I must fly a reasonable distance over water if I want to go anywhere – I also live on an island. I don’t fly a micro/ultralight, but another Annex II type (it’s a bit of an antique).
Plenty of the microlight (ultralight) pilots here where I live will fly overwater to the UK. But there are many types of microlight. I wouldn’t be all that happy flying a microlight with a 2 stroke engine over the sea, they seem to suffer sudden stoppages with too greater frequency. But the microlights with the 4 cylinder 4 stroke Rotax engines – not a problem. They have very good reliability.
Even so I am always equipped with a life raft and a life jacket. During the colder months, a drysuit. Over the Medeterranean, the water will be at least a bit warmer, however, I’d still recommend both a life jacket and a life raft. You can get life jackets that are designed to be worn continuously from a marine shop (and living on an island you’ll have plenty of those). Make sure you get the type that does not inflate on contact with water, get the type where you have to pull the toggle to inflate.
The evidence is that ditching has very good survival rates. The only fatalities around these parts in the last 15 years where an aircraft has gone in the water, the aircraft had a high energy impact with the water (in other words it crashed into the surface out of control – the two incidents I remember was a Cherokee somewhere off the coast of Blackpool, and a Beech Baron who lost control in IMC). An in-control ditching is very survivable so long as you have the life jacket and raft.
Jaime,
If you click on the avatar or name of a person you will get to the personal page of that person, that includes a ‘send private message’ button.
So send me your number and I’ll give you a call.
Saludos,
Hola Jaime, bienvenido a la aviacion general!
On here I think your go-to man for all things Ultra/Microlight is indeed Jan, so you’ve come to the right place. I freely admit knowing nothing about Ultralights, BUT having flown extensively in Spain, I have repeatedly encountered Ultra/Micro pilots from other European countries, so this must obviously be possible. Btw, I’ve done the run from Cabo de Nao to Ibiza myself in a Cessna.
Of course you can fly overwater. I did Turks&Caicos to Puerto Rico, St. Vincent to Curaçao, Curaçao to DR, DR to Bahamas – all of them 400nm over water. Just pick the warm season :D
Well, if you can swim 50 NM then you can… For myself I prefer to always be within glide distance of terra firma. For 50 NM, with a 1:10 glide angle, I’d need to fly somewhere around FL270 – impractical for several reasons 
The fact that I never learned to swim is only a secondary factor.
Thanks very much to both of you. I’m ovewhelmed by the helpfulness of this forum. 
Aart, I’m very glad to know there’s somebody else here from my place. I’d certainly be interested in getting in touch with your friend and i thank you for your offer at it. But I don’t know how we could work it out, as I’m not very keen on writing my email, much less my phone number, in an open forum. Is there a way we could sort it out?
Jan, it’s about 100 nm. Can’t one flight this long over water? I can swim if necessary
Ha, Aart, I was waiting and hoping for you to chime in. You were real quick! Local advice will be much better than what I could say from a distance. And if your friend flies both categories she/he is well placed to tell Jaime about the differences, and of each class’ advantages and limitations.
One more word for Jaime: renting an ultralight abroad might not be easy; most ultralights are either privately owned or operated by clubs. Perhaps some club would let you fly theirs, after you join as a (temporary?) member and do a trial flight with their instructor.
OTOH I am not sure I would like to fly an ultralight from the Baleares to the continent – how long is it over water? How high can you fly? But that matter will be worth its own discussion when your time has come for it.
Hola Jaime,
I am also based in Mallorca, but not involved with ultralights. A Spanish friend of mine is both a light aircraft and ultralight owner and no doubt could also provide you with relevant information. So if after your abuse of Jan, there are still any questions left, I’d be glad to put you in touch with him..
Tks Jan.
I’m sorry to have been ambiguous. My head always is ahead of my writing. I was refering to flying abroad with my spanish licence & my plane (could I call it a plane or is it too presumptuous in GA terms?), or a lended one for that matter, but you have raised an interesting question to me. Can I abuse you and beg you to answer both?
Tks
Hah, welcome to the world of private aviation! Some PPL-pilots do not like ultralights and will tell all kind tell-tales about them.
1) ultralights are not under European (EASA) rulings, they are regulated country by country, in national law. There are quite some differences between national regulations – just to name one example, Germany requires a ballistic parachute while Austria requires an ELT. Many more examples available.
2) Most European countries accept ultralights from other countries, under bilateral agreements
3) some European countries require an overflight permit for foreign ultralights, which may or may not come at a cost; it is not always enforced.
Tip: from an EASA point of view, ultralights are called “Annex II aeroplanes”, just like experimentals and warbirds
Tip: some countries use other words, like “microlight”, other countries like the USA have a different meaning for the word “ultralight”
Tip: lots of info about pan-European flying can be found in http://emf.aero/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/MLA_flying_in_Europe.pdf
But, your question is slightly ambiguous: are you referring to flying outside Spain with your Spanish license, for example for renting a plane when on holiday? Or do you wonder about trips abroad with your own machine, if ever you have one?
