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Microlight Aircraft in the UK: Your First Steps

Microlight aviation is a popular method of recreation in the United Kingdom. They British value the freedom and air-accessibility that mircrolight aircraft offers them each flight.

Also called "ultralight aircraft" (which is a less popular name in the UK), a microlight aircraft has different specifications according to its type.

Types of microlight aircraft

Microlight aircraft could be categorized according to:

• The landing surface: some aircraft can only land on land (these are called landplanes) and others can land on both land and water (these are called amphibian or floatplanes).
• The wing: there is a type called the flex wing (looks similar to a hang glider) and another type called the fixed wing or the 3-axis (looks similar to the usual airplane).

The law assigns a maximum weight for each type as a guideline.

Is it hard or expensive?

Not at all. You can start learning how to fly using a microlight aircraft at any age – maybe you'll take a longer period if you are a senior citizen, but ultimately you will get the grips of it.

According to The National Private Pilot's License regulations, you have to spend a minimum of 25 hours in training (ground and air training with a certified trainer) in addition to another 10 hours of solo flying. Not to mention the ability to smoothly take off and land an aircraft and passing the licensing examination.

Once you get your license, you can fly alone or with another licensed pilot at any time you wish (unless the weather has another opinion).

Budgetwise

You may need more or less time than the minimum hours to reach the target performance level. But taking into consideration the average time, fuel costs and trainers' different fees across the country you should put an overall budget of &gbp;2500–3500 for an adequate training.

If you don’t have the time luxury or could not afford paying for all the hours of training, you can still have a license for only 15 hours of training and 7 hour of solo flying but with some restrictions such as strict solo flying (meaning you can’t have someone else on board with you) and limited time and area of flying. You might check this page for the latest updates concerning the restrictions.

Learning to read the weather

One of the most interesting subjects that you will learn during the ground training sessions is Aviation Meteorology. It is concerned with weather forecasting and should teach you how to, roughly, anticipate weather changes that will affect your flight. This is a very important subject to study in a country with frequent bad weather moods like the UK!

Worth-visiting websites

The British Microlight Aircraft Association (BMAA) is an organization that you should know if you are a new microlight aircraft pilot or owner in the UK. Its website provides valuable information about the sport and its regulation as well as a providing some tips on affordable flying and latest updates in the industry worldwide.

Also before taking the test to obtain your license, you might consider downloading the syllabus from the National Private Pilot's License website.

 

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