[lizupclose]

I am an American currently residing in Ouagadougou (wah-ga-doo-goo), Burkina Faso in West Africa (my husband is a diplomat here). There is a fairly active local aeroclub here and I've always wanted to learn to fly, so I thought I'd take some of my copious free time and take lessons (I only work part time due to the shortage of jobs for expatriates here).

I would eventually like to use the license I get here in the United States, after our tour in Burkina is over, but there is virtually no FAA presence here. The instructor I have found through the local aeroclub flies on a French ATPL and has a Canadian license (his FAA license is expired as he no longer needs it here).

My concern is that if I take ground school and practical lessons from him, my airtime will not be recognized in the US since I will not have been taught by an FAA-certified instructor. I am prepared to go out of the country (to Belgium or Germany, for instance) in order to complete the practical and written tests with FAA-certified testers, but is it possible to do so with a logbook full of hours taught by a non-FAA-certified instructor?

Alternatively, I see that there seems to be some degree of reciprocity for private licenses between Burkina Faso and the United States (FAR 61.75), but I'm curious to know if that really WORKS post-911. I am, at least, an American citizen.

Any advice or suggestions you have would be most welcome! I do not want to get into a cockpit until I have this ironed out.

Thanks, Liz Bernard (from the place with the extremely funny name)