UK overflight of non ICAO compliant permit to fly aircraft

[mikehallam]

Saw this today - another great effort for us by the CAA and of course our own organisations.

mike hallam.

Categories: Manufacturers, Microlights, Private pilot aeroplane
UK overflight of non ICAO compliant permit to fly aircraft
Further to successive recommendations by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC), the CAA now allows both foreign home built aircraft and certain historic foreign registered aircraft types allowed into the UK without applying for a permit.

Information on this general exemption is published in Official Record Series 4 ORS4 No.1249.

SW2017/228

[Ian Melville]

Are other EU countries doing the same? Not that I fly in EU land, I may one day.

[austerity]

General concession no 6 promulgated on 5/3/12 by JC McKenna seems to cover this and refers to earlier concessions but I may have missed something. An extension to more than 28 days might encourage more from abroad to visit North British airfields with less risk of trying to fly in unfavourable met conditions.

[Donald Walker]

Are other EU countries doing the same? Not that I fly in EU land, I may one day.

This is covered in TL 2.08

20 countries now allow full and free movement of ECAC member homebuilts, with no time restriction, no charge and no notification, in accordance with the 1980 ECAC recommendation. https://www.ecac-ceac.org/home-built-aircraft

The UK exemption for foreign ECAC homebuilts was previously covered in ORS4 No. 909. What is new in ORS4 No. 1249 is the exemption for certain historic aircraft.



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[austerity]

Do you think the UK will join the enlightened 20 in the forseeable future? Can you tell us the countries please as it seems to be information difficult to find.

[Donald Walker]

The UK is part of the 20. As mentioned above, the info is in TL 2.08
The 20 countries are Austria, Belgium Denmark, Finland, France (Specified countries. Others require permission), Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco (French rules apply), Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom (28 consecutive days), Croatia, Cyprus, Romania, Slovac Republic and Slovenia.

[Ian Melville]

It was the dropping of the application fee by some countries and additional applications by others that I was thinking about.

We, in the UK, allow them free movement but do not get the reciprocal arrangement in return.

[austerity]

Donald, at the risk of being pedantic, I do not accept that a limitation of 28 days constitutes free access without time restriction. It is not proportionate to that which other States are offering.
It may discriminate against foreign permit light aircraft visiting airfields in the northerly parts of the UK in view of the weather and terrain issues. There may be a safety case to be made, as the ability to leave a light aircraft on the ground in poor conditions rather than being time constrained is a useful option. It does not sit well with Risk Based Regulation.

[Donald Walker]

Ian,
I don't know of any country that charges a fee for overflight permission. The UK and Belgium did, but no more. Getting permission where required is usually quite painless.

Neil,
Permission for 28 days in any one visit without having to pay the £68 application fee, is a great improvement, IMO. It is certainly better than the 30 days in one year offered by Belgium and since it covers all ECAC countries, more generous than what is offerd by France, which is limited to aircraft registerd in the UK, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and Finland.

[AlanR]

Can someone clarify for me please....
Not having kept up to speed with the Belgian relaxation of charges am I correct in thinking that one still has to apply in advance for permission to fly into Begium,it is just that there now is no charge?
Or can you just file a flightplan and go, as a we used to before the charges were implemented by Belgium, and similar to how we currently fly into France?

[Donald Walker]

The news release is here http://mar2013.lightaircraftassociation ... elgium.pdf
There is no need to apply for overflight permission, but note that it only applies to homebuilts and certain historic aircraft. The thread title implies we are discussing all permit aircraft, which is not the case.

[AlanR]

Thanks for that Donald. Seems straight forward enough to me. Flying a UK kit built Permit aircraft I can just flightplan and go it seems which is great.

[austerity]

Donald. I thought the fee had gone by 2012 as the general concession states no prior permission required for 28 days consecutively. There seems to be little clarity on the various countries' time restrictions, particularly the difference between homebuilts and factory permit aircraft. My comments on safety come from tales of foreign registered light aircraft allegedly flying through, over and under things in poor weather in the north.

[Donald Walker]

You are right Neil, the fee on homebuilts went many years ago, so only those 'certain historical aircraft'' will save £64 (not £68 as I mentioned previously).

I agree it is a bit confusing and the only way to know what is covered, and for how long, is to read the national regulations. France makes it very clear, by having it all on one page

It is interesting that the French exemption on homebuilts only covers those with a permit to fly issued by The Popular Flying Association.

I have been looking around the CAA website and pity any foreign pilots who want to find out if they need permission to fly here or not. Unlike the Belgians who issue the overflight permit and send you an invoice for the fee, the CAA wants £64 before allowing you to access the application form. I also noted that unlike for homebuilts, the 28 days exemption is per year, rather than per trip.

All a bit of a mess, but I'm not complaining, because I started this flying lark in South America and continued in South Korea, where crossing borders in a permit aircraft was, to put it mildly, difficult.

[austerity]

I have interpreted appendix 2 of GC no 6 (dated 2012) which concerns French microlights, historic aircraft and permit factory built aircraft (CDNR) as allowing visits of 28 days without prior notice or payment. I have not seen anything different. Have I missed it?