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Homebuilt / ultralight / permit (non ICAO CofA) and IFR - how?

Under what conditions can you fly IFR in an Experimental in Germany?

E.g. N-reg. Or if you apply for an entry-permission for any other non ECAC-reg. you won’t get a limitation other than those stated in the PTF of the country where the Experimental is registered. With ECAC-reg. you’ll get a general entry-permission but restriction to day VFR.

Last Edited by europaxs at 30 Aug 16:55
EDLE

The problem is that IFR limited to a single country is not (generally) useful for general flying around in Europe (exception: unusual flying of specific routes e.g. Shoreham to Aberdeen, about 300nm, to visit a customer at Aberdeen many times). France might be one exception where a significant number of pilots reportedly find it useful.

And most countries in Europe have severe long term parking limits for N-reg homebuilts e.g. 28 days for the UK. Accordingly N-reg homebuilts are the least useful for Europe if you want to be legal. Hence stuff like this is interesting (EC-reg, fast, and no VFR-only permit limitation).

But all this is in this and other threads. Whether you find it limiting depends on what sort of flying you do.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Agreed, Peter. It all boils down to your last sentence.

EDLE

I agree – it all depends on your mission.

As a new pilot our N-reg. experimental is right now perfect for me. VFR in Germany with occasional, well prepared trip abroad.
I like going in the technical details and I’m happy, we can do the maintenance our self. Combined with the cheap operation costs, it simply fits my profile.

If you
- intend to go IFR
- want hassle free boarder crossings
- do not live in Germany (or any other country with almost no restrictions on n-reg / experimental)
- are not technical inclined
- are not willing to do extra paper work
- …
its not for you.
So its actually a really small niche, where it makes maybe sense. And even then you have to find the right plane first.

EDGH

I’m sure this fellow would have some interesting comments about all this discussion

Chasing the Morning Sun

Canadian-built RV-6, registered and modified in the UK and flown around the world starting and ending in the UK… and I’m sure a lot of that was IFR !!!
Probably kept the paperwork to a minimum by installing the additional fuel tanks and thus reducing the number of countries for landing.

LSZK, Switzerland

Don Taylor flew the first homebuilt around the world in 1976, a Thorp T-18 that he scratch built, but I imagine the lack of easy global communication simplified things at that time.

His stops were as follows:

Oshkosh, WI
Burlington VT
Moncton, Canada
Goose Bay, Labrador
Narssarssuaq, Greenland
Keflavik, Iceland
Leeds-Bradford, England
Venice, Italy
Athens, Greece
Elazig, Turkey
Tehran, Iran
Zahedan, Iran
Karachi, Palistan
Ahmadabad, India
Nugpur, India
Calcutta, India
Bangkok, Thailand
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Kuching, Malaysia
Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Zamboanga, Philippines
Davaq, Philippines
Yap Island
Guam
Truk Island
Ponape Island
Wake Island
Midway Island
Adak, AK
Cold Bay, AK
Anchorage, AK
Fairbanks, AK
White Horse, Canada
Fort Saint John, Canada
Edmonton, Canada
Minot, ND
Oshkosh, WI

Last Edited by Silvaire at 31 Aug 20:35

On a quick look some of those legs are about 900nm.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Midway Island – Adak, Alaska is over 1400 nm!

The Europa N81EU did it also a few years ago.

http://www.n81eu.eu/main.htm

EDLE
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