Opening Times & Car Parking Opening Times Visitors will be asked to leave the exhibition area by 5.00 p.m. Friday: 9.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Saturday: 9.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Sunday: 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. Car Park Car parking remains free. Follow sign posts to visitors car park. Please do not use the Exhibitor car park. Disabled parking is available. Please note that entrance to the LAA Rally car park and exhibition site is separate from the Leicestershire Aero Club entrance (reserved for LAC members and other airfield users) How to get there Leicester Airfield , Gartree Road, Leicester, LE2 2FG Follow the Rally Car Park Signs What3words Location: rings.using.nails

< Back LAA AGM 2025 Full article on the AGM and elected directors will be in the November issue of Light Aviation due out next week. Elected Directors : Alan Crutcher, Alistair Seymour, Clive Shipley, Paul Kirkham, David Millin, Peter Pengilly Next Previous

Light Aviation Magazine 2019 Click on the links below to open each issue of Light Aviation Magazine from 2019 January 2019 April 2019 July 2019 October 2019 February 2019 May 2019 August 2019 November 2019 March 2019 June 2019 September 2019 December 2019

We provide a system whereby members can build an aircraft in the comfort of their own home (or wherever they choose) from either a set of plans or from a kit of parts. Every year around 100 newly-constructed aircraft are added to the LAA fleet, with members generally taking around 1 to 4 years to complete their kit projects. A whole range of aircraft is available to build, from single-seaters to four-seaters, aerobatic to amphibian, and WWI replica triplanes to gyroplanes. The LAA is tasked with ensuring that the designs members build meet minimum airworthiness requirements, appropriate to the type. Proposals for accepting other designs of aircraft can be put to the LAA, and a number of such types are accepted each year following a review of their airworthiness, amongst other things. This requires a member to champion the type through the process, arranging for the necessary technical information to be passed to the Engineering department and to build and test the first example. Similarly, it is possible for a member to build an aircraft of their own design. LAA provides support for this (see the Designing aircraft section), but due to limited resources only the most promising/developed designs can be advanced through the system. Building Aircraft One of the founding principles of the LAA is to provide for members wishing to build their own aircraft, either for their own education or to enable them to own an affordable aircraft. Of course, whichever type you choose it is usually possible to customise it to your liking using the LAA’s modification system. So if it’s an elaborate avionics suite that takes your fancy or an automotive engine conversion, there’s a route to investigating whether it’s possible. If you like the idea of building, but feel you lack the skills, then there are courses on various aspects of aircraft building to help bring you up to speed. Your Inspector is also a fantastic mine of information and generally will be your first port of call for technical information. Of course, the LAA also has a pool of full-time engineers who can be contacted for advice. For further information, click the button below for Technical Leaflets covering the Build Process Click here for more information

