About European Microlights

I had some questions why choosing Ultralights over normal GA planes and decided to elaborate a bit on it. Basically where it comes down to is that there is not much of a difference between Ultralight flying and VFR flying with a heavier plane. The rules are the same, VFR remains VFR, the difference is in the planes flown and two possibilities you can do with a PPL-A which you cannot with an Ultra light permit.

First of all VFR-Night is not allowed with an ultra light plane, you can only fly it during the day. The second extra is already limited for JAR PPL-A holders, if you have a British or Irish PPL-A, you can obtain an additional certification called IMC, this permits you limited instrument flying in certain meteorical conditions. This was instated by the AAC to provide for the quickly changing Atlantic weather conditions prevailing on the British and Irish isles.

With a microlight the only IFR flying you do is I Follow Road or I Follow River even if there are some planes which have enough avionics on board to shame the average IFR capable plane.

The technical rules
The rules for Ultra Light planes in Europe are more or less standardised. The definition of a microlight according to the Joint Aviation Authorities document JAR-1 is an aeroplane having no more than two seats, maximum stall speed (VS0) of 35 knots (65 km/h) CAS, and a maximum take-off mass of no more than:

• 300 kg for a landplane, single seater; or


• 450 kg for a landplane, two-seater; or


• 330 kg for an amphibian or floatplane, single seater; or
  
• 495 kg for an amphibian or floatplane, two-seater, provided that a microlight capable of operating as both a floatplane and a landplane falls below both MTOM limits, as appropriate.

In France the ultralight aircrafts are specified 5 different classes:

The Powered paraglider (Class 1)
A powered paraglider, or paramoteur in French, is an aircraft equipped with a flexible aerofoil, (=legal speak for parachute type) they have to fulfil the following technical requirements:

• The maximum power is lower or equal to 45 Kw for the single-seater aircraft and 60 Kw for the two-seaters.


• The maximum mass (MTOW/MTOM) is lower or equal to 300 kg for the single-seater aircraft and 450 kg for the two-seaters.

The Weight shift (Class 2)
In French called pendulaire is an aircraft equipped with a rigid aerofoil under which a motorized carriage has been mounted. (the trike) The aircraft is steered by displacing the carriage vs the foil. These have the following limits:

• The maximum power is lower or equal to 45 kw for the single-seater aircraft and 60 kw for the two-seaters.
• The maximum mass is lower or equal to 300 kg for the single-seater aircraft and 450 kg for the two-seaters. These masses can be increased by 5% if the machine is equipped with an emergency parachute and with 10% in the case the U.L.M. is equipped with floats. These increases cannot be accumulated.
• The stalling speed is lower or equal to 65 km/h or the wing load to the maximum mass is lower than 30kg/m2.

Yep these are the famous flying bikes my girlfriend is always referring to.

The multi axis (class 3)
A multi axis U.L.M. is an aircraft equipped with a fixed aerofoil. This machine is steered using control surfaces (Rudder, Ailerons, Elevators) The aircraft should answer to the following technical requirements:

• The maximum power lower or equal to 45 kw for the single-seater aircraft and 60 kw for the two-seaters.
• The maximum mass is lower or equal to 300 kg for the single-seater aircraft and 450 kg for the two-seaters. These masses can be increased by 5% if the machine is equipped with an emergency parachute and with 10% in the case the machine is equipped with floats. These increases cannot be accumulated.
• The stalling speed is lower or equal to 65 km/h or the wing load to the maximum mass is lower than 30kg/m2.

These are the planes I’m going to learn to fly; my lessons will be in a RANS 6ES Coyote II

The autogyro (class 4)
An ultra light autogyro or gyrocopter answers to the following technical requirements:

• The maximum power continues is lower or equal to 60 kw for the single-seater aircraft and 80 kw for the two-seaters.
• The maximum mass is lower or equal to 300 kg for the single-seater aircraftand 450 kg for the two-seaters.
• The rotor load with the maximum mass lies between 4,5 and 12kg/m2.

The ultra light airship (class 5)
An extra-light airship answers to the following technical requirements:

• The maximum power continues is lower or equal to 60 kw for the single-seater aircraft tand 80 kw for the two-seaters.
• The volume of the helium balloon is lower or equal to 900 m3.
• The volume of the hot air balloon is lower or equal to 2000 m3.
  

Something special
In class 2 and 3 there are also subclasses called class 2a or class 3a, the requirements are the same and are comparable with the American FAR 103 and the BCAR Ultra Light rules. The regulations for building and flying these planes are less complicated, the major thing here is that as long as they are single seat and below 115 kg they do not need a Permit to Fly.

The search continues...

So here I was, I decided in favour of Microlight airplanes… so what were the possibilities there?

Luxembourg has only one aero club for ULM flying called Aeroplume, based near the lovely town of Larochette, on an old farm they have their own ULM field. I’ve showed my face there a couple of times and to be honest I didn’t like the atmosphere there, I would go too far if I used the term übermensch but they certainly thought very well of themselves… their website was also not updated for ages and apparently there were no theory lessons coming up. So, missed chance here for the fellows and the search continued.

