Representatives of IAOPA Europe, which now has 29 member states, meet for a Regional Meeting twice a year. During the last Regional Meeting in Madrid on September 28th and 29th more than 30 participants attended. The meeting was very well organized by AOPA Spain president Carlos Marti and some very interesting issues were discussed by the European affiliates. Craig Spence, Secretary General of IAOPA, flew in from Washington especially to be present at the meeting. All the important issues our association is currently working on were on the agenda. 

An example of these issues is the project to improve the European General Aviation Code, the GA Roadmap. EASA employees and industry representatives cooperate intensively, problems are addressed directly and pragmatic solutions are sought. 

IAOPA-Europe´s VP Michael Erb described a new major bottleneck for the GA roadmap, which is the legal department of the European Commission in Brussels, the employer of EASA, which last year adopted and published only one third of the 21 legislative processes submitted from Cologne.
Anton Koutsoudakis, the president of AOPA-Hellas, is in charge of the GA Helpdesk (working title), which was discussed in a previous newsletter. Deviations from EU standards can be reported on this website: https://www.surveymonkey.de/r/N2J2FJY.

Another issue was ADS-B.  There is a strong push that we will all have to equip our aircraft with this technology sooner or later. Europe has already put a mandatory equipment requirement  in place for aircrafts over 5700kg MTOW. ADS-B stands for Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast. This technology can be used by aircrafts to automatically determine their position, mostly via GPS, and then radiate it to other aircraft and air traffic control. 

IAOPA welcomed the Secretary General of EUROCAE Christian Schleifer-Heingärtner. EUROCAE is the European organization for Civil Aviation Equipment, which deals with the standardization of electronics in aviation and is based in Paris. It also lays down the standards for general avionics aviation, which until now have been 1: 1 for large aviation, although this is not mandatory. Christian Schleifer, who regularly flies a Mooney himself showed IAOPA ways to get involved in EUROCAE working groups, such as the development of stripped-down "light standards". For more information on this topic please see the article on ADD TOPIC. 

 

The subject of 8.33 radios was on the list, as well as problems with cross-border flights. IAOPA has always been committed to simplifying international and especially intra-European flights. Unfortunately, the efforts in this have recently become more important again. While customs within the EU no longer plays a role in the free movement of goods, border police checks are currently flourishing as Schengen agreements are suspended between many European countries.

 

Finally the future of AVGAS was discussed. Lars Hjelmberg from AOPA-Sweden shared his impressions of the US-based Piston Aviation Fuel Initiative (PAFI), which is to develop an environmentally friendly successor to the aviation gasoline AVGAS 100LL by next year. Some press reports were rather negative, official interim reports on the project do not exist. It remains to be seen what results PAFI will bring. We will know more next year. In the meantime, there is a growing trend towards more low-octane AVGAS 91/96, meaning we now have a total of five fuel types in general aviation: AVGAS 100LL, AVGAS 91/96 UL, Jet A1 / Kerosene, Diesel and car gasoline / Mogas. Many small airfields with correspondingly small gas stations are clearly overburdened with the provision of all these fuels.

 

AOPA HELLAS has organized an International General Aviation Conference to be held in Athens on January 22, 2018 in collaboration with IAOPA Europe. The purpose of this conference is to inform the Hellenic Aviation Community and the European Aviation Community about the significant changes regarding aviation safety issues that are being introduced by EASA. These changes, affecting all GA aspects, are inserted into the European legislation by EASA through the "General Aviation Road Map". 

 

The main speaker of the meeting will be the EASA Director, Mr. Dominique Roland, Head of General Aviation & Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems. Mr. Craig Spence, Secretary General of IAOPA, will also be speaking, representing IAOPA and the 79 National AOPAs with over 400,000 members. In addition, Dr.. Michael Erb, Senior Vice President IAOPA – Europe, will also speak at the conference. 

 

The International General Aviation Conference will take place at the DIVANI CARAVEL Hotel, Athens. The language of the Conference will be English only and the workshop will be broadcasted live on the internet (livestreaming) throughout Europe. That means every European pilot can attend the conference from his own home using his own computer. Recorded copies of the speeches will be made available to all European AOPAs for further use. You may also watch the conference live on the AOPA Greece Facebook. 

 

For those who are unable to watch the event livestream, AOPA HELLAS will post the program, the timetable, the speakers and the themes of their speeches on its website after the conclusion of the conference. 

