Posted: 4/6/2011 11:16:08 PM EDT
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Saw an Ultralight airplane cruising over the house yesterday.
Got me to thinking if anyone here does it? What does it take to get started in it? |
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My lightest plane is a near ultralight. It weighs 368 lbs empty which is 114 lbs over the legal ultralight weight. I built it 10 years ago and have flown it 450 hours and taken 78 people up for a ride. Lot's of low altitude flying fun. Many pilots that I have taken up said it was the most fun they had experienced in the air. The design is a Kolb Firestar II. The Kolb company makes a legal ultralight called theFirefly which is a good, safe design.
After about 5 -10 hours of training in a two seater you will be likely good to go. No license is required. But, training may be difficult to find and, unless you get a sport pilot certificate, you are limited to only flying legal ultralights which are pretty rare themselves as the weight limit is so low and no passengers allowed. As for safety, it really is as safe as you make it. Get a good, proven design with a steel-based cage structure. A ballistic parachute is a good idea, too. Have fun... 
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FBO I got my license out of YEARS AGO had a builder & club there.
My instructor referred to them as flying lawn chairs. I was indifferent to them until one suck in under me on short final.  his was a high wing mine was a low wing so the visibility of each other was very difficult at best. I just slipped to the side, descended to about 40'agl, gave him a wing wag & went around. Before I could talk to him my instructor gave him a what for. From what I heard the IP & student in the UL got their asses chewed by my IP & the FBO owner. After that UL operations changed a bit.
Gotta love a small uncontrolled airfield. 7mm |
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Quoted: FBO I got my license out of YEARS AGO had a builder & club there. My instructor referred to them as flying lawn chairs. I was indifferent to them until one suck in under me on short final. his was a high wing mine was a low wing so the visibility of each other was very difficult at best. I just slipped to the side, descended to about 40'agl, gave him a wing wag & went around. Before I could talk to him my instructor gave him a what for. From what I heard the IP & student in the UL got their asses chewed by my IP & the FBO owner. After that UL operations changed a bit.Gotta love a small uncontrolled airfield. 7mm If he is below you he has right away. |
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CGS Hawk, I used to work with Chuck Slusarczyk when the plant was in Middlefield, Ohio. Mine is sort of a mix between the "Arrow" and the "Classic" I built it for Sun-n-Fun one year and had to get it done but the Arrow plans and parts weren't fully complete so I used a few of the older style parts when needed. It flies great, while it will stall, it isn't at all violent, just sort of mushy then falls over.
It's not the speediest thing in the sky but is very forgiving, easy to land in cross winds and will haul quite a bit. It's great for flying around on those calm summer evenings. I haven't heard of what the pricing is since Chuck sold the business but I think you could find something used that is flyable in the 6,000.00 range. CGS has a part 103 (ultralight legal) compliant model on their site, most you will find used are going to be a little on the "fat" side. HTH's |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
FBO I got my license out of YEARS AGO had a builder & club there. My instructor referred to them as flying lawn chairs. I was indifferent to them until one suck in under me on short final. his was a high wing mine was a low wing so the visibility of each other was very difficult at best. I just slipped to the side, descended to about 40'agl, gave him a wing wag & went around. Before I could talk to him my instructor gave him a what for. From what I heard the IP & student in the UL got their asses chewed by my IP & the FBO owner. After that UL operations changed a bit.
Gotta love a small uncontrolled airfield. 7mm If he is below you he has right away. The Geauga Co airport (CGS Aviations field for a long time) has a 500' Rt hand pattern for UL's, 1000' Lt hand for General. This is not a controlled field and there have been very few problems with UL traffic. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
FBO I got my license out of YEARS AGO had a builder & club there. My instructor referred to them as flying lawn chairs. I was indifferent to them until one suck in under me on short final. his was a high wing mine was a low wing so the visibility of each other was very difficult at best. I just slipped to the side, descended to about 40'agl, gave him a wing wag & went around. Before I could talk to him my instructor gave him a what for. From what I heard the IP & student in the UL got their asses chewed by my IP & the FBO owner. After that UL operations changed a bit.
Gotta love a small uncontrolled airfield. 7mm If he is below you he has right away. I yielded to him. After that incident an established pattern direction was started. 7mm |
