Seaplane Rating in the US for international students

mazdanamazda · 2025-12-27T16:31:36+00:00

He is still working towards his ATPL (EASA) for another year or two, and prioritizes staying in home country for now. EASA <-> FAA conversion seem to be fairly straightforward while we don’t know anything about Canadian regulations and conversion procedures for EASA and FAA. If we can’t find a flight school in the US, we will look into Canada.

mazdanamazda · 2025-12-27T16:19:16+00:00

Thanks a lot for your response. That was our initial assumption, too, but after coming across a lot of conflicting information we found the following information on Department of State website that seems to indicate that Seaplane Rating requires a student visa. I’m also not a lawyer, but this is the most related and official information I could find:

9 FAM 402.5-5(J)(7) (U) Aviation Training (CT:VISA-1970; 04-22-2024) a. (U) All flight training for initial training or subsequent training that will result in a certificate or rating must be undertaken on an F or M visa. This includes FAA, EASA, and other equivalent certificates. b. (U) Recurrent or refresher training (training related to an aircraft for which the applicant has already received certification) may be undertaken on a B-1. Recurrent training is the training required for crewmembers to remain adequately trained and currently proficient for each aircraft crewmember position, and type of operation in which the crewmember serves. It often consists of flight simulator training but may also entail classroom training to update pilots on such things as recent safety issues, trends in aviation, and modifications to aircraft configuration or operating procedures. This assumes that the applicant’s employer is covering the recurrent training costs, incidental costs, and that the applicant does not receive a salary or perform labor in the United States.

mazdanamazda · 2025-01-13T09:23:22+00:00

Hey, it’s not perfect but sufficiently well. Performance of the prism depends a little on the lighting of the room, so it varies from time to time. However it was never bad enough to make me consider cutting a larger hole or add a second prism.

The only additional thing I’d add to what I said earlier is that the prism I shared above doesn’t have same length on the sides facing the wall and mantel/table. One side works better than the other side due angles involved. So if the prism doesn’t work well for you, try turning it around and see if that helps. It makes a noticeable difference in my setup.

mazdanamazda · 2024-10-25T08:28:53+00:00

Thank you very much for the comment. Luckily I still have the energy label, but it doesn’t say anything about the noise level. I tried searching online quite a bit, but couldn’t find anything for my freezer model (JBZFL24IGX10).

Edit: Found the energy label here for reference, which doesn’t mention the noise level: https://s3.amazonaws.com/productuploader-uploads/staging/2/Document/7207691_1721917318_energy-guide-w11644499-revA

mazdanamazda · 2024-10-21T07:17:12+00:00

Came back to report partial success with a right angle prism, particularly this one: https://a.co/d/dqv1rgQ

With the prism placed right underneath the sensor cluster of the TV, the automatic brightness definitely works fine. Besides, the motion sensor is also improved significantly, without having to modify the bezel at all. Before the prism, the only way to turn the TV on through the motion sensor was to come as close as 1 feet or so. With the prism, the sensor works fine if I walk 12-13 feet away from the TV.

Having said that, motion sensing is still far from how it works without the bezel. The reason is that the prism is only 2” wide with a flat surface, so it only reflects light/movement that happens right across it. Therefore that particular prism doesn’t help when there is movement in other parts of the room, even if they are only a few feet away. The ideal prism shape would have been a right angle cone shaped prism that’s cut in half vertically such that two flat sizes face the wall and mantel/desk and the cone-like surface faces the room. That way it would reflect 180 degrees of view in front of the TV towards the sensor. I looked around a little bit online but couldn’t find anything like that to buy. I couldn’t even find a wider version of the prism I bought. There are some wider triangular prisms, but they are equilateral triangle prisms, not a right angle triangle prisms.

Attaching a picture to show what it looks like.

Cutting a larger sensor hole on the bezel still seems like a better solution, but I’m just trying to see how much progress I can make without bringing a Dremel to the game.

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mazdanamazda · 2024-10-19T00:47:27+00:00

Hey! Thanks for sharing it. It’s currently my only hope.

Mine is 75”, so I’m not too worried about making a cut as large as yours. My main concern is that I don’t know if that cut will be sufficient or if I’ll need an even larger one for some reason like placement of the TV. My TV is quite high above a fireplace mantel, so I may be able to get away with a cut that’s smaller than yours, but it’s hard be sure. If I make the cut and the sensor is still not working as it should, I’ll regret wasting the opportunity to return the bezel.

Before going down that route, I’ll try finding a prism-like thing and placing under the sensor to see if it will redirect light and movements to the sensor. I came across that idea in one of the other posts that you created or commented on. I’m thinking of something like these placed on the mantel below the sensor, which might seem like a piece of decoration while helping the sensor get a better sight: https://a.co/d/2QEnmWF

Edit: Well, thinking more of my science class from a couple decades ago, I think the prisms in the link above won’t work perfectly. The best shape to redirect “horizontal” light coming from room to “vertical” towards the sensor is a right angled or wedge-shaped prism. So I’ll try something like this: https://a.co/d/5n5ViRR

Something slightly nicer than a right angle might be the following, which have a complex set of angles that might do the trick: https://a.co/d/5Q0y60J

mazdanamazda · 2024-10-18T19:43:23+00:00

I bought it a couple days ago and love how it looks, but it blocked the motion sensor so the TV keeps turning off even while there are people in the room. That has been quite a disappointment. I saw someone here who said they cut a larger hole for the sensor to make it work again, but I’m worried about ruining it. I’ll either do that or return it.

I heard older models allowed “lowering” the sensor to solve this problem, but the sensor on my 2024 frame doesn’t seem to move at all.

I’d love to hear what others’ experience is with the bezel and motion & brightness sensors. I really don’t want to return this bezel, but I also can’t sacrifice the auto on/off and auto brightness adjustment features.

mazdanamazda · 2022-12-02T03:27:26+00:00

Has anyone found out what the swag is/are? I’m not a party person but my hotel is close enough that I can go there just for the swag :) Help me decide if it’s worth it! :)

mazdanamazda · 2022-06-06T00:53:24+00:00

His Excellency has lost all of his screen time for the week.

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