PPL SEP Revalidation in Spain: Don't Leave It Until the Last Minute
Your SEP rating is expiring? There’s no need to leave it until the last minute.
If you are looking for PPL SEP revalidation in Spain, planning ahead can make the whole process much easier.
If you hold a PPL with a Single-Engine Piston (SEP) class rating, your rating has to be revalidated before you can continue exercising those privileges.
And, as many pilots discover, leaving it until the final few weeks can turn what should be a straightforward process into a rather stressful exercise.
Weather, aircraft availability, instructor availability and your own diary can all get in the way.
The good news is that you don't have to wait until the final month to deal with it.
In fact, planning ahead can make SEP revalidation remarkably simple — particularly when you are flying in Spain.
PPL SEP Revalidation in Spain: How It Works
For a single-engine piston aeroplane class rating, EASA Part-FCL provides two main routes.
Option 1 – Revalidation by experience
Within the 12 months preceding the expiry of your SEP rating, you need to complete:
12 hours of flight time in the relevant class
At least 6 hours as PIC
12 take-offs and 12 landings
At least 1 hour of refresher training with a Flight Instructor (FI) or Class Rating Instructor (CRI)
The refresher training can be tailored to your experience and can include appropriate exercises from the proficiency-check syllabus.
If you already have the required flying experience but haven't completed the instructor refresher training, this is where a CRI can help.
A CRI can conduct the required refresher training and assess your flying during that training. The CRI does not, simply by virtue of being a CRI, conduct the formal proficiency check required for the alternative examiner route.
EASA's rules specifically provide for the one-hour refresher training to be completed with an FI or CRI.
Option 2 – Take a proficiency check
Alternatively, you can revalidate the SEP rating by successfully completing a proficiency check with an examiner.
For this route, the proficiency check must be completed within the three months immediately preceding the expiry date of the rating.
This is particularly useful if you haven't accumulated the required 12 hours of flying during the preceding 12 months.
And this is one of the most important things to remember:
You don't have to wait until your expiry date.
If your SEP rating expires on 30 December, for example, the proficiency check can be completed during the three months immediately before that expiry date.
So don't leave it until the last available weekend in December.
Christmas, weather, aircraft availability and examiner availability have a habit of making that particular plan rather less clever than it initially sounded.
Why Spain is ideal for SEP revalidation
One of the advantages of flying in southern Spain is the weather.
Compared with many parts of northern Europe, southern Spain offers considerably more opportunities for VFR flying throughout the year.
That can make it much easier to build the flying required for your SEP revalidation.
If you still need some of your required hours, you don't necessarily need to spend weeks trying to find suitable weather.
With good planning, a pilot can potentially complete a substantial amount of the required flying over a weekend.
For example, a pilot who needs to build hours towards the 12-hour requirement could use a weekend for several flights, combining enjoyable touring with the flying needed for their revalidation.
Of course, the actual amount of flying possible depends on weather, aircraft availability, pilot fatigue, personal limits and the normal operational considerations of each flight.
The important point is that Spain gives you more opportunities to go flying when the weather in northern Europe may be keeping the aircraft firmly on the ground.
Why leave it until the last minute?
There are plenty of reasons pilots put their SEP revalidation off.
You might think:
"I've got plenty of time."
Then suddenly you haven't.
Or perhaps you've been busy, haven't flown as much as planned and discover that your SEP expiry date is approaching.
Then you need:
Aircraft + instructor/CRI + suitable weather + suitable dates + potentially an examiner
all at roughly the same time.
That's when a straightforward revalidation can become unnecessarily complicated.
Plan it early instead.
If your SEP expires towards the end of the year, start looking at your flying requirements well before the final three months.
You can check your logbook and work out exactly what you still need.
If you are using the experience route, you have a 12-month window before expiry in which the required flight experience can be accumulated.
And if you decide that a proficiency check is the better option, remember that the check can be completed during the three months immediately preceding expiry.
What can a CRI do for my SEP revalidation?
A Class Rating Instructor (CRI) can provide the required refresher training for SEP revalidation.
The one-hour refresher training is not simply about flying around the circuit for an hour.
The training should be appropriate to the pilot's experience and can cover relevant items from the proficiency-check syllabus.
This might include areas such as:
Aircraft handling
Take-offs and landings
Stalls and slow flight
Emergency procedures
Navigation
General aircraft handling
Threat and Error Management
Decision-making
Weather considerations
Navigation and diversion procedures
The exact content should be tailored to the pilot rather than treating every revalidation as an identical tick-box exercise.
EASA guidance states that refresher training should be based on relevant proficiency-check exercises and should take the candidate's experience into account.
A simple way to approach your revalidation
Rather than waiting until your SEP rating is almost expired, work backwards from the expiry date.
Step 1 – Check your expiry date
Look at your licence and identify exactly when your SEP rating expires.
Step 2 – Check your logbook
Work out how many hours, PIC hours and take-offs and landings you have completed during the relevant 12-month period.
Step 3 – Identify what you are missing
You may discover that you already have most of the requirements completed and only need the one-hour refresher training.
Or you may need additional flying.
Step 4 – Book your flying
Don't wait for the perfect weekend to appear.
Book your flying in advance and use the good weather opportunities available in Spain.
Step 5 – Complete your refresher training
A CRI can provide the required one-hour refresher training where appropriate.
Step 6 – Don't forget the paperwork
Once the requirements have been met, make sure the revalidation is correctly recorded and processed in accordance with the applicable licensing requirements.
Don't turn a simple revalidation into an emergency
Your SEP revalidation doesn't need to become a last-minute scramble.
If you plan ahead, you can combine your required flying with hour building, touring and enjoyable flying around Spain and Europe.
And if you are based in northern Europe, Spain can make an excellent place to complete your flying during periods when the weather at home is less cooperative.
After all, there's a fairly simple philosophy to it:
Don't wait for your SEP rating to expire before remembering that you need to fly.
Plan ahead, get the hours in, complete your refresher training and keep flying.
Want to get your SEP revalidated in Spain?
At Hour-Building.com, we offer SEP revalidation support for pilots flying in Spain, including refresher training with a CRI.
Whether you need to complete your required flying, refresh your skills or arrange your SEP revalidation, get in touch and we can help you plan the flying around your available dates.
Don't leave it until the last minute.
Come to Spain. Go flying. Keep your SEP current.
To Book your SEP Revlaidation for EASA or UKCAA or Both at the sametime.
email mrcliffordmarker@gmail.com whatsapp +447539833852
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