It depends on the requirements of the owner & program, the DAR, and what he thinks he can get away with. There is no intent to prevent the Experimental program, that is in fact the reason for Experimental R&D, only an intent to prevent ‘everybody’ from moving their certified plane to Experimental for convenience. Often this means a geographic operating restriction.
However if its a warbird, aerobatic, sailplane etc plane that is not viewed as an end run around buying or operating a comparable FAA certified plane, there is generally little FAA operating restriction.
I believe that is a very specific part of the experimental regime, specially targeted at testing avionics and the aircraft has to go back to CofA after a short period of time.
Yes, FAA Experimental R&D. Not focused on avionics specifically AFAIK but different than Experimental Amateur Built (51 % etc) or Experimental Exhibition (unusual unique aircraft and warbirds).
3 or 4 years ago I came across a Gyroflug Speed Canard that was for sale in Germany. It was “Experimental” because the previous owner had installed a 180hp engine instead of the 160hp which was homologated in the type certificate.
Hello everyone!
It seems to be clear that nothing is clear with regulations allowing or not allowing experimentals to fly IFR in Europe. The Italian Civil Aviation Agency (ENAC) alloew IFR flight only in IMC conditions . . . go figure!
Since I am Italian and given the cultural approach to rules and laws in our country, I occasionally try to find a “creative” solution to man-made problems. That is in this case: I am IFR rated and my experimental aircraft is MUCH better equipped for IFR flights as the old Cessna I’ve been checked out.
What if I just file my IFR plans and fly safely and happily throught Europe? What could happen to me in the event to be “caught”? Be grounded? Licence withdrawn? Jailed?
Renzo,
I assume you mean that ENAC only allow IFR in VMC for Experimentals?
As for the consequences of getting caught, I would think that loss of licence is a given. Not sure about the criminal aspect and not sure if there are any previous examples?
You might want to look up the German Learjet (D-CMMM) that came down in Denmark due to fuel mismanagement. It turned out that the plane was de-registered suppose to be in a museum somewhere, and the pilot had long expired licences. He got 10 months in jail.
What could happen to me in the event to be “caught”? Be grounded? Licence withdrawn? Jailed?
There is very little data on this.
Obviously people who got caught are not going to write about it on pilot forums 
Firstly the chances of getting caught must depend on where you do it. In N Europe, obviously it is more likely, especially in some countries where citizens feel a responsibility to report people for breaking the law. And especially if you are a well known local pilot, and maybe made some enemies (easily done in GA as you must know)?
The UK CAA prosecutions can be found here You can read through them and you will find there are extremely few (probably zero) cases of somebody getting done for this. People get done mostly for illegal charter (AOC busting) and for various stupid stunts which involve sticking the middle finger up to the CAA. Then a few people get done for CAS busts where, in the CAA interview, they stick their finger up to the CAA man (a stupid thing to do of course). And there are a few actions on “politically visible” things like a famous bust of the Eastbourne air show by a pilot (from Belgium) and he got a huge fine of a few k GBP. The Red Arrows display had to be stopped so some big people got really p1ssed off.
But there was one pilot of a Vari-EZ who “disappeared” near Stapleford and “reappeared” in Switzerland. There was a search for him at the UK end but they did not find any wreckage. He got prosecuted and fined GBP c. 20k. I don’t know any details, but a mate of his then posted on a UK site that he appealed and won, which is clearly false because the prosecution is still listed in that list somewhere. He may have got the fine reduced. But I don’t know if he just flew VFR with no flight plan (non radio etc, under the radar which is reportedly easy with a Vari-EZ) or Eurocontrol IFR under some fake callsign, or whatever.
There is a rumour (could be totally false) around the UK that somebody got fined GBP 5k for doing a Eurocontrol IFR (called “airways” in the UK PPL scene) flight without a full IR. I guess that sort of fine might be expected. If this is true it would be interesting how he got caught – assuming he knew the protocol, etc.
In southern Europe, things are “more loose” 
Don’t do this on a D-reg/G-reg/etc. but on N-reg or something else. There, the local authorities can never be really sure what is allowed and what not. They know nothing outside their immediate area of expertise and in 99% of the cases, a foreign reg means they are not responsible.
German CAA aircraft inspectors loiter at airfields, catching D-regs and inspecting them ad hoc. Everything else is of no interest to them. A great case for not flying a D-reg in Germany or a G-reg in the UK!
I would want anybody to do it in an N-reg either because it gives the N-reg community a bad name…
And a lot of people have a vested interest in N-regs getting a bad name… most national CAAs, most flying schools, most instructors working in them, many maintenance companies, etc.
But getting back to the original Q:
There is no doubt that if you fly Eurocontrol IFR, without an IR, but you know the “protocol”, the chances of getting caught are tiny, and in southern Europe close to zero. Especially if you have a low “personal profile” as a pilot so nobody is likely to hold a grudge against you.
The problem is that this guy was asking about doing it in a homebuilt plane, and that’s very different. All you then need is an ATCO who is a keen plane spotter and knows a little bit about the regs, and he will see this plane and realise it cannot possibly fly legally IFR. So, to minimise detection, you would need to fly between small airfields, and if you have to go to a bigger one, don’t leave it parked there for long. I can certainly think of very pleasant areas of Europe where you could do this but I am not going to post it and neither should anybody else (google / images, etc!).
Filing a Z or Y flight plan would also help because the approaches and departures would be “visibly VFR”. In fact if you filed VFR-IFR-VFR (“Z” – this is what EIR holders will have to file) then the chances of getting picked up would be tiny.
The Eurocontrol movements list (I can’t find the thread right now) contains several types which cannot fly IFR, which is quite funny. But it shows they don’t care either.
There are other holes in the system, which anybody who knows the system will spot, and which anybody who wants to break the rules would probably make use of.
The UK CAA practically never do ramp checks, on G-regs or anything else. They have sometimes hit some Thai 747 whose engine was about to fall off, or pulled some CPL/IR off a bizjet about to depart because he had the wrong papers for the type of operation (on a tipoff from an AOC operator next door, no doubt). But I have never heard of a GA ramp check. That’s FAA speciality, and German too by the sound of it. Plus French of course.
While I’d agree the chances of it normally being picked up is small, it must increase significantly when the type is a home build.
Everyone listening is going to wonder about the home-build flying IFR. I suppose the type isn’t mentioned much when flying IFR, but it will be known by ATC. They might even ask about it because they don’t recognise the type.
