Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
User avatar
By Genghis the Engineer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1845364
patowalker wrote:
Big Dex wrote:It mainly comes down to wing loading I believe; they're looking for 60kg psm iirc, which is fairly incompatible with a sub-35kt stall as required for microlights.


Becoming 45kt max stall speed for 600kg microlights.


I agree that's what the BMAA position paper says, and it would co-incide with VLA and LSA, but I don't think it's set in stone yet.

G
User avatar
By CloudHound
#1845371
I was told last year that a working group consisting of CAA/BMAA/LAA and 2 UK microlight manufacturers had been formed to prepare the way for 600kg microlight acceptance.

Part of the plan involved consultation with industry in the spring of 21 with approvals starting before the end of the year.

The lack of anything to see suggests there's problems but so far I've not been able to find out what those are.
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By Genghis the Engineer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1845388
I'm not on that group, but work with several people who are, and we talk.

From what they've said, the logjam is not really to do with the microlight rule changes as such, it's to do with limited CAA time and resources as they navigate their way through Brexit, and everything's going slowly.

G
By oldbiggincfi
#1845417
matthew_w100 wrote:
oldbiggincfi wrote:My unintended excursion into cloud with our EV97 was very uncomfortable. Flies perfectly well but came unbelievably wet inside . Even with the heater on full could not control the drips .
Alright - silly me :oops:


My Beagle Pup is like that and it IS certified :-)


Did lots and lots of wet stuff in various pups and was never that bad as not to be able see out or read the dash for condensation .
By patowalker
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1845461
Genghis the Engineer wrote:
patowalker wrote:
Big Dex wrote:It mainly comes down to wing loading I believe; they're looking for 60kg psm iirc, which is fairly incompatible with a sub-35kt stall as required for microlights.


Becoming 45kt max stall speed for 600kg microlights.


I agree that's what the BMAA position paper says, and it would co-incide with VLA and LSA, but I don't think it's set in stone yet.

G


CAP 1920 makes it clear max Vso will be 45kts. It would be ridiculous to differ from the Czech and German regulations.
By patowalker
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1845488
The French went for 500kg and 48kt to protect their privileges. No medical requirements, no further training after gaining licence, no regular airworthiness inspections.

Foreign microlights that exceed that weight and stall speed will require permission to visit, unless they are homebuilt.

A bit academic though, because under present regulations all UK factory built microlights require permission, which will set pilots back €50.
User avatar
By PaulSS
#1845497
If you want IFR and night it will have to be certified to light aircraft standards not microlight standards.


Excited by the new LAA rules allowing IFR/night, when they first came in, I made a request to get my then yet-to be -built machine signed off for night flying. I didn't really want to go flying at night, more to have the facility to get me home if it got dark if I was late etc. You would think I had asked to have their first born burned at the stake.

Apparently it is not possible to differentiate the two regimes. It has to be IFR and night. It cannot be night only :roll: All you pilots who fly VFR at night are blatantly wrong and very, very dangerous.

"Why do you need the IFR wing loading requirements to just fly VFR at night, where it is less bumpy than by day?" I enquired. Cue tumble weed for answers..........

What I found was an organisation that couldn't possibly use another, such as the EAA, as an example but had to invent their own 'correct' way of doing things. What would the EAA know of such things anyway? Far, far better to paint themselves into a corner of their own making, constrained by rules of their own making (IFR AND night, or nothing) and then castigate anyone who dares question their bizarre thinking.

It helped make the decision though. Aircraft became BMAA instead of LAA. LAA lost another member. Aircraft is still not night 'certified' but it costs me less to have it that way with the BMAA, rather than the LAA.
User avatar
By Genghis the Engineer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1845504
Paul, your tale of woe sounds hellishly irritating, but not totally surprising. I did the evaluation of one of the first LAA IFR aeroplanes (a Glasair), but despite multiple prods and reminders from me and others they just seem incapable of making a consistent generic approval framework.

BMAA know me very well, if you want to have a chat with them, I'd be happy to see if they'd use me to assess yours - any rule that applies to LAA should at-least in theory apply to them also.

Incidentally my part 21 CofA Monsun is certified for day and night VFR only.

G
By Big Dex
#1845521
It isn’t quite “all or nothing”; I have gone for Daytime IFR approval, with no night approval. My reasons being firstly that it would be very difficult for me to get cables to my wingtips for the required lights, I’ve never been surprised by unforecast darkness and I rarely fly from or to anywhere with lights.
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By PaulSS
#1845540
@Genghis the Engineer
BMAA know me very well, if you want to have a chat with them, I'd be happy to see if they'd use me to assess yours - any rule that applies to LAA should at-least in theory apply to them also.


Thank you for your kind offer but I resigned myself to only day, VFR before the tubes were welded. It was when I was planning the panel etc that I was was trying to pre-empt the night approval and fit appropriate lighting, any back-up electrics etc.

As Big Dex said, I've yet to find the night sneak up on me and I'm usually down the pub by then, so it's not a huge deal. More of a missed opportunity, I feel.

@Big Dex Funny enough, one of the easiest things to do in my machine would be to run more wires to the wingtips :D
By Big Dex
#1845547
I'm jealous! For the sake of adding a small conduit before closing up the composite wings, life would have been easier. Even the feed to the heated pitot was a challenge.
User avatar
By Rob P
#1845555
With great foresight the builders of my RV (and many others) ran a thin cord out to the wingtips that would be available if ever there was the need to run a cable ...

Rob P