Spring is coming, and so is the new microlight order!

Season 20191 March 20192 min read

Many of you are wondering when the next microlight order will be published. Regulatory publication times are not an exact science, but they should not go beyond June 2019. The general balance of the order is known and was communicated in September (ULM-Info no. 105).

The scope should change only marginally, but the battering from the most varied lobbies was intense right to the end. It is thanks to close work well upstream between the Federation and the DGAC that overall consistency was maintained. What should we mainly take away at this stage?

First, we should be pleased that microlight regulation is national. This is what allows us to work efficiently, as close as possible to needs. Can you imagine the effort needed to move a text within the European framework for certified aviation? France will therefore be the first country to produce new regulations, one year after the redefinition of the European Agency's scope. Many countries (notably neighbouring ones) are waiting for this text to be published in order to draw inspiration from it. It is on these new foundations that agreements between countries will be put in place to allow cross-border flight, as has always been the case.

Spring is coming, and so is the new microlight order!

Second, and this is the main point for us, nothing has changed in the principle of declarative regulation, for manufacturers and pilots alike. No additional regulatory burden and, wherever possible, simplifications (notably for identification) or pragmatic adjustments (on power limits, for example). The unity of the six classes is preserved, without applying identical technical criteria where this is not justified. The overall unity is less a matter of weight than of non-certified national regulation for innovative and accessible powered ultralight aviation.

This ecosystem is what makes microlighting unique. The endless controversies over weights are behind us. The counterpart of this very free regulation is to guarantee a good trend in flight safety. Regulation is part of a whole, along with safety and training.

It is within this whole that we must act, not just by looking at one regulatory piece outside this context.

What will happen when the order is published for owners? Nothing, for most machines. However, for those who want the additional technical margins, and if the manufacturer has provided for it, a new identification card will have to be issued, but there is no particular urgency. The very regular working meetings we hold with all the departments of the DGAC will continue to ease this transition.

Drafting regulatory texts takes a long time, even more so when defending a slightly unorthodox view of aviation. But we get there in the end, by staying united.

Don't forget your licence! Don't forget to introduce others to our sport!

Safe flying.