FAA conversion to India (DGCA) Question

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njdem82

New Member
Hi All,

I know that it is a very tough and convuluded process to convert an FAA license into an Indian (DGCA) license. I have only recently found out that I need atleast ten hours in a Multi-Engine aircraft other than a Piper Seminole.

I have a good deal on 10 hour block in a Beechcraft Duchess BE76. I have checked this against the old DGCA list of acceptable aircraft and cannot find it (anyone have an updated list??). However when I look at any message boards people say that this is an accepted aircraft and mostly students either use this or the Piper Seneca to get their training done.

Will the Indian DGCA accept my 10 hours in Beechcraft Duchess BE76 as per their requirement that 10 hours be done in "approved planes" ?

Thank You for all of your help so far and for taking the time to read this post.
 
Going with Ultimate Aero ? I'll fly that BE76 in a month. Lemme know how it goes, they seem to be great guys.
Has the foreign pilot hiring ban lifted in India ?
 
I'm not completely sure about this but I wonder if it has to do with counter rotating props on the seminole. I've been out of touch with this stuff for a while so correct me if i'm wrong.
 
Hi All,
Thank You very much for your responses and I will certainly let you know how it goes Pepe, good guess :) As you said they seem like great guys and I have very little doubt that I will have a positive experience but I will certainly give you feedback during and after the program.

I don't think there is a hiring boom right now but India is certainly ordering more planes and as far as experienced pilots go , they need plenty. But there is alot of competition among people with less hours (though if you have around 1500 I think you have a good chance). Private airlines , from what I understand will hire any nationality it is only AIr India that has only hires Indian crew.

Also there is no logic behind this rule. I am not sure about the duchess though I think it has counter-rotating props but the Seneca which is also acceptable certainly does --there is no logic that I can see behind this rule.

So has anyone had an Indian student, or is one, and found that Duchess time is accepatble ????

Thanks Again all , don't want to throw money away until I am certain on this
 
Hey NJDEM82, I'll be in DAB beginning of october if ya want to hook up for beer. I wouldn't go working in India, I've been there many times and found it hard to relocate to, but I'll enjoy exchanging views.
 
I think for a plane to be approved by the DGCA, the same make and model has to be registered in India. So if there is a duchess registered in India, they accept flight time in the duchess. I'm not completely sure, but I think thats how they decide which planes can be used and which ones cant. I'm from India and I did all my multi engine training on the duchess. I havent converted my license as yet but a lot of my friends who've also done their flight training on the duchess have gotten their Indian licenses after initially getting all their ratings in the US.
 
Hey Pepe, I will certainly have to take you up on that offer please PM me when you get back here. Im not sure that I will still be here but there is a good chance that I will be and if so we must meet up.

LOC-D thanks for sharing that story its very encouraging to hear that many people have used the Duchess to fulfill the requirement (or in their cases do all the training).

It certainly eases my mind as I am starting to do 10 hours in a Duchess next week to meet my requirement( Did most of my training in a Seminole). It is not on the list thats on the DGCA website but that probably doesn't mean much , just the fact that it worked for your friends is encouraging. I want to be as sure as possible before I start so hopefully other people on the board have had similar experience.

Has anyone else out there found the Duchess to be accepted by the DGCA??
 
Don't know about the Duchess but I know the Seneca is accepted. I've done a few add-ons and initial training in our Seneca.
 
Gajre539 said:
Don't know about the Duchess but I know the Seneca is accepted. I've done a few add-ons and initial training in our Seneca.
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Hi, Yes that is for sure but most people do use the Seneca I am really trying to avoid that. It is so tough to get information on this and can be frustrating as the DGCA website does not help. But many people have said the duchess time has worked for them.

I know that the majority use the Seneca just wondering/hoping that some people here have converted based on Duchess time. Still fishing with the hope that someone who has reads this post. I'm almost commited so I suppose Ill likely just take the gamble.

Worse comes to worse I get a chance to work with someone who I believe will take me to the next level of flight proficiency and that will show in the interview so I guess even if it is not accepted I will eventually find out and if I have to track down a Seneca and get some more experience. WHich is just about all I can do before I am completely broke.

Anyways Thanks for all answers and if anyone at all has experience or knowledge of whether or not they will accept the 10 hours in the Duchess please share. Thank You
 
njdem82 said:
Hey Pepe, I will certainly have to take you up on that offer please PM me when you get back here. Im not sure that I will still be here but there is a good chance that I will be and if so we must meet up.

LOC-D thanks for sharing that story its very encouraging to hear that many people have used the Duchess to fulfill the requirement (or in their cases do all the training).

It certainly eases my mind as I am starting to do 10 hours in a Duchess next week to meet my requirement( Did most of my training in a Seminole). It is not on the list thats on the DGCA website but that probably doesn't mean much , just the fact that it worked for your friends is encouraging. I want to be as sure as possible before I start so hopefully other people on the board have had similar experience.

Has anyone else out there found the Duchess to be accepted by the DGCA??
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Wilco ! I'll be there early October, I'm still waiting on the fingerprint to go through. I'm leaving for Colombia on the 27th, will spend a week or son and then fly to DAB. I'll let you know.
 
