Sylvain wrote in
t:

Bertie the Bunyip wrote:

Apparently, the FAA third is not valid abroad unless specifically
allowed by the coutry you're flying in.

Surprising. Any specifics? e.g., which country did not recognize
the FAA Class-III?

Almost all of them, I think.

in what circumstance? (I mean, flying a N-
registered aircraft or a locally registered aircraft)?

Both. your FAA licence is not valid anywhere outside the US without
express permission of the local authority.

who made the
call (local aviation authority official, or some busy body imposing
made up rules on the spot -- that I have seen happen a few times :-)
was it a class-III per se, or a Class-II or better that had expired
into a Class-III? (this one can cause confusion as well, even though
it is spelled out on the piece of paper proper); was it an
unrestricted Class-III, or does it bear some kind of restriction?

The FAA are responsible for this. When they degraded the class three
below international standards. It was a tradeoff. I think it's mostly
the time thing, but I think they lowered standards in other areas as
well. Lower eyesight, maybe I don't know. This allows a lot more people
to fly in the US and all anyone who wants to fly abroad has to do is get
a class 2, so it seems like a good idea to me.
I got the info from a friend of mine who's an examiner in Europe. I put
it to him that it would be legal to fly a US reg airplane with a
standard private anywhere in the world, and he told me that while this
used to be the case, it is no longer..


Bertie