The Light Aircraft Association (LAA) is the UK’s principal representative body for amateur-built and vintage light aircraft, as well as supporting some factory-built microlights and gyroplanes. WELCOME TO THE LIGHT AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION NINE REASONS TO JOIN THE LAA 1 BUILD YOUR OWN AIRCRAFT The LAA was formed out of the amateur aircraft building movement. Even today, you can build an aircraft from the original plans or purchase a modern kit from a recognised manufacturer to build your dream aircraft, with the support of an LAA Inspector. There are so many types to choose from! More Info 2 PILOT COACHING The Pilot Coaching Scheme includes provision of Biennial Reviews and Class Rating Revalidation, as well as Type Conversions, Renewal Training, Differences Training and Licence Migration. Coaches are based all over the UK and willing to travel to meet your needs! More Info 3 LIGHT AVIATION MAGAZINE Our full-colour monthly magazine, Light Aviation , is free to all members and is packed with a wealth of technical and flying information, first-hand reports of members’ flying adventures and aircraft builds, in depth flight tests and so much more – it’s real cover to cover reading every month! More Info 4 ENGINEERING FACILITIES At our core is the amateur built aircraft movement and the comprehensive engineering facilities that support the Permit to Fly airworthiness system. A full time staff of qualified engineers and a countrywide network of Inspectors help make owning and flying your own aircraft both possible and affordable. More Info 5 TRAINING COURSES The LAA provides a wide range of courses for members, ranging from electrics to working with aluminum, aircraft carpentry, composites, Rotax engines or even an Air to Ground Radio Operators' Course! These will help you build or maintain your aircraft to the highest standard and meet LAA members with similar interests. More Info 6 OPERATE AN AIRCRAFT With the LAA fleet size ever increasing, more and more LAA members are operating LAA aircraft that they have not built under the LAA Permit to Fly Airworthiness System. The LAA Engineering Department offers the support you need to fly! More Info 7 MEET FELLOW AVIATION LOVERS! Do you want to meet fellow light aviation lovers? Clubs for LAA members (also known as Struts) meet at a local level to share knowledge and experiences, as well as take part in local events. You can find the 'Strut' nearest to you! More Info 8 MEMBER DISCOUNTS Every year, the LAA hosts a 'fly-in,' known as the 'LAA Rally' or more recently, the 'Grass Roots Fly In.' LAA members benefit from a discounted entry fee! Furthermore, there are a number of LAA-friendly companies that offer discounts and deals to LAA members. These can be found by clicking the button below. More Info 9 MEMBER REPRESENTATION We have an enviable reputation for determination and fairness within the corridors of power in the UK and Europe. We are one of the principle representative groups providing balanced consultative input on matters such as airspace, planning and safety regulation to bodies including the Department for Transport and Civil Aviation Authority. More Info Contact Us Turweston Aerodrome Nr Brackley Northants NN13 5YD Office Phone No: +44 (0)1280 846 786 Office email: [email protected] Engineering email: [email protected] Our office opening hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm Download Map Local Accommodation

Weight & Balance The subject of Weight and Balance covers at least four distinct procedures: weighing an aircraft, calculating its empty weight and centre of gravity (CG), establishing the worst forward and aft CG loading cases according to an appropriate design code and calculating weights and centres of gravity for an actual flight. This section includes guidance notes on each of these aspects, forms and worked examples (imperial or metric) for recording and calculating empty weight and CG, as well as worst forward and aft CG cases and an Excel based spreadsheet that makes the weight and CG calculations for you. The table on the spreadsheet is set out in the same layout as the Loading Examples tables. This spreadsheet can, of course, also be used for carrying out calculations for an actual flight. Simply input the actual weights of the items to be loaded rather than the standard occupant or maximum fuel and baggage weights. Remember, it is important to check that the CG remains within limits with no usable fuel as well as with the loaded fuel in the tanks, even though it will not be your intention of running the tank dry. The calculator generates two sets of weight and CG values for this purpose. Weight & Balance arrangements for gyroplanes are different to those of aeroplanes and a special type of report is used, unless the manufacturers concerned provides their own special schedule in which case this should be used instead. Before accessing the documents below, please ensure you have read Technical Leaflet 3.16 - Weight and Balance Guidance Notes . Technical Leaflet 3.16 Other useful documentation is as follows: Weight & Balance Forms Weight and Balance Example Forms Weight and Balance Excel Calculators

< Back Engineering updates in December 2 Jan 2025 The following documents have been issued/updated in the Engineering 'Info Library' during December. Continuing airworthiness information: Mandatory Technical Directive 07-2024 - Eurofox trim cables Alert 03-2024 - Eurostar trim cables Alert 04-2024 - Loose Rotax engines Alert 05-2024 - Rotax 900 series engines - blocked oil spray nozzle Technical Leaflets: TL 2.22 'non-type specific MPDs' TADS : Sling 4 TSi Wishing all our members a very Happy New Year. Next Previous