97 Octane Super Unleaded Since the replacement of regular E5 Mogas at the pumps by E10, for the time being at least, Mogas users have an alternative option in the form of 97 RON Super Unleaded fuels. 97 RON Super Unleaded fuel supplied by garage forecourts is NOT necessarily ethanol-free, but its ethanol content will be capped at a maximum of 5%. 97 RON E5 Super Unleaded fuel can be used under the LAA process for E5 Mogas, as before. There’s currently no legal requirement for ethanol to be present in super unleaded petrol and in fact, quite a few members have reported that their tests have shown Super Unleaded fuel to be ethanol-free in their areas. Esso reports that “Synergy Supreme+ 99 is actually ethanol free (except, due to technical supply reasons, in Devon, Cornwall, North Wales, North England and Scotland). Legislation requires us to place E5 labels on pumps that dispense unleaded petrol with ‘up to 5% ethanol’, including those that contain no ethanol, which is why we display them on our Synergy Supreme+ 99 pumps”. Shell, BP, Tesco and other fuel suppliers don’t commit to such detail, merely stating their fuels “may contain up to 5% ethanol”. Of course, many LAA members have been using Mogas of one sort or another for many years. For many airstrip users, the prospect of having to go to an airfield to fill up with Avgas would seem at best very off-putting, and at worst totally impractical for their style of operation. Hopefully Super Unleaded will continue to be an option using the LAA’s E5 procedure. Where 97 octane E5 super unleaded can be found that’s ethanol-free, it can be used in the broader range of LAA aircraft with engines eligible for use with E0 unleaded fuel. But it is important that Mogas users take on board the fact that unlike with aviation fuels, automotive fuel specifications generally only describe the properties of the fuel blend, in terms of octane rating and other characteristics, they don’t specify the chemical make-up of the fuel. Apart from specifying broad maxima and minima for those components that the powers-that-be wish to either encourage or discourage, the specifications leave to the fuel supplier the choice of how to blend the fuel to achieve the described properties. In some cases it’s the relatively small amounts of additives that cause compatibility issues, rather than the main components of the fuel that cause the problems – and the mix of additives may vary from one batch to the next. With Mogas of any type, what you get from the pump one week may be different to what you get the week after, or got the week before. The fact that your fuel system pump diaphragms, seals, composite tanks and so on might have been unaffected by Mogas up till now does not guarantee that they will be OK with the blend that the next tanker-load brings to your garage forecourt. Unfortunately there is no simple answer to this, and the only way to mitigate this problem is by constant vigilance, and thoughtful adaption of your maintenance schedule to check for signs of problems developing before they create a safety issue – more frequent checking of filters, changing of fuel lines etc. Signs to watch out for are swelling of rubber components like diaphragms, fuel valve seals and O rings, fuel pipes hardening or developing surface cracks, fuel tank sealants wrinkling or detaching from the internal surfaces of fuel tanks. Varnishes on cork floats may go gummy, or plastic carburettor floats absorb fuel and lose buoyancy, causing a rich mixture and rough running. Watch out for discolouration of the fuel you take out as fuel samples, which may imply something dissolving somewhere in the system, and for corrosion in the bases of your carb float bowls and gascolator. Avoid letting Mogas go stale in your fuel system – drain it out before a long period of disuse. Don’t leave the tanks empty for a long period – better to fill them with Avgas which will reduce condensation, and also, particularly with plastic tanks, prevent the tank’s internals drying out which can cause problems with shrinkage, and in extreme cases, the tanks splitting open. O rings and other rubber parts are best kept submerged in fuel continuously. We’ve seen cases where composite aircraft skins have rippled apparently due to exposure to the vapours created by the break-down products in stale Mogas, after being left unattended over a single winter. Mogas is blended with the expectation that in a car it will be used within a few weeks of being supplied, so it doesn’t need to be as stable over a long period of time as an aviation fuel. If a composite or plastic fuel tank is built into your aircraft, consider carefully whether you want to run the risk of having to replace it should the tank deteriorate with Mogas exposure, with all that that implies. With an integral tank in a wet-wing Jabiru aircraft, the answer should be certainly not – but even with the embedded polyethylene fuel tank in a Europa’s fuselage, changing the fuel tank is not an operation for the faint-hearted, involving cutting out quite large parts of the fibreglass cockpit module to release the tank, and then scarfing them back again afterwards in-situ. The Europa kit was first produced in the era of four-star Mogas, a very different blend to what we find at the pumps today. Ethanol-proof rubber hoses are available. In particular SAE J30/R9 or the European equivalent DIN 7339 D3 are automotive hose standards that are widely available from auto factors, and should be used in preference to the older SAEJ30/R6 standard hose which is more permeable to fuel vapour and will more quickly harden and crack, particularly using fuel containing ethanol. The SAE spec J30/R14 is a lower pressure, more pliable version for carburettor systems. Watch out for cheap imitations – the real McCoy should come from a reputable manufacturer, be marked with the SAE number along its length and will likely cost at least £10 a metre. What can we do to help the situation ? It may be that off-the-shelf drop-in-the-tank additives can be used to mitigate some of the problems with mogas fuel, in particular, stabilisers and anti-corrosion products, just as they are routinely in the marine and race-car world. Not knowing what’s in them, we recommending steering clear of any additives that claim to boost the fuel’s octane. Definitely avoid additives that claim to actively enhance an engine’s power or fuel economy, other than just to restore proper performance by giving the carburettor jets and orifices an occasional clean-up. For most aircraft engines UL91 Avgas remains the ideal fuel, in that it is a tightly-controlled aviation-grade fuel of a guaranteed composition, blended for long-term stability and optimal volatility for aviation use. As it is in effect the familiar 100LL Avgas but supplied without its tetraethyl lead, any fuel system designed for 100LL Avgas will be unaffected by using UL91 fuel, or, if circumstances demand, by a mix of 100LL and UL91. Despite a pervasive mis-conception, UL91 fuel is NOT Mogas and suffers from none of the issues associated with Mogas use in aircraft. A list of engines suitable for use with UL91 fuel can be downloaded from the ‘operating and maintaining an LAA Aircraft’ page of the LAA’s new website. Moves are afoot to increase the number of airfields supplying UL91 fuel, with full LAA backing.

