want an NPPL in the first place.
   If the problem is just that your own GP is away, another GP in the same family practice can sign as they will have access to the same records.

7. I have a foreign PPL (FAA, SA, etc), how do I convert it to a NPPL for SEP aircraft?
   Usually, fly with a flight instructor to determine what additional flying training might be required in order to pass the NPPL Navigation Skill Test and General Skill Test. As well as passing these tests, you will also be required to pass the JAR-FCL Air Law and Operational Procedures and Human Performance and Limitation theoretical knowledge examinations. You will further be required to hold the NPPL medical declaration of fitness from your GP. The current advice though is to ask the NPLG group for an assessment. (See website below)