Now, if the person wanted to stay for good in Norway, then this would be a different situation. In that case he would be better off importing it and putting it on LN reg anyway, because it is better than French reg for homebuilt types.
Very interesting. It is impossible to register French (or any other) homebuilts in Switzerland.
Many thanks to everyone participating in this discussion! By far the best source in the web. I am happy to update the fantastic list, include sources (e.g. links to AIPs) and share it publicly. LeSving, would you mind sharing the most of up to date version of it?
It’s on the ECAC website. But it appears to me that ECAC is a collection of old people that have no intentions of rocking the boat, or anything else by the looks of it 
It isn’t updated as far as I can see.
Perhaps a private initiative is needed to get an updated list. In the same manner as is done for the UL flying in Europe.
LeSving wrote:
Perhaps a private initiative is needed to get an updated list.
Compile the list with the references to the national legislation and have it updated maybe you’ll get lucky :-)
The implementation status in ECAC Member States of ECAC Recommendation INT.S/11-1 can be downloaded
That list is 12 years old now. Lots have happened since that date regarding this.
What if we create our own list here? Bade it on hard references, AIP or actual correspondence ? Shouldn’t be too difficult.
As posted so many times, ECAC is just a body which does recommendations. The actual regs are buried in national laws, and are often hard to dig out.
The general drift in this area is to tighten the privileges of homebuilts in the long term parking sense. For example UK and France limit long term parking to 28 days.
Well, if it helps you compile a list, here is the Aeronautical Notice from the Irish Aviation Authority setting out the rules here.
There is a list of aircraft categories that it applies too (all the usual ones that you’d expect) and then the conditions to be met
Conditions of Exemption
(a) The aircraft shall not be flown for the purposes of commercial air transport, commercial operations or
aerial work.
(b) The aircraft shall be flown only in accordance with daytime Visual Flight Rules.
(c) The conditions, limitations, exemptions and restrictions applicable under the Flight Permit, Flight
Permit exemption, or equivalent, issued by the State of Registry shall be observed.
(d) The pilot flying must hold a current licence, valid for use in Ireland or validated for use in Ireland by
the IAA.
(e) The aircraft shall not remain in the Republic of Ireland pursuant to this exemption for a period of
more than 28 days in any one visit without prior permission from the IAA, with the exception of
aircraft registered in the United Kingdom registered to an address in Northern Ireland.
(f) The registered owner shall ensure that all required documents are available for inspection when the
aircraft is in the Republic of Ireland.
(g) The aircraft shall have valid and adequate insurance cover meeting the requirements of EC
Regulation 785/2004.
(h) Aircraft fitted with ballistic recovery systems shall be labelled in such a way that first responders to
an aircraft accident/incident will be made aware of the system and the potential dangers
Explanatory Note
The intent of this exemption is to allow aircraft enter or overfly Irish airspace without the need to apply for an
individual exemption, subject to the “Conditions of Exemption” of A19. It is to facilitate short-term visits, not to
accommodate aircraft intended to be based or resident in Ireland. Such aircraft would be required to transfer onto the
Irish register.
This exemption allows such an aircraft to operate in Irish airspace for maximum period of 28 days per visit, unless
otherwise agreed by the IAA. Where there is a need for the aircraft to be in Ireland for a continuous period of more than
28 days, a specific permission from the IAA will be required. Aircraft which remain in Ireland beyond the 28-day limit
may be excluded from availing of this exemption.
Application for exemptions for aircraft not meeting the criteria of A.19 or for extended visits must be made in the
manner specified by the Irish Aviation Authority in AWSD.F.138C ‘Temporary Operations in Ireland for aircraft
without a Certificate of Airworthiness’.
Thanks for this, its a great discussion.
I’m considering building a 4 seat “kit plane” under the UK LAA rules and getting it approved for night IMC, which i something that can nominally be done in the UK but there are a load of hoops to jump through). I have got a PPL(A) and a “full” IR is on the cards but not got yet. So my question to the collective wisdom is: is this worth it? To be clear this is for visits (<14 days) only with a G reg Permit To Fly aircraft.
So for countres in Europe:
Ireland: No point – day VFR only
France: No point – day VFR only
Does anyone have any further info and/or comments?
I think I’ll try and mick the brains of PPLIR at Aero24 later in the week.
Some threads on homebuilts and IFR
One guy who got his RV LAA-IFR certified (no longer flying) found he could do it in France but never got a permit from Germany. I don’t know which other countries he tried.
The approval is for IFR, not IMC. In Europe, the main use of IFR (in a non ice protected aircraft) is to be able to fly high up, in airspace where ATC might now allow VFR, and to get VMC on top. For the UK, this writeup is a good example of the use of IFR (which needs the full IR; the IMCR is no good for Class A) in the UK.
We have loads of PPL/IR pilots here. It is just that the homebuilt-IFR community is really tiny in Europe.
Neil_F wrote:
France: No point – day VFR only
If your PtF aircraft is IFR-approved in the UK, you might be able to get an approval from France & Spain as well, someone was mentioning this here…