Luckily Luxembourg is a small country and you only need to drive half an hour to be abroad. So I investigated into the possibilities abroad and the curriculum to be followed to obtain a license for Microlights. I checked Bitburg, very nice airfield; the possibilities were also plenty with two schools but no real aero clubs. Thought of Arlon, but didn’t like the Belgium structure of the curriculum. So I ended up on the site of the FFPLUM, which is the French National Microlight Association and learned a lot about their curriculum on line. I liked it a lot. So I got to their regional chapter and found out that just across the border in Zoufftgen there was an ULM field and club called “les 3 frontieres” (the three borders, as it is 3 border country there) and on a nice Saturday last summer I decided to drive up to it and make some enquiries.

I was instantly welcomed and it felt like meeting friends I hadn’t met yet. Well this is a different experience. I came back several times there and everybody was great, it is a small club and the members are very cooperative, and one day I met with the clubs’ trainer, Patrick, a Luxembourgish guy, he was very clear on things, no maybes or fuzzy talk, straight and direct talk, I like that. Bugger though was that he was in the middle of constructing a Zenair CH650 and could not take me on as a student right away, I will have to wait till next year to start my flying lessons. But no despair I have the whole winter now to learn my theory.

Patrick put me on the ”Manuel du Pilote ULM” for the standard theory curriculum and to be honest, it is quite well written, I thought that the French language would pose some problems but it is all understandable and if things are unclear there are people which I can ask. Furthermore my girlfriend surprised me with some PPL books which provide the same theory in English to back up things which I wouldn’t understand in French. Yep, I told you she is very supportive.

So here we are, I have arrived at my niche, and the big adventure has started. It is like Confucius said; a long journey starts with a small step. And I am on my way.

Who are you and what do you want?

Well I have been busy with a lot of things but flying but I'm slowly catching up on things and finally have some time to post part 2 as promised months ago.
So, where to start when you want to go flying? Well the internet is a nice place to find out things, checking forums, planes, flying schools and see what is in your neighbourhood. But first of all you have to search inside yourself. What do you want?

We all have dreams, one wants to soar the skies like an eagle; the other dreams of travelling around the world in his own plane; there are people who love to fly an old ancient barnstormer or like the thrills of aerobatics. Some want it all... I wanted to fly an airplane, not high above the clouds but enjoying the scenery, I wanted to go places but not at all costs, simply booking a fare at Ryanair is much cheaper after all. Having experienced some decent G-forces in my buddies' soaring plane was enough to find out that I'm not really a thrill seeker but prefer the smooth flying. So based on that I decided that single engine VFR was my way to go.

Nice start, but then again there is a multitude of possibilities ranging from flying a Cirrus SR22 Turbo to those microlight trikes my dear girlfriend likes to refer to as "Flying Bikes" and here is a fine example of another factor in the decision process, limitations. Not that my girlfriend is a big ball and chain, she is highly supportive about my aspirations to go flying but she made it very, very clear that she has limits too and if I would want to take her flying as my passenger, it better not be in a machine where she has to sit in the open.

Second limitation and probably the largest one is budget, unless you have unlimited funds you somewhere going to "hit the roof" of your financial possibilities, I have a nice job, great colleagues and a decent pay but that's it, don't expect me to finance a big fancy airplane, let alone bearing the operating costs of a gas guzzling, large, high powered, engine. So what were my possibilities?
I could become member of a flying club which owned planes and hire the plane at cost from the club when I wanted to fly. The biggest one in Luxembourg is AERO-SPORT, they have a nice collection of planes (Cessna, Piper, Cirrus) both VFR and IFR, you can do your training there and all is nice and fine. But I knew that one of these days I'd be deciding that it was a beautiful day to go flying and find out that all planes were booked. Knowing all to well that The Lady rarely deals you the aces in life and knowing my chances to end up with an odd hand I knew that I'd have to have my "own" airplane.

This limited things to a cheap budget plane or finding one or two others who felt the same and starting a small co-ownership. I invested some time in finding out what kind of planes I'd be able to fly within my budget and finding out about lessons for a PPL-A. I'll be honest, I wouldn't go far with it, a decent Cessna 152 or a small Piper 141/161 without too much frills would just be possible. Owning a plane is not the real problem, flying and maintaining it, on the other hand, could become one if not managed properly and strictly. I nearly gave up, so close and at the same time almost unreachable...

Until I started looking at another class of flying, the microlight, known here as the ULM (From the French Ultra Légère Motorisé) I didn't know much about it and still thought it to be in the "deltawing with revved-up lawnmower engine" stage, so imagine my surprise when I found out that there were microlight planes which were able to fly faster, cheaper and more ecological than the standard Cessna or Piper planes. So I started to widen my knowledge on this subject and the more I delved into it the more I liked it.