Pilot Coaching Scheme LAA DTO The LAA is a CAA Declared Training Organisation (DTO). Our enjoyment of flying, and the ability to share that with others, carries with it a responsibility to maintain good standards of flying and airmanship. The Pilot Coaching Scheme (PCS) provides coaches to assist with specific courses and any general training need. COACHES The LAA has the Pilot Coaching Scheme - all Coaches are current CAA and Part 21-FCL certified Class Rating Instructors, Flight Instructors, or Flight Examiners. They’re also your trainer, confidante and mentor throughout the process of you learning to fly your aircraft. FIND A COACH Click on the button below to go to a map of all the LAA Coaches. You can find out their location, contact details, photograph and a short profile about them. Most coaches are happy to travel reasonable distances to accommodate your needs. WHY HAVE THE PCS? Statistics show that for LAA aircraft, the transition of a pilot onto a new aircraft type is a frequent source of accidents, more so than the aircraft's initial test flying phase. The same is true of the first flight of any unfamiliar aircraft, whether it is a home-built, vintage, or microlight. HOW IT WORKS Most LAA coaches have completed all differences themselves applicable to LAA types, so they can provide your differences or familiarisation training - though naturally, before doing so, they may need the opportunity to fly the aircraft sufficiently to acquaint themselves with the individual model concerned. WHAT DOES THE PCS OFFER? The PCS offers Licence Revalidation & Renewals, Differences Training, Familiarisation Training, Type Conversions, Licence Migrations and much more! Click the button below to find out what each of these means in detail. CLICK HERE TO FIND A COACH CLICK HERE FOR PCS DETAILS CLICK HERE FOR THE PILOT COACHING SCHEME DOCUMENTS (CSDs) CLICK HERE FOR PILOT COACHING SCHEME MAGAZINE ARTICLES

Feedback We would love to hear from you about your experience with the LAA, issues you would like to raise or comments for our staff. Please click the button below to fill in our feedback form or scan the QR code on your phone. Click here...

< Back Alert A-11-2025 - Eurostar aileron rose joint and rudder hinge inspection 8 Oct 2025 LAA Engineering has issued Alert A-11-2025 to highlight the recent issue of an Airmasters service bulletin that requires checks on the integrity of a rose joint in the aileron controls and the rudder hinge, following examples of these joints migrating and jamming aileron controls. Following the up-issue of Airmasters SB/EUR/023 to issue 3, on 07/10/25 CAA has issued MPD 2025-004-E to mandate the checks contained in the SB, which supersedes MPD 2025-003-E initially issued on the subject. A-11-2025 - Eurostar Rose Joints issue 1 .pdf Download PDF • 372KB Next Previous

Engineering INFO LIBRARY CONTINUING AIRWORTHINESS INFORMATION INSPECTOR ZONE FLIGHT TESTING AIRCRA FT NIGHT/ IFR REVALIDATING A PERMIT TO FLY TECHNICAL LEAFLETS OPERATING & MAINTAINING BUILDING AIRCRAFT MODIFYING & REPAIRING AIRCRAFT FIND AN INSPECTOR TADS ENGINEERING FEES DESIGNING AIRCRAFT BUYING AIRCRAFT

