CAA Announcement on 600kg Microlights – LAA comment.

[Steve Slater]

On 16th June the CAA issued a statement: “CAA confirms move to bring many new light aircraft designs under national regulation”. We welcome this as the next step in the consultative process which the BMAA, LAA and industry representatives have worked together on since the start of last year. This consultation and the paper, CAA CAP1920, https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CA ... sponse.pdf outlines the CAA’s response to a consultation undertaken in Autumn 2019. The consultation received 1,379 responses, of which 91% (1,254) supported the opt-out choice.

The new rules mean that manufacturers currently limited to making microlight aircraft currently certified up to 450kg would under future national regulation, be able to sell new machines without having to switch over to more onerous EASA regulations, so long as they have no more than two seats, a calibrated stall speed not exceeding 45 knots and a maximum take-off mass of no more than 600kg. This streamlining of regulation should enhance the aeroplane market and the benefits include modernising, refreshing and enlarging the UK light aeroplane fleet for pilots, operators and businesses alike.

The consultation also asked, for aeroplanes, if these 450-600 Kg aircraft should be defined as ‘microlights’ or as ‘light sport aircraft’. After discussion at Board level, the LAA agreed that an expansion of the microlight definition was more advantageous than LSA in the short term. In the consultation, 78% of respondents expressed a preference towards the microlight definition.

What Does It Mean for LAA Members?
From an airworthiness point of view, it matters little to the LAA what these aircraft are called. The LAA already oversees more than three hundred microlight aircraft on active permits, both kit-built types and factory-built designs such as the Jabiru range. In addition, our engineers are already qualified and capable of carrying out factory inspections and build standard reviews, when the new legislation comes on stream.

Exercising this opt-out would increase the weight boundary that currently exists between national and EASA regulation for factory-built aircraft. This would improve the availability to the UK market of many modern light two-seat factory-built but uncertificated aeroplanes that are currently certified up to 450kg but capable of operating up to 600kg MTOM.

The future CAA policy should, if properly enacted, will allow some existing types to be flown within more realistic weight limits, make aircraft already flying elsewhere in the world potentially available to British buyers and act as a catalyst to UK manufacturers to develop British-made designs for sale overseas.

The LAA’s vision of the future, is that by working together, the CAA, BMAA and LAA could benefit the whole of the sport flying community by offering a new, more practical, economical and more environmentally-friendly fleet of GA aircraft.

One potential advantage of these aircraft being classified as “microlight” is that it will enable the minimum conversion requirements, focussed on differences training, to be applied to pilots of all licence types, wishing to fly any aeroplane that falls into the new definition. These requirements mean no need to change the existing licence regulations.

If these aircraft were not classified as microlights it would have needed significant changes to the system to allow NPPL(M) holder to credit time in a new LSA category. Based on the latest EASA license regulations, flying time on these aircraft can now be credited by UK NPPL, UK PPL and EASA LAPL or PPL license holders.

In the longer term, there is potential future merit in marketing these aircraft as a new ‘Light Sport Aircraft’ category, equally operable with suitable differences training by PPL(M) and SEP license holders. This would make the aircraft a more attractive proposition to buyers and to flying training organisations when they deal with the general public.
When?

Despite our best efforts, much of this is out of our hands. This press announcement marked the end of just the first stage of the CAA process. The next stage is implementation, where we will work with them to agree the appropriate airworthiness requirements and we are pressing to ensure commonality with codes and manufacturing approvals used in other countries, allowing us to make import and export simpler. Both the LAA and BMAA share the aim of creating a system to allow members to buy and fly aircraft from abroad, and for UK manufacturers to be able to sell outside the UK, with fewer regulatory obstacles.

The CAA is of course also dealing with moving more widely out of EASA as part of Brexit. As a result it now appears we’ll need to wait for the wider EASA opt-out at the end of December before this opt-out can go ahead. We hope though that with the Associations and the CAA working together, we can get this programme into place in a matter of weeks thereafter.

Steve

[gregorp]

I am, to say the least, a little confused by these proposed changes to the regulations. I own a EuroFOX, home built under LAA auspices at 560kg mauw.
This aircraft is also available UK fully assembled as a microlight at 450kg, and presumably, up to 560 or 600kg when the legislation is changed.
At the moment some airfields, and indeed countries (Austria), ban microlights, and some airfields only allow microlights. I can currently use my aircraft for my hours revalidation flight with an instructor , but would not be able to if classed as a microlight (see July Light Aviation).
How will my aircraft be categorised under the new rules, and how will these anomalies be addressed?
Pete

[Steve Slater]

Good questions. The CAA announcement was a bit premature in some ways. We've reached the point of the CAA announcing which way we are going. The next step, implementation, will define how we get there.

We're scheduled to have the first meeting to discuss that element in the next few weeks. I don't really though expect that this will be put into place until we have left EASA at the end of the year. Likely February or March.

[Chris Thompson]

Chatting with David Cockburn (LAA Head of Training) our comment would be:
As Steve says, we believe any changes to current categorisations are not expected until well into the future. We currently also understand that individual aircraft are to retain whatever categorisation they already hold, so if you hold an SEP (or SSEA) it will still be a SEP (or SSEA) for the foreseeable future, and the revalidation requirements will not change.
Early days . . . much discussion to go under the bridge . . .

[gregorp]

Thanks Steve and Chris,
We'll just have to wait and see.

Pete