FAQ
What are the Medical Requirements?
In order to gain a licence, a declaration of fitness form must be countersigned by your G.P. and cannot be issued to anyone suffering from :- Epilepsy, Fits, Severe head injury, Recurrent fainting, Giddiness or Blackouts, High blood pressure, Coronary artery disease, Insulin controlled diabetes, any Psychiatric disorder or any other disorder liable to cause incapacitation.
Yes. All Microlight training aircraft have to be built by civil aviation authority (CAA) approved companies to rigorous airworthiness standards. Only safety checked and released materials can be used in their construction.
Due to their light weight and low minimum speeds microlight aircraft have very good forgiving characteristics. Recent official statistics from the CAA showed that microlight aircraft to be the safest form of private aviation in the UK in terms of serious accidents divided into hours flown.
However any aircraft is only as safe as the pilot who flies it, therefore thorough training and a high degree of common sense are both vital in the making of a safe pilot.
Can I have a short go to see if I like it?
We offer a thirty minute or a one hour trial lesson to give you a taste of this sport. If you decide to continue this time will count towards the licence.
Is it possible to fly in winter?
Some of the best flying is during the winter! It is of course colder, but providing you wear sensible clothing the temperature is not a problem.
For training to count towards a licence the minimum age is 14. Solo flights can be made from age 16, and the minimum age to hold a licence is 17
This depends a little on aircraft type, but in general the maximum body weight is 15 stones. We may be able to accommodate heavier people – call us for details.
Does the weather affect training?
Unfortunately yes, fair weather is required especially during training where you will want to be concentrating on learning to control the aeroplane before having to deal with the techniques required for different types of weather. In general the conditions required for training are:-
- Wind speed no more than 15 to 20 mph
- Visibility greater than 3 Km in flight
- Cloud base above 1000 feet
- Preferably no rain, though it is quite possible to fly in light rain it is a very miserable experience in an open cockpit.
Purple Aviation operates seven days a week all year round.