Data Protection Policy A Statement About the Information Held on Our Website We make every effort to make sure that the information held on this website is as accurate, as up to date, and as complete as possible. However, there can be occasions where we experience problems in achieving this. This means that we cannot accept liability for any loss, damage, or inconvenience which may occur through your use of the information on this site. We recommend that you contact us for clarification before going any further with anything which you feel could cause loss, damage or inconvenience, as a result of using information on our site. If you find any information on our site that gives you cause for concern, then please tell us, and we will investigate, as appropriate. Also, please understand that we are not in control of any of the sites that we link to from ours. This means that again we do not accept liability for any loss, damage, or inconvenience which may occur through your use of the information on those sites. Please contact the appropriate organisations to check that their information is up to date and accurate. A Statement About the Copyright of Information/Facilities Held on Our Site All of the pages on this website are the copyright of The Light Aircraft Association (unless otherwise stated). Our copyright is protected by UK laws, and by international treaties worldwide. All rights are reserved. Please read the statements below if you would like to publish our information further : We expect notification of further publication of our information as a courtesy. However, permission to use our information (for non-commercial purposes) is given, if we are acknowledged as the source. Privacy Statement GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION - LAA POLICY 1. INTRODUCTION As an organisation which holds personal data in the form of membership and aircraft ownership information, we are required to ensure compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), which are designed to ensure more robust security and more transparency in the use of personal data. The GDPR places specific legal obligations on the LAA. For example, we are required to maintain records of personal data processing activities. We will have legal liability if we are responsible for a breach of confidential member data and members have a right to request sight of the data we hold on them, how it is used and if necessary to request that data is removed from our database. 2. OVERALL POLICY The LAA holds personal data from members and data linked to aircraft built or operated by members. We only hold data when there is a justifiable need to do so and will remove data if it is no longer required. The LAA has robust security systems to protect data and information, and will promptly inform anyone affected should any breach occur. Finally, the LAA will not circulate any member information to third parties without prior consent. 3. WHAT WE HOLD We currently hold data which is pertinent to GDPR in six main areas: a) Membership Data. All filing is electronic, via a remotely sited database with no hard copy filing. Name, address, contact numbers and e-mails; age; type and duration of membership; aircraft owned linked to Engineering database; bank details; correspondence sent and received. No credit or debit card details are recorded or retained. Members names and addresses are supplied to the LAA magazine publishers for the distribution of Light Aviation magazine only. Stuts receive details of new members with prior consent when they join up. b) Engineering Data. Links from the aircraft ownership database to the member database include correspondence sent and received; lists of permit revalidation dates and related information, categorised both by aircraft type and aircraft registration. Permit issue and revalidation applications, modification and repair applications are held both electronically and as hard copy in a locked, secure archive. These typically include member name and address data and may also record pilot licence number. There is a legal requirement to hold aircraft files for future scrutiny by organisations such as CAA and AAIB. Engineering admin also process debit and credit card information for fees and transactions. No debit or credit card details are recorded or retained. c) Transactional Data. Held electronically and in some cases as hard copy. Records of membership fees paid, permit revalidation payments, modification and repair fees, training course fees and merchandise sales. Records of sales transactions are held for one year in case of queries and also for the purposes of audit. No debit or credit card details are recorded or retained. Magazine advertising transactions held include name, address, payment levels and future commitments. Rally advertising and stand space transactions are logged by the Office Manager and contracted accountant. Other charges and transactions are controlled by contracted accountant via Sage accounting software. d) Inspector Records. Information held by the Head of Continuing Airworthiness & Inspection on LAA Inspectors includes: name, address, age, qualifications, contact numbers and e-mail addresses, inspection approval categories, reports on reviews and competency assessments. Held both electronically and as filed hard copy. e) NPPL Data. Information is processed on behalf of CAA for the National Private Pilot Licence scheme. Name, address, contact numbers and e-mails, age. Payments for the LAA are made either online or virtually. No debit or credit card details are recorded or retained. f) Employee Information. Name, address, contact numbers and e-mails, age, bank details, tax and salary information, as well as working records, for members of staff, contractors and some volunteers. Accessible only to senior personnel; CEO, Office Manager, Accountant and Chief Technical Officer. Terms of staff member access to own records specified in Staff Handbook. It is noted too that every staff member and Board member holds personal information which comes under the jurisdiction of the GDPR in the form of e-mails, applications and transactional records. All staff and Board members are reminded that all correspondence and address details held remain confidential, and a Data Handling Code of Conduct, including advice on computer security, will be followed. All e-mails issued should contain a standard confidentiality notice. In addition to information held at LAA HQ, LAA Member Clubs and Struts will also hold information such as member data which will require GDPR compliance. The LAA will brief these organisations accordingly on a regular basis, giving advice on how they can comply in their own right. 