Flying in South Korea

CT-Pilot

CT-Pilot

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Drew
Does anyone know if I would be able to fly in South Korea (dual) with my FAA license? On vacation in Australia at the beginning of this year I was able to go up, dual, in a Cessna 140 for a couple of hours. I was able to be in the left seat and do all the flying - all I had to do was pay $10 to join Recreational Aviation Australia (RAAus), which I guess all student pilots there need to do.

I will be heading to South Korea next summer and would love the opportunity to fly while over there as well - so wondering what the process is. Hoping someone here knows the process.

Thanks,
 
I can't speak for the Aussies but Osan Air Base has an Aero Club and they fly all over South Korea just about every weekend.
 
2nd on Osan if you have a military connection, it's pretty OK and definitely affordable. As a practical matter, that's probably the only way.

There is some private aviation but not much, if you don't speak Korean (and even if you do) it's not really open like a FBO. There are a couple university flight programs but I've never met anyone who was able to make that work. If you're just looking for a cool logbook entry, one of the skydiving places might work with you, that's definitely been done by folks with a skydiving bent. YMMV.
 
AKBill said:
That would be a major hurtle, but flying dual would leave the communications up to the CFI
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Not the flying, that's in very heavily accented English. Just the logistics of getting someone to let you join their club & stuff.
 
I was a member of the Osan AB aeroclub. The club had several 172s and one Cutlass. The Cutlass had to use AVGAS which was a problem but the 172s had the mogas stc. Avgas is not available as a rule throughout the ROK. If anyone reported a civil single engine recip doing something sketchy, we had no plausible deniablility as we were the only civil single engine recips operating in the country. We had to buy a tanker load of AVaGAS at a time and we used it only in the Cutlass and it cost an arm, a leg, and then some. The vast majority of flights were local sightseeing and training but some adventurous souls did go to some of the other American bases in Korea.
 
I flew as both a military and civilian pilot in Korea, but that is unusual and I had plenty of connections to make the process possible.

The bulk of private aviation in Korea is ultralights and experimental-type airplanes, gyros and powered parachutes. They fly out of improvised airstrips and sandbars.

If you want to just enjoy a flight with a local pilot, you would probably need to contact one of the university flight programs and if they can't accommodate you, they should know who and where the rare private pilot and airplane can be found.

They all speak English, since it is required for communication on international flights and they have foreign students from several Asian and African countries.
 
I'm a veteran, but I assume you need to be currently serving to get access to the Osan AB club?
 
CT-Pilot said:
I'm a veteran, but I assume you need to be currently serving to get access to the Osan AB club?
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I don’t know. But I have been a member of a Navy Flying Club in the US as a Vet. Voices in my head say it’s probably not likely in foreign country.
 
jbarrass said:
Not the flying, that's in very heavily accented English. Just the logistics of getting someone to let you join their club & stuff.
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I should think if they've got enough English for ATC they should be able to get through, "how do I join and what are your costs."
 
Osan Aero Club is where I learned to fly. All you need are FAA certs, and a way to get on base. Call or send them an email. This all assumes the aero club still exists, I was there 16 years ago. It was incredibly cheap, like $54 wet for a 172, instruction was $14 and the instructor never charged for any time if it wasn't being logged as flight time.
 
Ravioli said:
I should think if they've got enough English for ATC they should be able to get through, "how do I join and what are your costs."
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The pilots? Sure.

The registration folks, operations folks, admins, billing, not so much.
 
I was an instructor at the Osan Aero Club in the '80s and again in the '90s. As long as you had an ID card that would allow you on base, you could fly with them. I had students who were non-aviator active duty officers (the worst!) and family members (dependents).

If you are not retired or a DoD employee, you will have to deal with the Base administrative weenies to figure out how to gain access without a security clearance. I know the DoD has loosened up the privileges for certain veteran types to have access to the PX/BX and commissary...
 
From what I've found online, it looks like Osan closed back in 2016 due to rising costs and there is little to no GA in Korea, so guess I'm out of luck. Bummer.
 
Hello all,
I'm going to be living in South Korea with a US passport. I am Interested in flying a small plane there from the US if I can find a small airport that has reasonable tie down/hanger. I don't think GMP would be very affordable. Living at Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do. I not not found much online. The flying clubs I found do not exist anymore. My wife is a native Korean speaker and I understand them pretty well in English with accent. Any Information would be appreciated. I can read/understand a small amount of Korean but not enough to navigate the government docs.
Thanks
Glenn
 
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