Bureaucracy in your Country

Mark_B wrote:

I know that night VFR was not permitted in the Netherlands historically; but what is the situation now under SERA? Have the Netherlands filed a difference, or is night VFR now permitted?

NightVFR as a training flight for a CPL is currently permitted. For normal GA it is permitted as of July 1st 2018 after much hard work by AOPA

Mark_B wrote:

night VFR (…) not permitted in the Netherlands (…) under SERA? Have the Netherlands filed a difference

Not needed. SERA does not require night VFR to be legal. It requires that if it is legal, then it is under these and these conditions.

SERA.5005 Visual flight rules
(…)
(c) When so prescribed by the competent authority, VFR flights at night may be permitted under the following
conditions:

Norway:

• Fly VFR at night. Yes
• Fly IFR out of controlled airspace. Yes
• Land out of an aerodrome. Yes, but requires landowners permission on private land. Not normally allowed to land in “the wild” due to environmental reasons (same as for any other motorized vehicle). The very definition of an airport in the regulation is land/water where an aircraft operates. If no, or minimal, work is done to the “airport”, it is called a natural airport. Natural airports are plentiful
• Land without a PPR. Yes, on public airports. No on private (PPR usually is just a permanent notice saying “free to land” and operating hours)
• Takeoff from and land at an unattended aerodrome, without anyone to command it. Yes
• Same at night. Yes on natural airports. Public airports (other than natural airports) need to be authorized for night operations.
• Built your own aircraft and fly it. Yes
• Fly where you want. Yes
• Have your pilot full dossier made available online by the authority. No
• Lighter that class 2 LAPL requirement: Yes – a special airsport medical license for gliders and microlights.
• Easy rules for microlight: Yes, but airsport medical license and training (special license) required.

Further to Peter’s earlier post, since late 2015 we have in the UK the Single Seat Deregulated option. One may build and (if holding a license) fly an aeroplane with single seat and MTOW less than 300 kg with no oversight at all. That is not allowed for road vehicles but it is for aeroplanes. The weight limit is higher for aeroplanes with airframe parachutes or if they are seaplanes or amphibians. More details here:

https://www.bhpa.co.uk/pdf/SSDR.pdf

We also have since 2015 a means to fly temporarily experimental flying machines (of various kinds, not just aeroplanes) on A to A flights for investigative purposes with the oversight only of an approved person (there are a few of us), no government or other organisations involved. Search E-Conditions if interested.

I always also mention to young people who might be interested that they can solo a glider at 15 and a powered aeroplane at 16. It is 16 for a moped and 17 for car, so more freedom in the air than on the ground.