A Weird Question...

[C_Duff]

Originally Posted by Gilligan

You might want to get or rent one of those with a clear parachute so that you can look up. I hear that, if they get approval, some jumpers may be falling out of airplanes over the airport. You probably do not want them landing on your ultra-light parachute

Those things do look like fun. I've seen small groups of them take off and land over by the airport in an unused area. I do not think you need any kind of license to use them. Not even a safe flying certificate! Is that correct?

I'd avoid those things. Ultralights are (barely) flying death traps. They are usually homebuilt kits.

Those "aircrafts" usually need only a Sports Pilots certificate which is less stringent to obtain and more restrictive on where and when you can operate.

[fatlazyless]

Didn't one of the Wal-Mart Waltons, son of Sam Walton, age about 55, crashed and dieded in an ultralight plane that cost 9-thousand dollars in Wyoming, a few years ago. He lived free & died with about 9-billion dollars in his wallet at the time. He won't be spending too much of that, anymore.

Got to be an easier way to curtail the spending....


Would have been better off buying a 188-dollar kayak at the Gilford Wal-Mart

[tis]

One of the Marriots fly an ultra light.

[fatlazyless]

How about one of the little Laker Amphibians which seem to have a niche market around here. Any chance me finding one on craigslist for $9000. They look like they barely go faster than 100mph and can always be landed on the water if you run out of fuel

What's going on with the propeller......it is backwards?

[Nadia]

Are you talking about the thingy that the boat pulls, and as the boat accelerates it eventually flies up into the air? Kinda like sitting on a bench with a little parachute above it? Talk about your eloquent language! LOL, listen to mine!

[jkjoshuatree]

...I think.

I know they used to to that in Paugus Bay years ago.

I'm talking about a three wheel contraption that you sit in, the engine is in the back and there's a parachute above you.

Does that make any sense? Thank God I can't show you in a drawing...that would make it even more confusing since I draw like a two year old (no offense to any two year olds reading this).

[jkjoshuatree]

Thanks for spelling it correctly Nadia. And I'm supposedly an English major...wow, how embarassing!

[jkjoshuatree]

There...finally! Now I think I'm losing my mind. I'm going to bed before I sit up all night talking to myself on Winni.com.

Night all!

[ApS]

Originally Posted by tis

One of the Marriots fly an ultra light.

Similar to this, but in dark red color?

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

"...How about one of the little Laker Amphibians...What's going on with the propeller...it is backwards...?

The Lake amphibian has a "pusher-prop": really noisy, really slow, but the prop is high and away from splash that can damage the prop's surface. (And quiet inside).

Originally Posted by C_Duff

I'd avoid those things. Ultralights are (barely) flying death traps. They are usually homebuilt kits.

Like pediatricians and healthcare in general, General Aviation was "put on its ear" by tort trial lawyers. Every instrument manufacturer involved in a airplane incident was sued out of profitability, if not business.

Ultralights are all that is left for the Joe Public guy who wants to fly. The really good news is that the Austrian-designed "Rotax" engines selected for ultralight power, have a very good reputation for reliability.

Originally Posted by jkjoshuatree

Has anyone seen those flying thingys over the past few summers by the Weirs? They look kind of like hang gliders but with a parachute in place of the wings.

Haven't seen them here, but are they like this one—which has a pusher-prop engine?

[C_Duff]

Originally Posted by tis

One of the Marriots fly an ultra light.

Yes they do....and they had an accident near Wolfeboro Neck/Tuftonboro Neck back in the late 80's (89 I think). They were "dog fighting" and clipped each other's wings. The fire dept actually flagged us down by the boat launch in front of the Libby to bring firefighters out to the scene.

Careless, poorly (if at all) trained "pilots" flying what is basically a hang glider with a lawnmower engine.

and if Acers per Second wants to comment on my opinons on ultralights, that's fine. I'm a former pilot myself and a current air traffic controller. That and those I've met who fly these things have made up my mind for me.

Yes it is sad that the General Aviation community has been hit hard by all the lawsuits, but that does not excuse the pure stupidity of those who fly these things recklessly. They are the same types of people as the countless "Capt boneheads" mentioned on these forums.

[tis]

I remember when that happened, C.

[jkjoshuatree]

Do you know what they're called?

[ApS]

Originally Posted by C_Duff

"...I'm a former pilot myself and a current air traffic controller. That and those I've met who fly these things have made up my mind for me..."

We wouldn't have left the ground at all, if it weren't for those earliest "high-risk" aviators with their homemade "flying machines".

Originally Posted by C_Duff

"...and if Acres per Second wants to comment on my opinions on ultralights, that's fine..."

Except for the homebuilt aspect, I don't think we have a dispute here.

Flying an ultralight is a high-risk activity; however, as long as these pilots endanger only themselves, there's no problem with ultralights for me. Few in this demographic abandon high-risk activities even after their buddies fail to "arrive alive".

For example, the U.S. Army—distressed to lose so many expensively-trained men on leave from Iraq, and in the age 25-34 demographic already known for risk—lists the following activities as "high-risk" :

ALL TERRAIN VEHICLES (ATV)
AUTO RACING
BUNGEE JUMPING
CIVILIAN LIGHT AIRCRAFT FLIGHT
CIVIL HELICOPTER FLYING
DIRT BIKING
EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT
HOT AIR BALLOONING
HUNTING
MOTORCYCLE RIDING
MOUNTAIN CLIMBING/RAPPELLING
RODEO/BULL RIDING
SCUBA DIVING
SKI JUMPING (SNOW)
SKYDIVING
SNOWMOBILING
SOARING
WHITE WATER RAFTING

(I would add base-jumping, free-diving, free-basing, shark-petting, snowmobile skimming, snake charming, lion taming, box-comb jellyfish collecting, venomous snake photography, mountain climbing, and bullfighting, as I did a few years ago, here). Ten-fifteen years ago, the list probably would have included PWCs!

The irony is that the Army list exists so that "personnel can come back from the U.S. alive".

(Now, I have my own "high-risk" activity, but instructing race-car drivers from the passenger side of the driver's own cars is done on a closed course after many hours of classroom and the precautions in mechanical preparedness. Or, "Do not try this at home".

Where we might have a dispute is when high-risk personalities choose to not avail themselves of available training, yet choose to spread their risk with hundreds of family boaters on protected inland waters.

Sorry to be so long-winded, but it's raining and—oh yeah—you're new here!

Originally Posted by tis

One of the Marriots flies one.

All I ever see is red or yellow ultralights. (Mostly red ones).

Originally Posted by jkjoshuatree

Do you know what they're called?

"Powered-parasails", "Powerchutes", "Powered-parachutes", or just "PPC".

[SIKSUKR]

Here's a line of paraplanes:http://www.sunflightcraft.com/en/paraplanes.php

My bad.That photo is indeed a powered parachute.The paraplanes have fixed wings.