That is what I remembered.
Sadly EASA seems to believe that one learns more by hoping around in a C152 than traveling across the continent in an aircraft with RG, constant speed prop, autopilot, etc. that is just a couple of lbs lighter and more aerodynamic than those airframes out of the sixties that still make up a big part of today’s GA.
That those planes have to go through a lot of certification hassles and need to be maintained to a higher standard is surely a big difference, but in the matter of actually flying that thing I don’t see many advantages (in VFR with 2 people on board).
I will send the Austrian agency an email about WT9-hours being valid as a requirement for IR. But they will probably tell me to fly more C152 ;).
In the US, my understanding LSA/Gliders time will count for CPL/ATP: most over there will tell you hours in the air are hours in the air
(someone in the business may come with an opposite “financial interpretation” of the FAR requirements)
For legacy reasons, the situation of microlights in Europe countries is like the one for caravan trailers licences/insurance 
France, had the ULM vs Aeroplane, UK, had Group A (latter TMG, SEP, SET..) vs Microlights, just for these depending on what you fly/your licence/who read it/when the hours may count, but this problem “was solved” in EASA-land as there are no microlights
There is this: “applicants with………., shall be credited with 10 % of their total flight time as PIC on such aircraft up to a maximum of 10 hours”, however
In the other hand, microlights can go from flexwing, 3-axis, gliders, hydroplane, helis…you name it
For PIC hours for licence/rating issue and experience, I really don’t see the issue why those hours don’t count for TT
Use in IMC flying, I doubt you can have it when the discussion starts to have lot of acronyms (e.g. FIKI, ADL, OEI, ATC) but I am not sure C152 will do the job neither
It says the the applicant for the IR needs to have completed at least 50 hours PIC in XC-Flights in aeroplanes. Does that mean just before doing the Checkride or before starting the IR-course ab initio?
You’re only ‘applying’ for the rating when you present all documentation to the competent authority so my view is that you need to have 50 hours x/c PIC at that point, not before you start your first IR lesson, though many schools seems to advertise that they require the student to have the hours built up first.
Not sure if this is relevant but the general view in Euro-land is that any “student” (i.e. FI in the RHS) is not PIC – even if he/she is legally capable of being PIC under the actual flight conditions and in that aircraft. And all IR training is done with an FI in the RHS. So there would appear to be no way to log any PIC time while having IR training.
The CB IR also allows flying with a freelance IRI, outside the FTO machine – up to 30hrs I think? – and he/she may well allow you to log it as PIC if you meet the criteria, and correctly so!
My impression of the European rules for acceptance of hours logged in “uncertified” aircraft is that the policy has been driven by a desire to feed business to maintenance companies who pay heavy licensing fees to the CAAs 
The moment you have a “CAA” collecting licensing fees from “industry”, this “mutual support network” is inevitable, especially as many people in “industry” end up in the “CAA”
Regarding FI in the RHS: at least in Austria this is true. If there is an FI on board instructing the one beeing tought (my last encounter with this situation was, when I did aerotow) is not PIC. Austro Control called me and told me that i needed to change my logbook and send it in again.
With this in mind if I don’t have the CB-IR and I am flying with a freelance IRI the same principle would be true. I couldn’t be PIC because I didn’t have the rating I was training for at that moment with said IRI. Doesn’t quite make sense, but seems to be how Austro Control works.
The whole uncertified aircraft situation is a major threat to maintenance companies as their prices are even more ridiculous if you are used to a 500-1.000 € annual (if the plane is in a normal condition). They certainly need to charge more, but only due to regulations and not because the level of sophistication is that much higher.
But it is not only maintenance and not only GA. A friend of mine has a Phenom 100 and flies it mostly for business. The hassles he has to go trough are absolutely ridiculous. They only use it themselves and they still have to act as if they were a subdivision of Lufthansa..
zuutroy wrote:
You’re only ‘applying’ for the rating when you present all documentation to the competent authority so my view is that you need to have 50 hours x/c PIC at that point
My understanding for a rating, if there is an exception it will be stated (as for “before CPL course”)
It will not change much for an IR as you need PIC hours and training hours will be as PUT but at least you have less excuses to get on with it
I got the response from Austro Control and I am indeed pleasently surprised.
They told me that the 50 hours XC as PIC can be done in aerodynamically controlled microlights and that the 50 hours must be completed when they get the paperwork.
Nice, keep that response when you send the papers, you don’t want a bounce back from the next guy
One of my friends had a similar story on TMG hours and his CPL, got an email from one guy in CAA saying yes, built hours, then paper come back with a no from another guy
A the end he manage it back and forth with something under the rug that few old chaps in the CAA know about it (TMG with dual ignition system was a SEP under some legacy rules, I guess an aerdynamically microlight make it somehow an aeroplane in the old days?)
I’ll keep the response for future purposes.
I guess I won’t have a problem with the 50 hours of XC as PIC, but just to be on the safe side → what qualifies as XC?
Do I need to land on another airport or is a 3 hour flight through the alps enough cross country to qualify? Are there any minimum-distances in a straight line or as total distance of the flown route?
I couldn’t find any information on this, except that in the US it seems to be something like 50 or 60 NM. Anyone got information about how EASA handles this? Or should I just ask Austro Control about this?
