Any ultralight pilots in here?

[Cujet]

I'd rather eat a bug than fly Clyde Cessna's 172... they leave me cold whereas an Carbon Fiber SW51 makes me hot...

I know quite a few people who feel that way, so you are in good company. However, after being out of one for a while and getting back into one, they can be fun all over again.

As you know, I get to fly all sorts of fun things. In the end, an airplane is an airplane to me.

The Extra NG sure is fun to fly. Lycoming IO580 aerobatic engine, carbon monocoque fuselage, lighter and far more sleek than the Extra 300L's it replaces. Rated to +/- 10G. (of which I can handle 2)

 

[grampi]

I'd rather eat a bug than fly Clyde Cessna's 172... they leave me cold whereas an Carbon Fiber SW51 makes me hot...



Ballistic Rescue System (optional) by GRS Galaxy
Heating & ventilation
12V LiFePo4 batterie
Electric retractable landing gear
Electric landing flaps
Visual and acoustic landing gear warning system
Hydraulic disc brakes with parking lock
Unique ramp appeal – more than 100.000 surface details
Classic style wrapped in advanced safety and performance
Precise control, harmonic balance and high maneuverability
Great take-off and landing handling
Highly efficient engine package
A exhilarating flying feeling
Two fuel sorts: MOGAS or AVGAS suitable with Rotax 915iS
Two fully redudant fuel pumps
Two center wing tanks, 2 x 50 l / 13 USG (standard)
Proven & tested
Vintage: scale and original 70% replica of the historic P-51 Mustang
Accommodates pilots from 150 cm / 4 ft 11” to 200 cm / 6 ft 7”
Comfortable cabin width of 58 cm / 23”
Large luggage compartment
Easily removable outer wings for easy road transport and storing in limited hangar space
Wingspan: 7.9 m / 311“
Length: 6.88 m / 280“
Height: 1.97 m / 78“
Wing area: 11 m² /118 ft²
Aspect ratio: 5.6
MTOW: 750kg(+) Experimental
Vne: 216 kts (400 km/h)
Max. Loads: +6/-4 g
Fuel tanks: 2 x 50 l (13 USG)
Powerplant: 1 × Rotax 912iS four cylinder, air and liquid-cooled, four stroke aircraft engine, 75 kW (148hp)
Propellers: 3-bladed DUC Hélices carbon fiber CS fixed-pitch propeller or 4-blade variable-pitch propeller

A new Scale Wings SW51 Ready to Fly starts at 395,000 USD

A new Cessna 172 Skyhawk starts at around a cost of $432,000.

As long as we're wishing for the unaffordable, I'll take an actual P-51...

 

[grampi]

If price wasn't issue, I'd buy a Cessna 140. My Dad owned one, and that's what I learned to fly. Soloed on my 16th birthday...

 

[grampi]

Who wants to be in their death bed wishing they experienced the joys of Ultra Light flying???

View attachment 149600

Now THAT looks like fun!

 

[Cujet]

Now THAT looks like fun!

OR: A big gust of wind caught the airplane from the right and that was the last picture ever taken of Mike... (a little joke, but you get my point, very light aircraft are sensitive)

 

[thastinger]

I sure do want to. There is a local guy with one of those mosquito helicopters and another guy with a paraglider. My kids aren't out of the house yet so I need to manage risks a little better than that for a few more years.

 

[Jim K]

This guy is a real ultralight pilot.

 

[Aredeeem]

I used to know a glider pilot. (This is not a bad joke) He passed away from natural causes several years ago. His training story and how he acquired that skill is interesting. I’ll leave it at that. But back to ultralights.

He was a young Austrian boy. This was circa World War II. He told me that he was ushered into a room with several colleagues. They were divided into two groups. They were told, this half of the room will be truck drivers. This half of the room will be taught to be glider pilots. He was in the glider pilot half. An interesting fellow that corroborated his story at every turn. I’m sorry, the ultralight thread made me think of him.

 

[grampi]

OR: A big gust of wind caught the airplane from the right and that was the last picture ever taken of Mike... (a little joke, but you get my point, very light aircraft are sensitive)

Don't be such a killjoy. Everything fun in life has risk...if not, it's no fun...

 

[Aredeeem]

I agree.This gentleman soared the thermals for years after his World War II experiences. A skill he would have never learned except for the worst of circumstances. A real honor to have gotten to know him.

 

[Cujet]

Don't be such a killjoy. Everything fun in life has risk...if not, it's no fun...

I get that my answers are harsh, but, no joke, I have exactly zero close friends left. My closest and oldest friend is still alive, but mentally gone, after a massive stroke. So he does not count. The rest, and I mean all of them, are GONE. A good number of them due to crashes. I suggested something reasonably safe, and desirable, so it would be possible to financially manage. But it certainly is not the only solution when one has the desire to fly.

What I am suggesting is that you consider an aircraft with a great safety record.

 

[wpod]

Someday soon I will pilot an Ultralight as I just bought a 90% complete Hummel Ultracruiser with a 45hp Casler 1/2 VW
engine and Prince black prop from a builder up in Canada...

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View attachment 149471

I need a plane with a bathroom.

 

[grampi]

I sure do want to. There is a local guy with one of those mosquito helicopters and another guy with a paraglider. My kids aren't out of the house yet so I need to manage risks a little better than that for a few more years.

Copters and para

I need a plane with a bathroom.

You'll have to get a pilot's license for that...