< Back New LAA Inspector - Malcolm Talbot 14 Jul 2025 We are pleased to welcome Malcolm Talbot as a new LAA Inspector, having attended an LAA Inspector Assessment Day at Turweston recently. Malcolm holds a BSc(Hons) with the Open University in Maths, Technology and Engineering. He has held a PPL since 2010 and been a Flight Instructor FI since 2019, (having passed the CPL theory exams),. He is currently instructing for Moray Flying Club and Highland Aviation, and recently become a ground examiner. Malcolm built and flies a Eurofox, which first flew in 2013. He thoroughly enjoyed the build process. Next Previous

Aircraft Fabric Covering Course Price Member - £213, Non-Member - £233 Duration Arrival 09:00. Finish 17:00. < Back About the Course Our covering course is presented by Chris and Alex, father and son team who run Aircraft Coverings Ltd., the UK dealer for Consolidated Aircraft Coverings products. This is a hands-on course, not a lecture, so you will be working with the tools and materials, learning the required skills and you will undoubtedly surprise yourself by how quickly you begin to pick things up! Your Instructor Chris and Alex Allen Dates New date tbc Times Arrival 09:00. Finish 17:00. Duration One day course Venue Henstridge Airfield, Somerset, BA8 0TN Price Member - £213, Non-Member - £233 Booking Pls call the LAA on 01280 846 786 to enquire/book or email [email protected] . *Please note that payment is required when booking, to confirm your place. NO place will be held without confirmed payment* **Please note that your booking payment is non-refundable unless we can fill your place timeously or there are exceptional circumstances**

Become an Inspector Are you interested in becoming an LAA Inspector? To understand the application process, read the 'LAA Inspector Application Notes' and 'Flow Chart' below. Please use the form below to apply and include as much detail as possible in your application. Complete applications can be emailed to the Head of Continuing Airworthiness & Inspection (Chief Inspector), Lucy Wootton at [email protected] . INSPECTOR APPLICATION NOTES INSPECTOR APPLICATION FLOW CHART INSPECTOR APPLICATION FORM INSPECTOR APPROVAL INFORMATION

< Back New LAA Inspector - Lewis Harper 18 Aug 2025 We are pleased to welcome Lewis Harper as a new LAA Inspector, having attended an LAA Inspector Assessment Day at Turweston recently. Working full-time as a CAA and EASA Licensed Aircraft Engineer, Lewis has pursued his lifelong passion for aviation since entering the industry at age 16, and have also achieved his PPL along the way. Next Previous

LAA are proud to announce our Rally 2025 sponsors Trophies & Awards A number of prestigious Trophies and Awards are judged at the Rally, recognising the many superbly built and restored aircraft that attend. If you would like to enter your aircraft for judging you can do so on arrival. The judging team will be co-located with booking-in. You can, however, download and complete the entry form beforehand. The list of the awards for 2025 can be found here . Complete list of award can be found here . Judging guidelines can be found here . Factory built aircraft less than 35 years old are not eligible. The judging team will ensure you are in all competitions for which you are eligible. The judges sometimes have difficulty finding an aircraft. Owners are therefore urged to download the free`What3Words’ app and use it to show their aircraft’s location when registering. All pilots who wish their aircraft to be judged are asked to display to the marshallers the large J found here . They will then direct you, if possible, to a convenient parking space. Please leave the 'J' visible in the windscreen to help the judges find your aircraft. Judging takes place from 13:30 to 17:00 on the Saturday; therefore, all entries must be received by 13:00 on Saturday.

< Back New LAA Inspectors - Cameron Bunce & Brian Davies 11 Jan 2024 Back in December, seven potential LAA Inspectors attended LAA Inspector Assessment Days at Turweston with our Chief Inspector, Lucy. We are pleased to announce that all seven were successful. Here is an introduction to the first two: Cameron Bunce - Cameron is based north of Aberdeen. He is a Chartered Engineer working in the Energy Industry. He has been involved with aviation since 2007 and currently is building a VANS RV-3. He has experience with metal, composite and wooden aircraft having flown over 30 types - but most familiar with the VANS RV series. Brian Davies - Brian has experience in building and maintaining composite, metal and wood aircraft, but tends to specialise in Rotax-powered aircraft. He is also experienced in Avionic installation and trouble-shooting. Brian is also on the LAA Board of Directors and our Vice-President. Congratulations Cameron and Brian! Next Previous

