(1) Licensing:You require a license to fly a microlight. This can be obtained by completing the training syllabus as laid down by the BMAA or the IAA. More details are on this site. The UK NPPL is the system many students opt for, there is quite a lot of schools in Northern Ireland
(2) Medical Requirements:You require a Class 2 Medical to legally fly in the Republic of Ireland. There is designated doctors who carry out this for you. Details on the NMAI website
(3)Radio Licensing:You require the RT license. This is easily obtained by completing the RT course.
(4) Insurance Requirements:Your aircraft requires a minimum insurance requirement. The NMAI have a scheme in place to offer their members a very attractive insurance package.
(5) Aircraft requirements:Your Microlight requires a “Permit to Fly”. This is administrated by the NMAI for all “EI” registered aircraft or by the BMAA of the LAA in the case of UK registered aircraft.
(6) Buying an aircraft:This is important. If you are in the process of buying or thinking of buying a microlight then please read on. All aircraft that you are offered should be complete with the following documents:
Current “Permit to Fly”: issued by the appropriate authority. The aircraft should also have all previous permit to fly certificates present, this permits you to establish the aircraft previous history.
Engine logbook: This should be current and fully up-to-date showing all servicing done, all mandatory directives shown and should be “signed off” by an inspector where it is deemed appropriate. The total hours should be present right up to the last flight.
Airframe Logbook: This should be current and fully up-to-date showing all work done, all mandatory directives shown and should be “signed off” by an inspector where it is deemed appropriate. The total hours should be present right up to the last flight. There should be annual entries in this logbook showing when an inspector signed it off for its annual permit to fly, and a test flight shown where appropriate.
The aircraft has other paperwork that should also be available, Noise certificate, radio installation license if required and the aircraft should have a build manual and a pilots guide.
This would be a minimum requirement when buying an aircraft that you could legally fly. It is recommended that you seek independent advice, possibly from an inspector before you part with any money, this inspection would be money well spent in the long run, It may show up areas of concern that need to be addressed.
Beware:Many aircraft are available that may not have been flown for some time, many without current permits, some elapsed for years. You should approach this type of purchase with a degree of caution. Many of those aircraft will cost a fortune to get legally ready for flight again, many will be downright dangerous. Some may even be flying illegally without paperwork, just because it is flying does not mean it is OK to buy.
Seek advice before you buy anything of this nature, the initial purchase price will definitely not be the final price of this type of aircraft.
Join the NMAI, application form available from the main website at
www.NMAI.ie where you can get advice from the network of inspectors and also get contacts for the relevant inspectors/organizations for UK registered aircraft. Please feel free to post a question on these forums where you will receive a swift answer to any of your queries.