The requirements for keeping your SEP valid changed slightly in the second half of 2024. The key change is that the “dual hour” with an instructor must now be recorded in your logbook as being completed satisfactorily.
By way of reminder, if your SEP has expired, then it must follow the renewal process, which involves a proficiency check with an examiner.
If your SEP is still valid (i.e. hasn’t expired), then you have two options to revalidate it:
- By completing a proficiency check with an examiner; or
- By meeting the experience requirements in the last 12 months of validity of your SEP. i.e if your SEP expires on 30th June 2025, then between 1st July 2024 and 30th June 2025 you must have logged 12 hours of flight time in a SEP aircraft that includes:
- 6 hours PIC
- 12 take offs and 12 landings
- 1 hour of dual training with an instructor
Previously, the instructor simply needed to countersign your logbook to record that you had completed dual training – there was no standard to be achieved, simply one hour of dual had to be logged.
From 24th July last year, that requirement changed to:
“refresher training of at least 1 hour of total flight time with and to the satisfaction of a flight instructor (FI) or a class rating instructor (CRI) who shall select those flight exercises that allow the applicant to refresh their competence in safely operating the aircraft and applying normal, abnormal and emergency procedures.”
Similar to an FAA flight review, the dual refresher hour must now be completed to the satisfaction of the instructor involved, and they must record this in your logbook along with their license number and signature with wording similar to:
“Refresher training satisfactorily completed as per FCL.740.A(b)(ii)(C)”
Once the license holder has met the above experience requirements and an instructor has recorded satisfactory completion of the dual refresher training, the license holder should arrange for an examiner or an instructor with FCL.945 privileges (James Kiely in WAC) to update the SEP rating page in their license PRIOR to the expiry date on the SEP rating. If this is not completed prior to the expiry date on the SEP rating then the rating will have expired and the license holder will need to renew the SEP via a proficiency check with an examiner.
If you complete a training flight with an instructor and they do not feel you have met the standard, this is not regarded as a “fail” – it’s simply logged as dual training without the above “satisfactorily completed” annotation being added. Further dual training may be completed as needed in order to meet the standard or the license holder may opt to revalidate by completing a proficiency check with an examiner instead.
If the dual refresher training flight is not completed satisfactorily before the expiry date of the SEP rating, then the license holder is no longer eligible to revalidate by experience and they will need to renew the SEP via a proficiency check with an examiner.
If you have any questions on the above, please check with an instructor. Remember, it is your responsibility to be aware of the expiry date of your ratings/certificates and the requirements to keep them valid.