4. OVERSIGHT The GDPR requires that public authorities and large-scale data processing organisations designate a Data Protection Officer to take responsibility for data protection compliance. The size and structure of our organisation does not justify a dedicated post, therefore a GDPR steering team led by the CEO will provide this oversight. The CEO, Office Manager, Chief Technical Officer and Head of Continuing Airworthiness & Inspection will meet at least quarterly to identify areas that could cause compliance problems under the GDPR and will report regularly to the Board. 5. PRIVACY All members, by completing their application and thereby entering into a contractual relationship for the LAA to provide membership services, have effectively agreed to their use of their name and address, exclusively by the LAA, to ensure they receive benefits including Light Aviation magazine. We fulfil the terms of the GDPR in having a lawful basis for processing this data (see 6), which will be held on our database for the duration of their membership. In the case of lapsed membership, the data is held for a further five years to allow lapsed members to more easily rejoin. Deceased members’ records are removed after two months, with the exception of LAA Inspectors, as their records are regarded as a part of an inspected aircraft’s history. Engineering and aircraft-related data linked to members is retained (see 3b), as we have a requirement to hold records linked to aircraft to meet the requirements of organisations such as the CAA and AAIB. Each form requiring Member Information input will henceforth carry the line; “Data privacy: personal data submitted on this application form may be stored electronically but will only be used in relation to the application (and to support the safety of any aircraft to which it relates)*. Statutory obligations excepting, personal data will not be passed on to third parties without your permission. The full LAA data protection policy can be found on our website at www.laa.uk.com ” *this section for engineering forms only. 6. INDIVIDUALS' RIGHTS The GDPR includes the following rights for individuals: the right to be informed; the right of access; the right to rectification; the right to erasure; the right to restrict processing; the right to data portability; the right to object; and the right not to be subject to automated decision-making including profiling. We are confident that current procedures fulfil the GDPR and we do not operate any data profiling processes. We will regularly review our procedures to ensure they cover areas such as the deletion of personal data and will provide a member with the data we hold on them, if requested, in electronic format. The CEO will make any final decisions about deletion or release of information. 7. SUBJECT ACCESS REQUESTS We acknowledge that individuals have a right to seek access to information held on LAA databases or if they think there is a problem with the way we are handling their data. We will comply with any such request within the statutory one month period. However, we can refuse or charge for requests that are manifestly unfounded or excessive. Individuals will have the right to have their personnel data deleted where they believe it is being held without a practical or lawful basis. If we refuse a request, we must tell the individual why and that they have the right to complain to the ICO and to seek a judicial remedy. We must do this, at the latest, within one month. 8. CHILDREN There is a requirement to put systems in place to verify individuals’ ages and to obtain parental or guardian consent for any data processing activity. This is unlikely to directly affect the Light Aircraft Association Limited, but it may be pertinent if Struts hold information on individuals under the age of 13. A briefing on these requirements will be forwarded to LAA Struts as part of their briefing process. 9. DATA PRIVACY IMPACT ASSESSMENT (DPIA) LAA systems fulfil the GDPR recommended ‘privacy by design’ approach. ‘Data Protection Impact Assessments’ will be carried out if a new technology is being deployed; or if there is processing on a large scale of the special categories of data held. While this is unlikely to directly affect the LAA, we will work with our IT contractors to ensure that awareness of this is included in any future development programmes. 10. BREACHES OF DATA Should we become aware of any personal data breach, we will notify members as rapidly as is feasibly possible, notifying the Information Commissioner’s Office if a breach is likely to result in discrimination, damage to reputation, financial loss, loss of confidentiality or any other significant economic or social disadvantage to those concerned. March 2025

< Back LAA Head Office closed on Friday 4th July 3 Jul 2025 LAA HQ will be closed on Friday 4th July 2025 due to the Silverstone Grand Prix. All staff will be working from home, so can continue to deal with your calls and emails, but will not be on site at Turweston to answer any questions directly or receive any hand-delivered documents. Next Previous

< Back New LAA Inspector - Ed Stinton 27 Mar 2024 The LAA is pleased to welcome Ed Stinton as a new LAA Inspector. Ed came to an Assessment Day at LAA HQ at the start of March. Ed has restored two crash-damaged Avid flyers and one crash-damaged MW7. He also restored a barn-find ARV Super2, including Rotax engine conversion. He has been involved with numerous RV builds, including his own Harmon Rocket (modified RV4). Ed has held CAA approvals for welding carbon steels. He is experienced with fabric, wood and composites, Wankel Rotary and Lycoming engines. Ed has worked with both two-stroke and four-stroke Rotax engines. He has worked for MidWest engines, Diamond Aircraft and numerous maintenance organisations. Next Previous