This Opinion addresses a proportionality issue related to sailplane operations. Its specific objective is to establish a simpler and proportionate regulatory framework for air operations with sailplanes.
For this purpose, this Opinion proposes the extraction of the rules for air operations with sailplanes from Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 (except for the authority requirements specified in Annex II (Part-ARO)) and the issue of a new regulation related to air operations with sailplanes. The scope of this new regulation may be extended at a later stage to include other areas related to sailplanes. The final goal would then be to develop — at least to a certain extent — a single ‘sailplane rule book’.
With the new draft regulation, EASA proposes rules for air operations with sailplanes which are less complex and which are proportionate to the complexity and risks of such operations.
In summary, the proposed changes are expected to maintain safety while reducing the regulatory burden especially for sailplane pilots/operators.
