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The title is the question.

Are there any special regulations regarding experimental aircraft in Germany (or the EU)?

Those "special regulations" would (hopefully) be looser set of regulations in contrast to the LTF-UL regulations for ultralight planes (MTOW < 600kg).

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Yes, there are. Everything is regulated in Germany.

Your regular experimental aircraft would have to follow JAR 23 and the LBA has transferred the supervision and certification of experimental aircraft to the Oskar Ursinus Vereinigung (OUV). Before you begin work on your experimental, be sure to contact them and talk to an OUV assessor. This assessor will follow the progress of your work and will regularly check if all work is done properly. You need to prove that you have a heated workshop and document your work sufficiently (like keep samples of every resin mixture that was used for building composite parts). This assessor will also help with contact to experts if you got stuck or with the insane amounts of paperwork, which - this being Germany - often seem baffling and pointless.

You do not need a full certification but at least a load test to 100% design load. The aircraft will get a vorläufige Verkehrszulassung (VVZ; provisional airworthiness certificate) which needs to be renewed regularly. Also, operation of that experimental will be restricted to overflight of sparsely populated areas. But others have succeeded before, so good luck!

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  • $\begingroup$ Thank you for your answer. Does if I understand it correctly I could build my own UL and then after having flown it with the help of OUV I can work on getting it set up to abide LTF-UL? $\endgroup$
    – GittingGud
    Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 18:06
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    $\begingroup$ @GittingGud: I'm not so familiar with ULs, but I would expect that JAR23 is replaced by LTF-UL for experimental ULs. Please contact the OUV office (camo(at)ouv.de) for expert advice. $\endgroup$
    – Peter Kämpf
    Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 20:30
  • $\begingroup$ the insane amounts of paperwork, which - this being Germany - often s̶e̶e̶m̶ is baffling and pointless. One of the few things I can't get used to in Germany. $\endgroup$
    – DeltaLima ♦
    Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 21:13
  • $\begingroup$ @DeltaLima: I see it this way: Those bureaucrats need something to justify their existence. Better to lock them away in Government offices where they can shuffle paper all day than letting them out into the open. $\endgroup$
    – Peter Kämpf
    Commented Aug 27, 2019 at 17:45
  • $\begingroup$ That makes me smile. Ping me when you're in the Frankfurt (Main) area, I am buying you a beer. $\endgroup$
    – DeltaLima ♦
    Commented Aug 27, 2019 at 17:58

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