 

EASA has for more than 3 years, established an objective of easier access to IFR flying for GA and has identified this as a cornerstone for improving flight safety for GA. The initial focus has been on the licensing aspects where instrument flying has been made more accessible through the introduction of new ratings and new competency based ways of achieving instrument priviliges.

 

Now the focus is shifting to look at the operational rules and other regulatory obstacles which limit the use of IFR operations in the GA environment. A new concept of operation for instrument procedures into smaller GA aerodromes without instrument runways is already well under way and now EASA is launching an All Weather Operations (AWO) working group to identify and remedy remaining issues and obstacles. The group will start its work in January and is already expected to deliver in the second quarter of 2018. IAOPA will be represented by Mr. Jacob Pedersen from AOPA Denmark.

 

Should you have input to the process then please provide your feedback to iaopa@iaopa-eur.org.

 

 

 

On October 27th the European Commission invited associations and authorities for a workshop on the topic of 8,33 Voice Channel Spacing in Brussels. IAOPA was represented by Martin Robinson, Andrei Zincenco, and Michael Erb (IAOPA vice-president)

 

The purpose of the workshop was to review the current state of 8.33kHz implementation, share best practice for conversions and exemptions, and agree upon a realistic way forward to complete the implementation of 8.33 kHz as quickly as possible in order to resolve potential frequency shortage and mitigate potential safety risks. 

 

During panel sessions, IAOPA was able to present its views on the matter, which are: the fact that AOPA feels that the frequencies aren’t managed efficiently, the fact that the demand for frequencies has been over-estimated, the fact that GA is being disadvantaged with high cost for equipage whereas other stakeholders have operational benefits, and finally, the fact that we are disappointed about the decision made by INEA not to fund equipage of GA in 20 European states.

 

In presentations from the member-states, it became apparent that both the GA fleet and the ground-infrastructure at ANSPs and Aerodromes are unable to meet the deadlines in most European States, whereas other states, the Netherlands for example, will strictly enforce the deadline December 31, 2017 for all VFR aircraft. 

 

Helios, whose Chairman Mike Shorthose moderated the workshop, came to the conclusion that something needs to happen, and this opinion was shared by Maurizio Casteletti from DG Move.It's likely there will be additional time for aircraft operators to meet the requirements in some countries, mainly outside of the European Core Area, but unfortunately not in all countries. We will keep you informed about any progress on the matter.

During an informal discussion, DG Move representative told Andrei Zincenco that there might be another call for 8.33 kHz reimbursement in April 2018. When doing so they will make sure to have resolved all the legal issues IAOPA faced when applying for reimbursement in 2017.  

 

It's likely there will be additional time for aircraft operators to meet the requirements in some countries, mainly outside of the European Core Area, but unfortunately not in all countries. We will keep you informed about any progress on the matter.

 

The legislation around Drones is in full swing. The number of drones is increasing enormously, and the legislator is trying to limit the danger  in any way they can. For the GA, Drones are increasingly becoming a threat. The number of incidents is increasing,or are we exaggerating? 

We do not know how many incidents there really are as many incidents are not reported. We need to pay more attention to that. Here are some thoughts on the status quo of the legal framework concerning Drones. 

The statements in the article are based on the experience with Drones in the Netherlands. It might be interesting to see what the situation  is like in your country. 

 

EASA deals with the RPAS (Remoted Piloted Aircraft Systems) also called UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) or RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft). A NPA (NPA monthly) has already been published, and they want to speed up the introduction of new legislation and regulations. For the time being, however, we still have to deal with national regulations. We will briefly outline these regulations.

Drones are generally divided into two groups, i.e. Private and Commercial use.

For private RPAS users in the Netherlands rules from the Model Flying Regulations apply. This means that a Drone is an aircraft that is not capable of carrying a person and is used for recreational purposes or sports.

 

The rules that currently apply are:

• The aircraft should be visible from the ground and from the airspace around it,

• Flight is always performed during UDP,

• The flight is not carried out within 50 meters above areas with contiguous buildings or structures, including industrial and port areas. They are not allowed to fly above crowds,  railways or public roads accessible to motor vehicles, with the exception of roads in 30 km zones within built-up areas and roads 60 km outside of  built-up areas; at least 25 meters for helicopter drones;

• Flights are permitted up to a height of max 120 m in class G airspace, not less than 3 km from an airport, (unless there is an exemption) and not in a low-flying zones (unless an observer who warns for approaching air traffic is present).  There are a number of exceptions that allow for a flight of up to 300 meters. In addition, there are exceptions in the ATZ with a special permit up to 450 meters high NOTAM obligation above 40 meters.