LAA are proud to announce our Rally 2025 sponsors The 2025 LAA Rally will take place at Leicester Airfield over the three days Friday 29th to Sunday 31st August. We are excited to be working with Leicestershire Aero Club to host the event at Leicester Airfield. The weekend will focus on the fly-in and social elements of our annual event; provide the opportunity to see a wide range of exhibitors, hear from industry experts in our Speakers Corner programme of talks, get hands-on skills experience in the Homebuilders marquee; meet our LAA team, purchase LAA merchandise and relax in the Struts & Clubs stand. We are reverting to our traditional exhibition layout which provides for a series of marquees housing all the LAA activities; indoor exhibitor space and our homebuilders exhibits. Outside provides the space for larger displays and we will look forward to showcasing manufacturers and distributors of a wide range of the latest aircraft types from across the LAA fleet. The Speakers Corner marquee, will host a varied programme of talks throughout the weekend, including an open Q&A session each day with CEO, Simon Tilling. Members will have free access to the aircraft park, with access available at an additional charge to non-members enabling everyone to get up close to inspect the wide range of aircraft attending the Rally. The exhibition site will host a wide selection of food choices, a full bar and ice cream van during the daytime whilst evening entertainment, food and bar will be provided by Leicestershire Aero Club. There will be free car parking and on site campsite. We look forward to seeing you at Leicester! Introduction

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E10 Mogas From 1st September 2021, the government mandated that all regular grade unleaded petrol must contain up to 10% ethanol, rather than up to 5% as previously. In the autumn of 2021, most filling stations around the UK re-marked their E5 petrol pumps to show that they now supply E10 specification fuel, and started receiving tanker-loads blended with up to 10 percent ethanol content. For the automotive world this means reduced carbon dioxide emissions, which is better for the environment, and, arguably in terms of eco-desirability, a small further reduction in the reliance on fossil fuel. The automotive industry had been preparing for this change, and people with road vehicles registered after 2002 should be able to switch to E10 without noticing any difference. Unfortunately, the additional ethanol content is bad news for aviation users if we were to ignore the change and start putting E10 in our aircraft regardless. Ethanol is a powerful chemical solvent which can attack components including rubberised gaskets and fuel pipes, older lacquered carburettor floats and composite or plastic components in some newer fuel systems. The doubling of the concentration of ethanol in E10 compared to E5 makes it much more likely that problems will be experienced if these parts are not designed to be ethanol-proof. Ethanol also has an affinity for absorbing water, which over time can then become acidic, attacking metal components in the fuel system and engine. Even if there was a practical way to do so in the volumes of fuel we use in our aircraft, we cannot safely remove the ethanol content from the fuel because the ethanol acts as an octane enhancer, so the washed-out fuel would be left with a reduced octane value, likely to cause detonation problems. Another issue is that ethanol-blended fuel has a lower energy density than petrol, so to develop full power from our engines using an E10 fuel, we may need to richen the fuel/air mixture, for example using a bigger carburettor jet size. Owners of Rotax and Jabiru engines are probably already aware that many of these engines are supplied as being able to use E10 fuel – though with Jabiru engines, in particular, it’s far from straightforward because some of the earlier engines require cylinder head modifications and reduced compression ratio if they are to avoid detonation issues when using any form of Mogas. Jabiru also say that Mogas of any type should not be used in commercial flight schools and only at the owners own risk. Even with a supposedly E10-compatable engine, the chemical compatibility problems with fuel system components are such that the LAA does not at present approve the use of E10 Mogas in any LAA amateur-built or vintage aircraft. For factory-built microlights and factory-built gyroplanes, where LAA is not the approving authority but only renews the CAA’s Permits to Fly, owners need to refer to the TADS for the types for details of the approved fuel types, and monitor the service bulletins from the approved manufacturers for news of any updates. Where we need to be particularly careful in reading-across from (hopefully) a trouble-free transition to E10 in automotive use is the big difference between our petrol cars and the way our aircraft engines are configured. Our cars generally have submerged fuel pumps in their petrol tanks and a sealed fuel system. In our aircraft we have an open-vented tank and usually a fuel pump several feet away, often mounted in a hot area of the engine bay near to the engine exhaust, dragging the fuel through a fairly convoluted pipework system, a filter and fuel selector – all features encouraging a vapour lock - and then to make matters worse we want to climb up to altitude and operate in reduced atmospheric pressure. Modern petrol cars have a fuel injection systems rather than carburettors, a circulating fuel system designed to purge any vapour forming in the fuel line, and an ECU that monitors the engine’s parameters constantly and adjusts the fuel mixture strength and ignition timing to prevent damage to the engine – and if all else fails and the engine should ‘pink’, we can hear it from the driver’s seat and drop a gear to lighten the load. Because of the much higher background noise level in our aircraft, detonation cannot be heard and the pilot’s first indication of a problem may be when the first piston crown disintegrates, or a valve head departs its stem. In conclusion - E10 is presently not approved for use in any LAA aircraft. ‘Hoping for the best’ and using E10 fuel in your aircraft regardless could risk ruining the fuel system components, fibreglass tanks falling to bits, engine failure through contamination of the fuel or ruptured fuel pump diaphragms etc, or more serious engine damage. For most of our engines, UL91 Avgas is the best choice, but 97 octane E5 Super Unleaded remains an alternative to the now-obsolete E5 spec Mogas.