Organising Discovery Days for microlighting

Many of you ask us about the application of the "Air Events" order of 9 November 2021 ([1] JORF of 16 November 2021, available on Légifrance, NOR: TREA2126655A), for organising events to promote our activities. Since this order was published, an Open Day (JPO) has been treated as an "air event not subject to prefectoral authorisation".

Let us first recall the definition of an Open Day as set out in the order:

Open days: days organised to encourage the development of light aviation and not to constitute a public show, characterised by the combination of the following three factors:

a) Days during which any aircraft movements include no aerobatics and no formation flying and require neither a derogation from the rules of the air nor coordination;

b) Days that take place at an aerodrome or site where the type of aircraft presented is usually operated and for which the area accessible to the public does not encroach on the aerodrome's movement area or, failing that, on the part of the site used for take-off, landing and surface movement of aircraft;

c) Days whose organiser is either a training organisation whose principal place of business is in a Member State and which is referred to in article 10 bis of Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 of 3 November 2011 cited above, or a body created to promote sport and leisure aviation approved for that purpose.

Open Days are therefore not subject to prefectoral authorisation as an air event, but must in particular comply with c) of this new definition, which requires the organiser to be a body approved by the DGAC under the procedure described in the order of 9 May 1984 and recalled on the "Activity of flying clubs" web page of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion.

Most FFPLUM-affiliated clubs do not hold such DGAC approval. Nevertheless, these clubs can organise "discovery days" to make their activities known and introduce people to microlighting, provided they comply with precise conditions which we recall in this article.

What are the arrangements for organising such a "discovery" day?

A "discovery day" requires a minimum of organisation by the host organisation, in particular for welcoming the public and arranging any trial flights (which are considered part of the club's usual activity). This organisational work is prepared in advance and requires all the members of the association to be involved, which simplifies the work and strengthens cohesion.

In the air, there should be no demonstration, flying display or manoeuvre intentionally made to put on a show for the public attending, such as an unnecessary pass or manoeuvre, and activity should be strictly limited to the organisation's usual activities. Otherwise, the "discovery day" would constitute a public show and would be subject to prior authorisation.

To make sure everything goes as well as possible, a few common-sense rules are needed. Most of them have in fact been taken up in the new order and also apply to Open Days. The organisation will:

• Set out access arrangements that ensure the safety of the public it welcomes, given the activity: signage, vehicle parking, identification of areas accessible to the public (the public must not have free access to areas where aircraft are manoeuvring with engines running).
• Appoint one or more easily identifiable people (high-visibility vests) responsible for ensuring and enforcing ground safety in line with the instructions set by the organiser.
• Appoint a person in charge of the flying side who will inform everyone taking part from the organisation(s) of how the day is organised, including a reminder of the safety instructions (for example through a preparatory briefing for the pilots flying that day, and instructions for introductory flights: boarding and disembarking of passengers). This person must have recent experience as a flight director for air displays whenever the discovery day or Open Day includes significant flying activity (point MAA.200 of the order).
• Require any natural or legal person operating an aircraft to comply with the aeronautical regulations in force, and in particular the rules of air traffic and the distances from people and property.

Depending on the planned size of the event, it may be wise to inform the mayor of the commune and the rescue, police or gendarmerie services beforehand that a discovery day is being organised.

In the same way, these provisions also apply to the organisation of local pilots' gatherings.

Finally, after your discovery day, it may be wise to gather feedback, for example by giving a questionnaire to those involved on the day and making it available to the public, in order to identify and put into practice ways of improving the next day.

These arrangements will thus allow you to organise discovery days on your airfields to promote your activities.

So enjoy your Discovery Days and share our passion for microlight flying!

Michel HIRMKE and Louis COLLARDEAU with the support of the DSAC.

^[1] JORF of 16 November 2021, available on Légifrance, NOR: TREA2126655A