Importing an ELA into the UK - how?
 

Where do I start the process of investigating the legality/viability/feasibility of importing factory-built 10-year-old Pipistrel Virus from Greece into the UK?

Start by visiting your bank and make sure you have access to a large fortune and that they understand you plan on turning this into a much smaller one?;)

Rod1

Short answer - don't even bother trying. Buy something already approved in the UK with a G painted on the side.


Long answer - a suitable expert (and yes, I am such an expert) could do it. It would probably require a second sacrificial airframe to load test to destruction, about 4 months of the expert's time charged typically at around £50-100/hr, spread over a couple of years, a year's rent on a workshop or hangar we can put it in, and there's a high probability that you'll either fail, or need to make significant design changes to the aeroplane. You'll certainly have to completely disassemble it for inspection then rebuild it.

Not sure I've got the time, but if you are obsessed enough, drop me a line, and I can either look at the task or suggest other experts.

G

Even if there's one on the UK register? ...G-MGAP

ifitaint...

In theory in this modern world it should be doable but in practice the cost,as Rod1 intimates,and also the treacle that you will encounter and need to get through will for all practical purposes make it a virtual non starter in a sensible time frame even if you have a bottomless pot of money!
The LAA won't be interested it being, amongst a miriad of other things a factory non orphaned aircraft.There are currently no Pipistrel aircraft approved by the LAA anyway so that route is a non starter.
Being a 10year old aircraft on the Greek reg I suspect it may not currently even be on a EASA permit.
You would have to get the aircraft assessed by the CAA to go on the 'G' reg and to do so will cost you silly telephone numbers.

Personally and in short...forget it!

Which never held a UK Permit to Fly and was exported to France less than a year after it was registered in the UK.

Yes, probably.

Being a microlight, it won't have ever been on an EASA anything.

G

Is it possible to keep it registered in Greece and fly it in the UK? If not, why not in this Brave New World?

I note that G-MGAP is no longer on the G-register having only been on for some 11 months before going off to France. Did it fly in the UK and if so, under what sort of Certificate / Permit?

Microlights are entirely the responsibilkity of the National Authority(NA) of registration, and each NA can only authorise flight in its own country.

You can get the UK CAA to authorise it's flight in the UK on a Greek registration for a short visit, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for an authorisation for continuious operation, if I were you.


MJ:ok:

Ps. Brave New World?

Not quite the words I would use to describe the present state of European GA! :*

Where do I start the process of investigating the legality/viability/feasibility of importing factory-built 10-year-old Pipistrel Virus from Greece into the UK?

It should not be complicated and the CAA is already on high power after the Cessna SID disaster in some european countries, with many owners looking for a new register home.

Contact Graham Rourke, CAA Manager Airworthiness GA, and/or Steve Standing, CAA Technical Standards Manager.

Start reading here: Used Foreign registered aircraft | Aircraft | Operations and Safety

In case of certified - you will need to provide
Completed C of A Online Form (Certificate of Airworthiness)
Aircraft details (reg/type/s/n/engines and props if applicable/weights etc)
Details of the organisation supporting the application (they may be the applicant/presenter or support the organisation/individual presenting the aircraft)
Confirmation of the certification status applicable to the aircraft
Details of the Approved Maintenance Programme
Details of the Flight Manual (if applicable)
Confirmation of the place of survey
Confirmation of CAP 747 compliance
Confirmation of the mod status of the aircraft
Airworthiness Transfer Documentation;
For used EASA Aircraft imported from a Member State, an Airworthiness Review Certificate issued in accordance with Part M.

Chickenhouse, just about everything you say here assumes an ICAO compliant CofA.

It does not have a CofA.

G

Pipestrel in the UK
 

Thanks everyone for the advice. Having only ever owned CofA SEP aircraft before, this is all a bit of a minefield, clearly. I naively thought there was a Europe-wide class called ELA like the US-wide LSA class which could happily move around the EASA airspace without much hassle. I should know better by now where European regulation is concerned. Sounds like even a new Pipistrel Virus is out of the question, which is a pity - I've flown the one now in France, and it was a fantastic aircraft, far nicer (and faster) than a Flight Design SW.

Whilst I don't own one, personally I'm a big fan of the CTSW and enjoy every chance I ever get to fly one. It does require your head to be somewhat in advance of the aeroplane more than most SEPs, and certainly most microlights.

If not that, and speed matters to you, have you looked at the Dyn Aero Ban-Bi which is a bit faster than the CT ? There are a reasonable number of those on the UK register.

G

"have you looked at the Dyn Aero Ban-Bi which is a bit faster than the CT"

No Ban-Bi aircraft in the UK (this is the MC100 all metal plan built predecessor) but there are a number of MCR01. I own one if you need any more info.

Rod1

I stand corrected, I of-course meant the MCR01.

G

Dyn aero
 

I did look into a MCR01 a few years back and even flew in one briefly, but it was not terribly tidy and I decided to stick to what I knew at the time. But the £900 cost of my now fairly regular round trips to the SW of France are hurting the pocket and I'd like a cheaper option. I believe the Dyn Aero factory was in some financial difficulty a while back - are they a viable option again, with service, part and support?

DynAero
 

I've since discovered that they have relocated to Pau in the Pyrenees and have a good and informative website. However, their head of sales Francois Catuhe tells me that while the LAA accept the type they do not currently have a UK distributor (although they're looking for one); and that although they can provide a factory-built aircraft on the F register, for the G-register it has to be home built. I'd be perfectly happy with one on the F-register, as that is where I will do most of my flying, but if I read the regs right, outside the UK my UK-issued EASA PPL only allows me to fly EASA aircraft, if they're not on the G-reg, and I guess the DynAero VLA is never going to be an EASA aircraft.

None of this seems to make any sense to me, but then light aircraft regulation never does.

There's probably a French equivalent of ANO Article 62 rendering any Part FCL licences valid for non EASA aircraft in France, . . . or you can switch to a French licence & medical.

Phil Histine - no help on the licensing but the lack of a UK distributor has not been an issue. We get parts faster than we used to and at a lower price:}. If you want a look at a "tidy" MCR and possibly a flight let me know.

Rod1