Paramotor forum.NL

Hello! I am a member of paramotorclub.org in the UK and I was hoping for a little advice on flying in your country. I will be coming to the Netherlands in August for a week and a friend and I were planning to bring our paramotors with us so that I can do a bit of flying in the evenings if the weather is good. I will be staying in the Arnhem area.

Someone is getting me an air chart, so I will find out which airspace I can fly in. I was hoping for a bit of advice on whether there are any other specific rules I need to adhere to while flying in Dutch airspace. Someone mentioned to me that the wings and engines might have to be registered (unlike in the UK where there is no regulation or registration for paramotors) which would ruin the plan. Is this true?

We will both have 3rd party insurance cover. We fly Parajet motors (a volution and a Cyclone 160) and fly Paramania wings (Revolution and a Fusion).

Finally, assumin that I can legally fly in the area, can anyone tell me of a decent takeoff / landing site in the area? I could go and ask farmers on the day but it would be helpful if someone could point me in the right direction. I would love to take off and land at one of the World War Two parachute DZs at Arnhem / Nijmegen if possible. Are any of you local and want to fly with us?

Many thanks!

Peter

Hi Peter,

The regs and rules in Holland are quite strict.
I have just send an email to our chairman to figure out what the legal aspects are with regard to flying with a foreign kit over here.

Contrary to the UK rules, you can't just take of and land from a farmland. A this moment we are in the middle of the process to get more realistic rules.
The flying itself is not a problem. The basic rule is, that you are allowed to fly in class G airspace between 500ft and 1200ft. I guess that you are familiar with airspace classifications. If not, Class G is basically "nobodies airspace", no ATC, VFR-VFR seperation by means of MK 1 eyeballs only. Stay away from reserve area's (bird sanctuaries, etc). Low flying is not allowed. If you have to cross such an area or a build up area, climb to 1000ft.

For take off and landings we have to get a special permit. In the next couple of month (no later than November 1st, 2010) it will change.
At this moment the owner of a permit can invite three guest-pilots to use it's spot.

By the way, we serve tea without milk...... ;-)

I will get back to you. If you like, you can mail me on frank.moorman@planet.nl .

Happy days,

Frank

Special permits are only for Dutch registered aircrafts. Foreign aircraft MUST start from permanent fields. Those (three) are only located in the North of The Netherlands. The Fields are: Middenmeer, Drachten and Stadskanaal.

If you do start from another field, other than the ones mentioned above, then it is illegal and the fine, if you get caught, is Eur 550,-.

Oh dear! What a shame. Thanks for the advice guys. It looks as if I will have to abandon this plan.
I think that we are quite fortunate in the UK that our sport is unregulated, though the situation could change at any time. Fortunately you are allowed to takeoff from any site as long as you have permission from the landowner and you are in clear airspace. It sounds like we have a slight variation on the 500ft rule as well in that it only applies to flying over livestock, people or buildings, low flying over open land without these things is ok (at the moment).

Many thanks for the advice.

Peter

Peter,

Welcome to the Dutch forum. We feel privileged to give you and your foreign friends advise at anytime.
We also look forward to input from abroad so go for it like there’s no tomorrow. ( quote of my cousin from Melbourne )

Unfortunately our bloody country is the embodiment of rules. Embrace en cherish your current status.

Yvin - thanks for the welcome.

I am member of paramotorclub.org which is one of the two self-regulating bodies for paramotoring in the UK. Unlike the BHPA this one is purely for paramotoring, not paragliding and hangliding. They have a very professional training syllabus and they qualify people up to instructor level. As the sport is unregulated they have passed this by the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) and argue our case to them. They do a great job of advising us how to make sure that we keep out of the eye of the authorities and stay within the rules so that we don't attract attention that would make them tighten up the rules. The forum is quite a useful resource for paramotoring information: www.paramotorclub.org - they welcome foreign visitors!

Great user photo by the way!

Regards,

Peter

I already put a banner on the bottom of this site.

Here is a link to a clip that I made last weekend of some fun (and legal) low flying around the hills of Oxfordshire. Great fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTiZaPm4724

Looks very good indeed.

Dear Peter,

If you go to Holland, there is something good about is, Belgium is close. No problem to fly.
If you are interested to fly I invite you.
I live in the north of Belgium. 0032-486496465

Friendly greatings,

Wim Heerkens
Geel Belgium