wrote in message
oups.com...
I hear that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (India)
recognizes flight training and pilot licenses only if they're issued by
FAA-approved schools.

Can there then be flying schools in the US that aren't approved by the
FAA??

I guess that depends on the definition of "FAA-approved schools". In the
US, a student pilot may be taught by an independent instructor, using their
own airplane or the instructors. The instructor is certainly
"FAA-approved", but depending on what the Indian rule really means, may not
qualify the student for an automatic license.

To further complicate matters, there are two FAR Parts under which training
may occur: Part 61, and Part 141.

Part 61 is the "normal" Part...it describes how training would be done by
the afore-mentioned hypothetical student and instructor, and the same rules
are often used by FBOs with an instruction operation, or even full-blown
"schools". Part 141 is for a particular kind of "approved" school, and it
allows a student to (in theory) complete the training a little more quickly,
by requiring the school to adhere to somewhat more strict requirements about
how the training is to be accomplished.

It's possible that the Indian rule applies *only* to these Part 141 schools.

I'm not entirely sure, but I think that an FBO teaching under the Part 61
rules wouldn't need any specific FAA approval beyond what would normally be
required by an instructor, and to rent out airplanes to students. That is,
the "school" part wouldn't be specifically approved by the FAA in that case
either. (The "school" in that case might also have other FAA approvals,
such as Part 135 required for operating charter flights, but those wouldn't
be relevant to the training operations at the "school").

I know, I probably made all of the above clear as mud. Try this...there are
at least three different ways to be trained in the US:

* Freelance instructor
* Through an FBO/school under Part 61
* Through an FBO/school under Part 141

The answer to your question depends on how India is defining "school" for
the purpose of that regulation. It may be that only some, or all, of the
above may qualify, depending on that definition.

Pete