As one of the ‘glider boys’, as Paul describes us, on the EASA MDM.032 group, I think I might comment on the above. And BTW, all 6 of the Europe Air Sports’ appointees on this group represent the interests of ALL air sports / light aircraft owners and pilots, not just our particular interest group.
Firstly, Jan Fridrich has done a very good job, along with several others on MDM.032 over the last 18 months and including Graham Newby (PFA), in developing the ideas for the proposed European Light Aircraft category. It should be remembered that the principle drive for this was the over-prescriptive (and expensive) requirements, including holding a DOA, of Part 21 (ex JAR 21) which is the EU rules for design, certification and manufacture of certified aircraft. EASA recognised this fact, as it adversely affected the light aircraft sector, after the implementation of Part 21 in 2003.
We have come up with proposals, which will be published this autumn, for an alternative to holding a full DOA. The details are still being fleshed out but most likely will be based on the principles adopted for the US LSA category, by using industry-recognised processes such as ASTM standards, which are developed by a well-seasoned consensus process from within industry and interested parties.
Jan, being from the Czech microlight community, was keen to have a European equivalent of the US LSA, which is up to 650kg MTOM, for reasons which are obvious to those who understand the success of Czech microlight manufacturers exporting to the US, but without an equivalent EU market.
The rest of the group however also saw an opportunity to develop this for a larger MTOM range, and EASA agreed. Hence the current proposed 450 to 1000kg MTOM range, which will benefit a wider range of light aircraft design and manufacture than just ‘heavy’ microlights between 450 and 650 kg.
So far as gliders are concerned, we (I am a gliding person) have a perfectly satisfactory design code, CS22 (formerly JAR22), which provides certified gliders up to, now, a max MTOM of 850kg in the case of a two-seater with retractable engine This code was in fact developed over many years primarily by glider industry experts and academics.
One of the side effects of an ELA category, were it to be restricted to the same as the US LSA category at 650 kg, would be to divide the glider design, manufacture, and markets in half, with absolutely no good reason. Likewise, there was no discernable objective safety reason why light aeroplanes (i.e. powered aircraft) up to 4 seats / 1000kg or thereabouts, could not be accommodated within this new proposal. And they will come with EASA Cs of A.
The prime objective is to create a re-generated EU-based design, manufacturing and market opportunity economy for light aircraft, by having more industry-friendly processes and potentially lower certification costs. The existing microlight definition and limits are largely irrelevant to this thinking, as microlights remain in Annex II and therefore outside EASA’s scope (at least for the foreseeable future in my opinion). So the group did not go along with a restricted 'heavy' microlight view of life in developing broader proposals.
The other developments at EASA are on pilot licensing, where there will be a published NPA this autumn to introduce a (European) Light Aircraft Pilots Licence, based very much on the UK NPPL model but with full pan-EU rights, but for aircraft up to 2000 kg MTOM and used non-commercially. This will complement the Part 21 developments. I have also been working on the Ops rules, trying to keep them very ‘light’ and bridging the divide between non-commercial and commercial, bearing in mind the new definition of commercial operations in the current proposed extension of Regulation 1592-2002 to Ops and Licensing.
The main part of the jigsaw that needs to dovetail with all the above is the rules for maintenance – Part M. Hence all the focus we at Europe Air Sports have been making on getting this revised to be more acceptable to the light aircraft communities. So book to come to Turweston on 4th September!
I realise that very few people have the advantage of seeing the overall picture that is emerging, and I for one am able to see that from where I sit. It is by no means yet perfect, but EASA is, on the whole, very well disposed towards our objectives.