UL/LSA Annex II Advice

Isn’t it the case that nearly every country finds some justification on how their pilots are the best in the world?

Please keep this on the topic, and keep it polite.

I bought myself an (uncertified) Europa a couple of years ago and I am still very happy with that decision. I could rent our (certified) club aircraft as well, but there were – for my profile – no flights yet, the Europa couldn’t handle. I also did many cross border flights to the adjacent countries from Germany. I get there faster compared with the PA28/C172 and with much more fun (it’s like you compare an estate car with a Porsche :-). The only (rare) occasions I missed the C172 was when I was in need of >2 seats.

This may fit your bill if your world is compromised of two light persons: Pipistrel SW 121 it is sold as UL and as SEP (for extra price), I tried it and I was really impressed but not as much to stick to it

Speed wise, how about RV4s/9s? for some mysterious reasons they sell with an “airliner pilot premium”, they are fast but it means seating in tandem with your beloved one or solo if you are single.

My aunt and her husband used to fly ULMs, they always ask me why I fly SEPs and not just buy my own ULM stop the hassle, my answer was always “I will not be able to do night/imc”, after many years I still don’t have a full IR or Night rating, so they are probably right and I rarely fit 4 people inside

The new ones, they are not cheap tough !

FWIW a Katana is not more expensive to operate over a newish ULM, if you compare same games, that is.

If you just want to be aloft for fun, it might make much more sense to think about a nice TMG, rather than an ULM. They are cheaper to buy and operate and do count for currency of your SEP. Furthermore international flying is much easier and you can explore the gliding fun in the Alps with it.

The RF5 even is acrobatic. Some TMG are limited in useful load, but usually less than ULM.

Especially with ULM, be careful with salesmen (and “skygod”) claims that this and that aircraft will be safe at much more MTOM than certified. (ULM are NOT uncertified after all!). That’s too often nothing else than dangerous marketing hogwash.

Ibra wrote:

Speed wise, how about RV4s/9s? for some mysterious reasons they sell with an “airliner pilot premium”, they are fast but it means seating in tandem with your beloved one or solo if you are single.

The RV-9 has side-by-side seating – its basically an RV-7 with a different wing, sacrificing aerobatic capability for efficiency and low speed capability. You must mean RV-4 and RV-8, both of which have tandem seating.

The speed advantage of the tandem RVs over the side-by-side versions is not huge.

My mistake, I meant RV8s they look very slick on tandem seating

Yes for cheap and fun flying, you can’t beat a long wingspan TMG but you need space to store those wings and someone to help pushing inside the hangar, plus those TMG hours may count for something (the ground handling skills could be useful for those who crash a B737 while taxi in big and dense airports)

Snoopy wrote:

Is there a good writeup of the different categories and (legal) consequences for maintenance etc?

It depends where you live, which country. But:

• UL or microlight is an EASA construct. MTOW 450 kg (or 600 as it will be), VFR day only, no acro, 2 person max. They are the same all over EASA land. The operational aspects may differ slightly though, licenses and so on, but not enough to matter in any practical sense. The owner is responsible for all maintenance and can do it all him/her-self.
• LSA is a “simpler” EASA CS with no future whatsoever. You still need PPL/LAPL, full EASA maintenance regime. Day VFR only, no acro. It’s merely a certified microlight for people who are keen on draconian rules just for the sake of it. Seriously, why get a certified microlight with everything that comes with certification when you can get a more capable Cessna or a real microlight with the same MTOW (the new 600 kg limit)?
• Avionics in a microlight? To fly in controlled airspace you need a certified radio and a certified transponder, and that’s it. You can mount whatever you want, but a twin G1000 for instance is not very useful or cost effective in a microlight. There are tons of other options.
• Experimental or homebuilt is 100% national regulations. There are no regulations in the usual sense of the word. It’s more like a set of boundaries. Stay within those boundaries and life is easy (RV’s, Lancair, Carbon Cub, Europa or any other kit).