Microlight Licence, whats needed?

The demands in the U.K are indeed considered the strictest, but the gap is closing with the sport aircraft category in the US. I think that for all purposes there are no real differences today between the two states, I just wonder is it possible to use a license from one country in order to fly a microlight in another country or are the barriers still there.

license exempt flying

What an old thread!

Roberta, I’m fairly sure that you’ll find that the weight limits over here(UK) are less, 115kg for the single seaters. They are not exempt for pilots license, airworthiness requirements that are less stringent than CAA, noise certificates are a requirement as far as I know.

The exmept from license aircraft in UK is currently limited to anything that is ‘footlaunched’, less than 60kg and carries no more than 10 litres of fuel.
Thats powered hang gliders and powered paramotors basically.

I always thought the the microlights pilots in the US were free from the need to have a license but it appears that most of the ultralights are now considered as sport aircraft and require a very similar license as needed in the U.K, see here

Only the very simple ultralights are exempt from the need for a license, i.e one seat and under 175 kg.

Microlight deregulation

It is almost certain that you will need an RT licence if you are going to use it. This year is the fortieth since my first appointment as an examiner and I still hold approval. If anyone wants guidance the test is done in a totally false environment that requires you to use a great deal of imagination. With the examiner in another room and with your operating a basic radio rig you have to carry out a “flight” that has you making a MATZ penetration, obtain a bearing, getting Special VFR through a zone,making a PAN call and also dealing with a Mayday situation, apart from other routine calls.

If I’m to be really honest, the handling wasn’t really very impressive due to a combination of the V tail, the fact that it was designed to be rigged and derigged and that almost all of the pivots in the control circuits were not properly bushed. John Monnett has since designed a new 2 seater called the Sonex which uses a much better and more readily available engine (either Jabiru or VW) and has removed the quirks of the Moni. It is still trailer kept with reasonable engine out capability. A search on Google will probably give good results. If I was going to build an aircraft I’d definitely be looking at one of these.

Wys,

What was the moni like to fly?

Its looks like a cracking little flyabout, pity its only a single seater

Darren

Any of you know much about the ‘CT’?

…

Parked under an AN2! I had planned to make some spats for it but I got a job overseas and had to sell it first.

On the trailer behind my car

Wow, I didn’t realise Carlos’s site was still running. When I had mine there were only 2 flying in the UK although several others do exist and are possibly now airworthy. Mine (G-BMVU) was the lower power 22hp while the other (G-MONI) was the high power 30hp version. All UK Moni’s had to have rivetted wings to satisfy the PFA which was a good thing. My rivets were all recessed and filled giving me a much better glide performance than G-MONI’s exposed rivet heads. Both of our Moni’s were converted from monowheels into conventional taildraggers. I know a guy who owns a tri-gear Moni with a total of 6 hours on it which is in fabulous condition and probably perfectly capable of getting a permit with no hassle. He is probably open for offers. I paid £2500 for mine with no permit and sold it for about £4000 a couple of years later having flown many hours in it. It lived on a trailer in my drive and I just dragged it to my local airfield and rigged it (about 15 minutes) whenever I wanted to fly. I saved myself thousands in hangarage.

Wys: forget projection televisions. Proper projector with a GOOD screen takes up much less space and gives you a much better picture. 1000ansi lumen projector would give you a bright enough picture in daylight when indoors… outside film shows in the summer evenings….:-). Screen quality is THE most often overlooked aspect with video projection. Limited lamp life can also be a bit of a pain.

Moni is one nice looking microlight; quite amazing performance on such a small engine. I trust yours was the riveted version and not the ‘carpet tape’ bonded original! Did you suffer any problems with the cockpit canopy popping open? It seems quite a few people have…
For those that are interested:
http://www.monicentral.com/

MINIDOH: CT2K (?) a Czech design I think, not unlike the Jabiru UL. An expensive bit of kit (and aerobatic) if memory serves correctly, very nice.

Wys , any chance of some info on your old Moni – never seen one before , its a sleek looking wee thing – very nice .:)

Dont worry Wys, I wont tell! Sorry for the late reply, just arrived home from Malaga. He is looking at getting a “CT”. I think that is its full name, but im not entirely sure. He wants to try them out before he buys.

I looked at getting a video projection TV but didn’t want to have to dim down the living room brightness to get a good enough Image. I also bought a Panasonic DVD-RAM with 40 gig hard disk recently which is a fantastic piece of kit.

Coming back to aviation…the picture of my old Moni on the Monnett thread – that aircraft would cruise at 120mph (top whack 150mph) burning just 6 litres an hour on its KFM 2 stroke engine of just 295cc!!!

Microlights are certainly a lot cheaper and …dare I say it…more fun.

Oh…and you can keep it in the garage !

Ageorge : Only when the public aren’t in! Makes a pretty good ‘Games console’ too!:D Complete with inbuilt bar and sofas. It does however date from 1935…

shameless plug: www.grandvenue.co.uk

Nick

Originally posted by Bigglesworth
Ah!, can beat you both on that score! My screen measures 32 feet by 16, with full surround sound:D Why did you get a plasma when you can get much more compact installation and bigger picture with a video projector (and a good screen)? Plasmas have always been very heavy; nice toy though.

R Weaver: Hang gliders, great fun, minimal regulation and reversed inputs when compared with ‘conventional’ aircraft. Flying costs that can’t be beaten. I did an EPC (Elementary Pilots Certificate) a few years ago in Wiltshire.

The only microlight I have flown was an AMF Chevron, fun on 450cc just a motor glider really. It wouldn’t stall or spin.

Now that is what I call home theatre !!

Originally posted by wysiwyg
…and my new 42″ plasma! 😀

Ah!, can beat you both on that score! My screen measures 32 feet by 16, with full surround sound:D Why did you get a plasma when you can get much more compact installation and bigger picture with a video projector (and a good screen)? Plasmas have always been very heavy; nice toy though.

R Weaver: Hang gliders, great fun, minimal regulation and reversed inputs when compared with ‘conventional’ aircraft. Flying costs that can’t be beaten. I did an EPC (Elementary Pilots Certificate) a few years ago in Wiltshire.

The only microlight I have flown was an AMF Chevron, fun on 450cc just a motor glider really. It wouldn’t stall or spin.

Originally posted by wysiwyg
I have to get my kicks from motorbikes these days…and my new 42″ plasma! 😀

Snap !!! , JVC 44″ with home theatre – fairly makes the house shake – and makes you ask how you used to manage with a TV that is 2ft thick stuck on a corner unit !! , unfortunately my biking days are almost over – this summer will be the last , after that everything is going up for sale 🙁