RVers in the UK

Hello chaps,

I'm seriously considering taking a flying gig based out of London Luton Airport. I'd be captain on a Canadair CL-604. The job would make commuting home to California a bit of a pain. It's sad to admit, but one of the biggest factors for me is the withdrawls I would suffer from my RV-8.

I could pull the wings off and ship it over there. What are the rules regarding November registered Experiementals flown by US pilots? Can I exercise my FAA repairmans certificate? Can I sell the aircraft over there when I move on from this job? What airports should I look at? I'm assuming Luton would be way too expensive. I would probably need to live outside of London anyway, due to cost of housing. What can hangar space be rented for? My co-captain lives down in Brighton so I'm certain I can commute in from some distance.

Any of you nice chaps want to do a house swap for a couple of years? I live on an airpark in a lovely 3800 sq/ft home with a big hangar in central California.

Or alternatetively, and perhaps better still, does anyone over there need a room mate or RV construction assistant? I'd be willing to help you build during my off time.

One other HUGE question...

Is there any formation flying action to be had>?

Hi Timothy,

First thing to say is that yes you would be able to get your formation fix, and relatively close to Luton too.
See here: http://www.g-hilz.co.uk/rvform.htm

Importing RV's to the UK happens fairly regularly so that's no big deal. You might need to re-register to a G- reg though I suspect. Foreign reg homebuilts can fly in UK airspace but need special permission which I think is only granted for 28 day per year (that's a 28 day period, not 28 separate days). Not sure where that leaves you re. your pilot's license.

To re-register your -8 in the UK you'd need to become a member of the LAA (http://www.lightaircraftassociation.co.uk). Once you've done this you'd get yourself an LAA inspector and after a bit of discussion with the LAA I think you'd be good to go on the self-maintenance. You'd not be doing the maintenance under the remit of the FAA Repairman cert. Note also that you may well need to make some mods to your -8 to bring it within UK LAA requirements. As an example, we're not allowed dual electronic ignition here (except for Pmags I think).

Yes, you could sell the a/c after you were done, and putting it onto a G-reg would make that much easier.

Re: basing your -8 at Luton - correct, they won't let you and you'd not want it there either. Picking a base would depend on where you end up living. And the hangar costs vary a fair bit too depending on field and facilities. The two nearest me charge a lot (around ?300/mth + landing fees) but quite a few folks go for farm strips which would be less than half this cost with no landing fees. I know you US chaps aren't that used to flying off grass. It's very common here.

Myself, I live about 20 miles west of Brighton and am building a -7. Come and visit if you do take the job. The RV crowd here in the UK is very friendly so you'd have no problem getting involved. Here's a few more links that will help:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rvsqn/ (you need to register for this one)
http://www.rvuk.co.uk/
http://www.rvforum.co.uk/YaBB.pl

Best of luck, and bring some Fresno weather with you when you come!

Timothy,

I agree with most of what Steve says. You'll find the houses here tiny in comparison to your 3800 ft home. Hangar space will also be difficult to find nearby, expensive and will mostly be community hangars (say ?120 to ?300 a month, depending on facilities). You can use your repairman certificate as long as the airplane is on the N reg - as Steve mentioned you must be permission to fly from the CAA (Applications & Approvals section of the Safety Regulation Group), send them an email and see what they say.

Importing a homebuilt is not difficult - you need to find an inspector who has done it before, and who you can work with. As long as you have not strayed too far from the plans it wont be too difficult, although things are more regulated over here than you are used to. Commuting by air is not very easy, Brighton to Luton would be a 2 hour drive - plenty of places to live within that distance.

A good RV-8 is worth ?60 to ?70,000 and seem to sell quite quickly.

Let us know if you decide to come over.

Pete