The UK CAA has enacted a General Permission to allow certain types of flight training on UK National Permit to Fly aircraft. Flight schools are now permitted to provide limited flight training in UK National Permit to Fly (PtF) aircraft as long as the individual under training already holds a pilot licence in the same aircraft category.
Ab initio training is therefore not permitted under this General Permission, although can be undertaken through separate arrangements which allow ab-initio training in PtF aircraft if the student is the registered owner or joint owner of the aircraft; a registered shareholder of a company that owns the aircraft; or the spouse or child of a registered sole or joint owner.
What flight schools can now do with PtF aircraft is conduct introductory trial flights, as long as the PtF aircraft is either ‘Type Approved’ or a type that formerly held a UK Certificate of Airworthiness. Schools can also now hire out PtF aircraft for self-fly hire.
Not covered under this General Permission are amateur-built helicopters or former military aircraft now operating on a PtF.