Latest news from the EMF

The annual general assembly of the EMF (European Microlight Federation) was held on 13 October in Lucenec, Slovakia.

Sébastien Perrot - president of FFPLUM - and Louis Collardeau - vice-president in charge of international relations and regulation - were present, as they were last year in Vilnius (Lithuania), where they campaigned for "A second life for the EMF" and announced the introduction of the new EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) regulation.

This new European regulation, covering the basic rules in the field of civil aviation and allowing each member state to opt for an exemption from the European rules for non-certified aircraft with a maximum take-off mass between 450 and 600 kg and a stall speed below 45 knots, was published in the Journal Officiel on 22 August and has applied since September.

The DGAC has confirmed that France will make use of this exemption to preserve the national microlight regulation, in line with the guidelines and work carried out by the Federation's elected officials together with the DGAC within the EMF since 2015.

This exemption will lead to a new national regulation which will mainly make it possible to control empty mass and stall speed more effectively within a known framework, soon to be finalised:

• Empty weight of 295 kg (or 320 kg with parachute), maximum take-off weight of 500 kg (525 kg) for two-seaters
• No change for paramotors and weight-shift microlights
• Maximum stall speed of 65 km/h
• Slight increase in power for gyroplanes and helicopters

It was therefore agreed at this recent EMF assembly that the debates on maximum masses are now behind us, and the member states recognised that each country's specific features must be taken into account in order to make technical equivalences simpler in bilateral relations.

Indeed, the detailed presentation of the French new regulation with the mass table impressed by its coherence, but also by how far the French Federation's work with its authority, the DGAC, has advanced.

The presentation in English of the film on the 6 classes also made people aware of the weight of microlight flying in Europe.

The French experience in flight safety, increasing safety culture without touching the regulatory framework, also aroused great interest.

The French position is therefore gradually becoming very influential again within the EMF. Louis Collardeau may even stand as the next EMF president to promote microlight flying in concrete terms...

Microlight flying "the French way" thus seems to have a bright future!

to go further, see:

The second life of the EMF and the future of our regulation
Text by Sébastien Perrot (President of FFPLUM) and Louis Collardeau (1st Vice-President of FFPLUM, Regulation and international affairs), following their joint address at the EMF General Assembly in Vilnius on 28 October 2017.

L'ULM à la Française
Editorial by Sébastien Perrot (President of FFPLUM) following the new text of the European regulation on basic rules in the field of civil aviation, published in the Official Journal of the European Union at the end of August 2018.

Letter from the Director General of the DGAC Mr Patrick Gandil, dated 3 August 2018, addressed to FFPLUM, confirming the French exemption.

New European Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 on common rules in the field of civil aviation

Proposed table of regulatory microlight weights

Speech by the EMF President - Rieteke Van Luijt - of 13 October 2018, at the 29th EMF General Assembly in Lucenec, Slovakia.