Formationflyer
"Um..one thing...why on earth would a microlight pilot be attracted to an NPPL instead..." well I can shed info on this
you said
the PPL (M) is INTERNATIONAL................ no its not, but with permission from the authority of the country we want to fly in, its normally tolarated, except France, who allow us passage as a right, as long as the aircraft is permitted and we as pilots are current etc etc.
you also said
modern microlights such as the new fixed wing composite models have TAS performance figures similar/in excess of many light aircraft, they require shorter landing strips, the cost of maintenance is a whole heap less...and so on..etc etc
so...have to ask...why on earth would it appeal.....?? I am curious to find out what would attract PPL(M) holders (or prospective holders) to light aircraft..............well this one is easy, most 3-axis microlight aircraft only have two seats and a MAUW of 450 (the rest are single seat with a lower MAUW), so when you want to fly the family or friends to the sea side or out for lunch your stuck, and up till now there has been no cross credit of time towards a SEP rating, but now we can have the best of both worlds.
I on the other hand I fly and teach on Microlights with a JAR PPL(A) with a microlight rating, and 3-axis Microlight FI rating, what I want to know is will they bring back the old instructor route to teach NPPL SEP i.e,
x amount of P1 time, AFI course completed and AFI rating awarded........no need for the ever expensive CPL
One thing that amuses me though is the fact that our rotory brothers and sisters have been left out of the deal !!!!!!!
Strateandlevel
Yes we did didn't we, but when you think about it and this is really only relevent to 3-axis Microlights, the way we fly Microlights is almost exactly the same as a heavier SEP, the only thing we do different is on descending in whick case we use APT not PAT, so the extra hours required should be used to appriciate the differences on glide performance for engine outs etc, and also radio navigation, as Microlights don't have DME, ADF and to some extent VOR and Transponders
Sol