Contract pilot & crew cover
Contract Pilot and
Short-Notice Crew Cover
An FAA Commercial Pilot with a CE-750 type rating, based in Buckinghamshire and available to operators and owners for short-notice crew cover, ferry and positioning flights across Europe.
For operators, owners and management companies
Where an FAA licence in Europe actually matters
An N-registered aircraft is flown under FAA rules, and it needs FAA-licensed crew. Most FAA-licensed pilots are in North America. If an N-reg aircraft in Europe loses a crew member to sickness, a roster gap or a duty limit, the qualified replacement is usually five or six hours away by airline before they have done anything useful. I hold an FAA Commercial Pilot licence, multi-engine and instrument, with a CE-750 type rating, and I live in Buckinghamshire.
What crew cover actually covers
Roster gaps and sickness cover, ferry and delivery flights, positioning and repositioning legs, and recovery flights once an aircraft is serviceable again. Work is undertaken under the operator's AOC and their operations manual, with their training, checking and currency requirements applied as they would to any of their crew. I am not an air carrier and hold no AOC.
If you are AOG right now
Two different problems get called AOG. If your aircraft is down and passengers are waiting, what you need is replacement lift — that is AOG replacement charter, and it is the more urgent page. Crew cover is the other half: the recovery or positioning sector once engineers release the aircraft, or the crew slot the delay has knocked out of position. I fly aircraft; I do not repair business jets.
What I will need from you
The aircraft type and registration, the operator and AOC holder, the dates and sectors, and your training and currency requirements. If line training or a differences course is needed before I can operate for you, better to establish that at the first conversation than the night before.
Light aircraft, LAA and BMAA
Separately from the jet work I am an LAA and BMAA inspector and a Rotax iRMT for the 912 ULS and 912 iS. That is Permit aircraft and microlight work — inspection, Permit to Fly revalidation and engine work — and it is a different service from crew cover. There is a separate page for it.
Common questions
Do you hold an AOC?
No. I am a pilot, not an air carrier. Contract flying is undertaken under the operator's AOC and operations manual.
What are you rated on?
FAA Commercial Pilot, multi-engine and instrument, with a Cessna Citation X (CE-750) type rating. Also current on GA, LSA and microlight types.
Can you cover an AOG situation?
I can fly the recovery or positioning sector once the aircraft is serviceable, and cover a crew slot disrupted by the delay. I do not carry out maintenance on business jets.
How much notice do you need?
It depends entirely on what your operator requires before I can operate for you — training, checking, currency and paperwork all take time. Ask early and the answer is usually yes; ask the night before and it often is not.
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