Some of the aspects mentioned I have certainly observed among my fellow microlighters. Fear to make a fool of one’s self, fear of prosecution, need for exact wordings (something that fewer and fewer people master, or even try to, even in daily life). On top of that there is the particular position of microlighters, at least in Belgium and France and probably elsewhere, too: we are not supposed to ever enter controlled airspace, and have no obligation to carry any avionics. This has led to a mentality of " I fly free as a bird, and nobody knows who or where I am", and I actually know quite a few who really get nervous and annoyed at the thought that someone should know their position. The same pilots usually have an abhorrence of filing flight plans. One fellow told me with great pride that he had crossed more than half of France and only called the FIS one single time; he had not responded to further position requests from the FIS. I pity the poor FIS operator – no wonder microlighters have a bad reputation here and there. On the same flight, the same pilot had landed just before crossing the border so that only a small part of the flight had to be covered by a flight plan, and he considered this a very clever trick. I fail to see any objective ground, but his feelings are of course his own.
Actually our microlight pilot members seem rather more enterprising than the SEP ones.
Same here – but that is countered by the smaller range and speed of their craft.
he had crossed more than half of France and only called the FIS one single time
One of my aircraft has been flown at least twice across the US and back without any ATC contact, and in fact the majority of US aircraft operations under 18,000 ft are done that way. Several friends flew from Oshkosh to their base last year in a day and a half (2000 miles, 12 hrs) and spoke to ATC twice – once departing Oshkosh and once for landing clearance at home base. Thank goodness we can still do it that way, and long may it remain so.
I think the goal in Europe should really be to reduce dependence on ATC for long distance VFR operations, but I can understand its a political problem because of national defense issues. Perhaps in the case of Europe good fences make good neighbors, but its still a hassle that serves little practical purpose IMO, for VFR.
Microlighters in Europe do tend to have a less over-developed respect for authority and I’d say its probably a good thing.
Yes. But you may have observed – actually, to judge from your postings, you know very well – that it is an ill comparison between your skies and ours.
Besides, I did not mention talking to ATC, but only FIS – who have no authority anyway.
Thank goodness we can still do it that way, and long may it remain so.
There is no requirement to call anybody on a VFR flight here either (you are not even required to have a radio on board), unless you wanted to fly through class C or D airspace or a military zone. But it is encouraged to stay in contact with FIS for traffic alerting, which I think is a sensible thing to do.
I think the goal in Europe should really be to reduce dependence on ATC for long distance VFR operations, but I can understand its a political problem because of national defense issues. Perhaps in the case of Europe good fences make good neighbors, but its still hassle that serves little practical purpose IMO, for VFR.
The issue is not defense. It is that the FIS in countries like the UK or Germany has more and more become the gatekeeper of controlled airspace. ATC wants to create as far as possible a “known traffic environment” in the busy areas in order to be able to tackle traffic as soon as they (seem to) infringe on CAS. That’s also why the german FIS is touring around in the country encouraging VFR pilots to call in every time…
Yes Europe will never be like the US on this sort of thing. Culturally as well as physically too different.
There is no requirement to call anybody on a VFR flight here
What Next, are you sure? If I fly from, say, Belgium to, say, France, I will be crossing a FIR boundary, so I will need to file a flight plan, and it must mention where I intend to cross the FIR boundary, or so I understand. Mustn’t I also confirm the FIR boundary crossing to the instance in charge of my airspace, FIS in my situation? Or is that an obligation only for IFR flights?
Yes. But you may have observed – actually, to judge from your postings, you know very well – that it is an ill comparison between your skies and ours.
I think the skies are similar 
What I think it highlights is that the airspace is a disjointed mess requiring IFR and/or ATC contact so you don’t actually have to understand it thoroughly. I wonder whether airspace design will ever come under one authority in Europe – I can certainly see the national defense issues with that but it none-the-less makes flying any distance a pain, one way or another. I could imagine a system where VFR traffic would cross national boundaries on certain routes and altitudes without flight plans or ATC contact, similar to how roads in Europe operate now.
I fly from, say, Belgium to, say, France, I will be crossing a FIR boundary, so I will need to file a flight plan, and it must mention where I intend to cross the FIR boundary, or so I understand. Mustn’t I also confirm the FIR boundary crossing to the instance in charge of my airspace, FIS in my situation? Or is that an obligation only for IFR flights?
It varies from country to country. Need to check the respective AIPs to find out.
For example, Germany doesn’t require a call when entering, Italy does.