• Distance to buildings 25 meters for multi-rotor and 50 meters for fixed wing UAVs;

• Advice is given to take account of other people's privacy.

• Maximum take-off weight of 25 kg

 

On the other hand, there are commercial applications such as inspection and photography, and agricultural and horticultural applications, where a ROC (Remote Piloted Aircraft Operators Certificate) permit has been imposed.

The ROC is mandatory for the professional use of drones from 0 to 150 kg that can fly horizontally up to a minimum of 120 meters and up to a maximum of 500 meters (or 750 meters) from the kite. Requirements are set for the pilot, the aircraft and the way of operating (recorded in an Operational Handbook). The training and inspection must also be carried out by approved bodies. Because of high demands exemptions can be granted to fly closer to people, roads and objects.

The commercial operator has to meet quite a number of requirements, including taking an exam (having a certificate), an Approved Operations Manual, having a LAPL medical, In some cases RT and LPE.

If you want to reflect on the situation with Drones in your country, email us at newsletteriaopaeu@hotmail.com

 

The SSCC for GA has been renamed as the General Aviation Committee – GA COM. Jacob Pedersen and Dr. Michael Erb attended on behalf of IAOPA Europe. The Committee will continue to hold joint meetings with the representatives from the National Authorities. This is unique in the EASA advisory committees and allows a better flow of information between all involved parties. 

 

On the agenda of the meeting were the following topics:

 

- GPS Approaches to Non-Instrument Runways.

Carmen Aguilera from the European GNSS Agency presented a concept of operation describing the new procedures and means of introducing them. These new GPS approach procedures are very useful for all aerodromes that want to install IFR procedures when a low-minimum IFR procedure is not an option, for instance because of an obstacle situation or because of a lack of runway lighting. The presentation is available here. The new procedures have the potential to offer many new airfield IFR procedures at low cost and in a way that benefits both the safety and usability of the aerodromes and aircrafts.

 

- Part M Light.

Implementation of the much anticipated Part M Light with its simplified maintenance requirements for aircraft up to 2730 kg MTOM has been delayed once again. This is due to the fact that a few translation errors were noticed shortly before publication. EASA explained that the late entry was a serious problem for its credibility, as the changes were announced months ago at the AERO Friedrichshafen. The implementation of the new lighter maintenance licenses has now also been affected by this delay. 

 

- New lightweight flight training standard DTO 

The EASA Committee has voted in favor of the new simplified regulation for flight schools DTO (Declared Training Organization) coming into force on April 8th, 2018.  Schools in Europe managed as "Registered Facilities" have time until April 8th, 2019 to convert. 

 

- ADS-B Below 5700 kg MTOW 

There is still no mandate for ADS-B for aircrafts. A corresponding legislative procedure has been discontinued due to the negative business model and frequency overload at Mode S. Low-cost "Sense and Avoid Solutions" are currently being discussed by EASA under the project name T4S (Technology for Security). The project is expected to identify some cost-effective alternatives to traditional surveillance technology. We have clarified that a mandate for ADS-B based on Mode S-ES for all light aircrafts, as some airlines have suggested, cannot be accepted. We need to become more innovative and think about how we can integrate all airspace users, airlines and drones into a single surveillance system.

 

- GA data collection 

Despite many efforts, no real progress on GA data collection has been made in recent years. EASA regrets that they still can’t provide reliable figures on the course of accidents per flying hour, nor any reliable economic data. Unfortunately, a study funded by the European Commission did not deliver useful data. We have promised to help and will join forces with the GAMA (General Aviation Manufacturers Association) and other associations.

 

- Improved communication 

Promotion of safety is high on the agenda of the EASA as everyone wants to get by with less regulations. Volunteers among EASA staff have developed a cartoon character called Sunny Swift, who embodies a young flight instructor. With the help of cartoons EASA wants to convey important security issues. The first 10 issues of the cartoons have already been planned.

 

- Election of chairman and co-chairman 

As no competitor came forward Michael Erb was re-elected as chairman of the group. Vice-Chairman of Europe Air Sports, Julian Scarfe, was also re-elected.

 

Memorandum of Understanding between EUROCAE and IAOPA. 

Ban on Night VFR flights lifted in the Netherlands