So, controllers - I'm on a long leg, I'm IMC qualified, I may well be flying quadrantal rule (or can easily adjust my height to do so), and receiving a basic service. VFR/IFR hasn't been discussed, no flight plan has been filed -I'm just flying in open FIR. And there's a big bank of cloud in front of me - so I elect to fly through it, as there's no reason not to. What do you want me to tell you? Serious question, as I really cannot recall ever being taught this and am pretty certain that there's nothing in CAP 413 about it either.
I know what I have done, but I'd like to know what controllers think I should do.
Back to the specific incident, there's a bit of a difference of attitude between light GA and microlight GA which is, I think, mostly down to stall speeds and weights.
The typical microlight has a Vs~30kn and a flying weight under 1000lb, which allows it to land in 100-200m without significant piloting skill. It also usually has an undercarriage specifically designed for grass.
The typical light aeroplane has a Vs~50kn, could well have a flying weight nearer 2000lb and thus may well need 400-600m to land on grass with normal piloting skill.
So, the well adjusted microlight pilot should have a clear mentality of "if in doubt slow down and go low level, and if that doesn't work out, pick something large and flat, and land on it". As a microlight pilot, I've done this several times - fellow microlighters hear the story and congratulate me on good judgment, whilst my light aeroplane flying friends will often look utterly shocked that I did such a thing as simply land in a field. Needless to say, on none of these occasions did the aircraft suffer any damage, and on most I managed to fly it out again.
In a light aeroplane with suitable instrumentation of-course I can climb into it, go IMC, and take an IAP somewhere with a nice big runway. If it had a CofA, that's even legal (taking the view that safe trumps legal every time). In a microlight - with usually no Tx, and no navaids but a compass and a GPS, I'd be really reluctant to do that, and in a flexwing I'd not even contemplate it.
Which brings us back to the chap flying the MCR01 - why the heck did this chap not, regardless of anything else, just land in a field? The aeroplane is quite capable of landing on 200m of flattish grass, which even in central Scotland is pretty easy to find (even if it may normally involve paying green fees
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