Peter wrote:
Apparently Spain does sometimes reply but after months, which is useless
Why is it that it’s always places with the most chaotic bureaucracies also have the most hoops to jump through (and often the most rigid enforcement?)
But many aerodromes do ban them with their own operational rules.
One field I know is reputed to have never have allowed them, and doesn’t to this day, because the powers that be think that aeroplanes lighter than a C152/PA28 cannot be viable. They do have accepted some LSA’s, though, recently. It is a pity because they are, like most fields round here, plagued by nimbyism, and today’s average Rotax-powered 3-axis microlight is less noisy than most “E-Klasse” planes.
There is no reason for ultralight bans per se. But, ultralights traditionally only fly in G with no requirements for radio or transponder, so lots of ultralights do not have the required instruments to fly in controlled airspace. There is no requirement for ultralight pilots to have a license to use airband radio, so they are not licensed to use the radio in case the aircraft should have it. With radio, transponder and a separate license to use the radio, the ATC cannot ban ultralight any more than they can ban a Cirrus.
Is noise the only reason for ultralight bans?
A Europa is definitely not a microlight.
What classifies an aircraft to be a Microlight tends to vary from country to country.
But generally a microlight weights less than 450 kgs with some addition weight allowed for float planes and if carrying a ballistic parachute..
And also additional requirements to do with wing area and stall speed.
So an aircraft that weights below 450kgs may not meet these definitions.
Just because its got a Rotax engine does not make it a microlight.
Theirs some Cessna 150/152,s around that have been re-engined with Rotax,s.
In the UK a small number of airfields have bans on microlight aircraft mainly to do with planning permission however these tend to go back to the old days when microlights first came about were mainly of the weight shift type and used old noisy engines.
As for IR in an experimental aircraft again can vary from country to country, In the UK the LAA are working on getting some permit aircraft to be IFR approved.
I think that some of the Nordic countries allow IFR in permit aircaft.
Caba wrote:
A ramp check however might have a different outcome, those guys usually know the paragraphs.
I had one in EDLE last year. They told me (friendly), that EDLE is not approved for Microlights and obviously the Europa must be a Microlight since it is powered by a Rotax engine 
A couple of days ago I worked an European-reg RV8 on a domestic IFR flight. I did not inquire if he had an approval for this but actually I doubt it. Most of my colleagues did not even know the aircraft and don´t know anything about the difference of Certified / Annex2 / Experimental aircraft, so don´t expect to be inquired by ATC. A ramp check however might have a different outcome, those guys usually know the paragraphs.
There is no known enforcement of this stuff.
But your insurance is probably void if a flight is illegal beforehand. That is what UK’s biggest insurer told me. This is a concern unless you think you will never need insurance. I do know people in that category.
Apparently Spain does sometimes reply but after months, which is useless. But then frankly the whole system of permit applications puts a huge damper on international flight. If you set up FR24 alerts on the main non CofA types and watch the flying patterns it’s obvious.
Be aware that some countries require a permit for flying Annex II aircraft in their airspace. I am ashamed to say my own country is one, and even requires some payment for it. I have however a feeling that this is not really enforced.
Also ISTR funny stories about Spain requiring such a permit, yet when one applies for it there never comes an answer.
Hallo Lucas,
since that plane is on Swiss register and you are here as well, you can get in touch with the owner and talk to him.
The Brändli Cherry is a very popular plane, lovely design and quite nice to fly from what I hear. Max Brändli was a very nice guy.
The plane looks quite nice too.
There is a good site for Swiss Experimentals:
As it is purely VFR, you can fly it in most of Europe. The EAS Switzerland can give you all the information about this.