Pépé le Pilot said:
Wilco ! I'll be there early October, I'm still waiting on the fingerprint to go through. I'm leaving for Colombia on the 27th, will spend a week or son and then fly to DAB. I'll let you know.
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Fingerprints are fast, it was like 8 days for me and I was legal to fly.
 
Pépé le Pilot said:
Wilco ! I'll be there early October, I'm still waiting on the fingerprint to go through. I'm leaving for Colombia on the 27th, will spend a week or son and then fly to DAB. I'll let you know.
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Good luck with all of that I am sure that it can be a big hassle to get the visa work done.But it looks like you are on the last stage , not much more paper work etc. I hope I am done with my program when you get here (how did you find out about Ultimate?? I have great hopes for it but I was wondering what you had heard , please let me know .If it is not appropriate for the board pls PM me). But if the program goes well , which I really think it will , I will stay and get all of my instructor licenses if finances allow me to do so.

If the Duchess cannot be used does anyone know if a place in Daytona Beach or near where I can find a good instructor who will give me ten hours and sign off on "re-training " so that I may take my check ride??? (I have already passed the oral and almost everything just have to do steep turns and a short field landing). If so please let me know but I am very excited about this school and really hope that they will accept the Duchess.

So once again . not to be annoying , but just so the questions stays up (I will stop asking after this post please bear with me its very important). I would not puruse it so tenaciously if it wasn't so far I have heard yes but would like to hear atleast one more persons confirmation.

Will the DGCA (India) accept 10 hours in a Beechcraft Duchess BE-76 as the ten hours which one needs in an approved multi-engine plane?? (did my training in a seminole). I want to convert from FAA to Indian and was wondering if any has themselves or knows of someone who has done so and the Duchess hours were accepted.

Please help I only have the weekend left to take the gamble and I would truly , truly appreciate it if someone could shed some light on this or in a perfect world, confirm or negate this assumption. Thank You all for your advice and patience.
 
Currently living and flying in India. As for the process, honestly a little extra money(like everything in india) will help the process greatly. I've also heard that they've added another test or two in the process.

As for hiring, it will pick up. Jet was just hiring and I think SpiceJet was too. A couple airlines including Spice are starting international flights very shortly so I know there will be some hiring going on. Unless you have 500 hours PIC on type with an Instructor, you will have a very hard time getting hired. They are quickly closing the gates on Expats in this country and on the scheduled side of flying here they are actively trying to get rid of their Expats. On the charter side though there's still chance but again, PIC on type is a must and being a TRI/TRE is almost a requirement as well.

If you are a citizen, better have some decent cash ready. When Jet hired last it was a requirement to buy your own type at their costs. Basically everyone knows there's so many unemployed Indian pilots right now that will fly for basically free so many companies are taking advantage of it. It's pretty sad, there was one airline here that took about 15 EMB190 pilots from a shutdown airline. They ended up not paying the pilots to fly but their payment was that they got to stay current.

=Jason-
 
njdem82

My first post around here!! Woohoo...

Just to allay your fears njdem82, BE-76 is absolutely fine with DGCA. A lot (all) of my students have converted their FAA licenses to DGCA with Duchess times.

The logic behind the seemingly selective acceptance of certain plane times being, the plane type should have been operational and registered with DGCA (at any point of time) and the Duchess sure is registered and recognized.

From you first post, the word "convoluted" sure is an understatement with DGCA. Let us know how it goes.

Good luck!

Vasu
 
Vasu said:
njdem82

My first post around here!! Woohoo...

Just to allay your fears njdem82, BE-76 is absolutely fine with DGCA. A lot (all) of my students have converted their FAA licenses to DGCA with Duchess times.

The logic behind the seemingly selective acceptance of certain plane times being, the plane type should have been operational and registered with DGCA (at any point of time) and the Duchess sure is registered and recognized.

From you first post, the word "convoluted" sure is an understatement with DGCA. Let us know how it goes.

Good luck!

Vasu
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Wow , ok give me a second to sigh with relief :) Thanks for taking the time to address my concern it is much appreciated and you come with very welcome news!!!! And yes using the word convuluded is very charitable when talking about the DGCA. I am used to out of control bureaucracies , but this one really takes the cake (I hope no one takes offense to any of this I am just stating the the facts and no one can really make the argument that the DGCA is an efficiently run , logical meritocracy without any inequities. I wish that were so)

At some point I will have to take the dreaded DGCA written "test" , I hear horror stories about it , the lack of standardization (ofcourse). Also that they are heavy into science and ask questions like ; Describe how a light bulb works? I will have to take a six week course to prepare but even if I do well it doesn't mean that the results will come out well . But I do know how to level the playing field.

Thanks everyone for your responses this is a huge relief Vasu, thanks man and welcome to message board from one newbie to another :)
 
India may be a culture shock for most westerns, but for a 3rd world country things work pretty well, a lot faster then in South America, something I like about India is that you can be in the worst place of the city and not feel like you are about to get killed. Try that in any big city of South America or Africa.
 
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