How much trouble do you think this guy is in

That in depth news report that the OP provided a link to, made no mention of the pilots certification at all. They could have been a couple of farm boys, a couple of old farmers, a farm boy and his squeeze, or even a couple of city slickers out to wow the local yokels with their flying machine. Nothing was mentioned at all about those things.

My take, since we're speculating, is that it was a fifty year old man taking his bi annual flight review. I doubt if they were IFR though. :D

John
 
Skylane81E said:
What are they going to do, take his ticket?:dunno:
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That's my question, if you can fly without a certificate and the FAA just turns a blind eye, then what would keep more people from doing it? So what kind of punishment can the FAA enforce and will they?
 
They can issue $ fines. No license no insurance. If you don't need insurance you really don't need a license. I guess pilots aren't very independent minded or we would have more unlicensed folks.:lol:
Dean said:
That's my question, if you can fly without a certificate and the FAA just turns a blind eye, then what would keep more people from doing it? So what kind of punishment can the FAA enforce and will they?
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If you fly without a certificate, you open yourself wide on the civil side, and I expect that there may be state laws for reckless behavior that might come into play on the criminal side too.
 
I can't believe you guys haven't asked the most important question: Did he file a flight plan? :dunno:
 
Dean said:
That's my question, if you can fly without a certificate and the FAA just turns a blind eye, then what would keep more people from doing it? So what kind of punishment can the FAA enforce and will they?
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The simple answer is, if someone is caught operating without a certificate (where one is required) then a violation can be enforced, and rather than a suspension a civil penalty is issued (monetary fine).
 
If it's truly a powered parachute, then yes, you have to have a certificate. A sport pilot's license will do. If it was a powered paraglider, then no license is required at all. I have a powered paraglider myself. Even though I have my license, most of the guys I fly with don't have any sort of license. There isn't much difference between a PPG and a PPC. Weight. That's about it. I foot launch my PPG and then slide into my sling style seat. But there are carts for a PPG that will haul two people. This one looks like it could be a PPG cart. You don't need a license, you don't need an N number or anything and you can haul a passenger. It's definitely a fun way to fly.
 
I didn't see anything in the story (either written or in the video) which suggested the pilot or aircraft were unlicensed. What did I miss?
 
Ron Levy said:
I didn't see anything in the story (either written or in the video) which suggested the pilot or aircraft were unlicensed. What did I miss?
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You didn't miss anything in the story, the information came from the investigation report.
 
Answers in the FAQ from a school that offers instruction:
[FONT=&quot]Relative to a 2-seat trainer: Yes, you will need a Sport Pilot certificate. Your drivers lic. will serve as your medical, and any restrictions placed on that will apply to your sport pilot privileges. This is an FAA pilot certificate. The minimum requirements are;[/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]12 hours total time, with 10 hours dual training, that means you and your CFI in the plane together, learning to fly the powered parachute. [/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]2 hours solo flight training. (yes, you’re all alone up there when solo). 20 takeoffs & landings to a full stop, with 10 of those being solo.[/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]A dual cross country training with a flight greater than 15 nautical miles straight line distance between takeoff & landing point. [/FONT]
· [FONT=&quot]A solo cross country flight of a straight line distance of at least 10 nautical miles between takeoff & landing points.

A couple of months ago I had the chance to be a passenger on a powered parachute rig. It was a blast! Completely in the open, going low and slow. Flew for about an hour. Given a chance I would go on another ride.
[/FONT]
 
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It's an incredible way to fly! I love flying my Powered paraglider. Taking off is the hardest part. Flying it is super simple. So is landing. My motor is a Fresh Breeze Simonini 122. The wing is an Edel Power Atlas. All together, I paid less than $8,000 for the entire setup, brand new. That included the shipping and the training. 6 years later, I'm still convinced that Fresh Breeze makes the best powered paraglider motors. My motor weighs about 75 pounds when loaded with 2.5 gallons of fuel. I foot launch mine and slide into the sling type seat. Once in the air, the wing is supporting the weight of the motor and not my shoulders. It is like sitting in a lawn chair. Only your feet are below you. You really do feel like a bird. It runs on 100LL or regular auto gas mixed at a 50:1 ratio with 2 cycle engine oil. The 2.5 gallons of fuel will fly me for 3.5 hours if I wanted to stay up that long. It flies about 25 mph. But the type of flying you get to do, is amazing. I kick the tops of trees, see all sorts of wildlife, etc. Flying low is a blast. Here's a short video I made about 5 years ago when I lived in Oklahoma.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_5U55LADz4&list=UUQ8K2EKTxg2hbiN9rMyDcrQ&index=21&feature=plcp
 
Dean said:
Read my first post, then you should know where I got my information.
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You mean this post?
Dean said:
My son worked this crash over the weekend, No pilot certificate, no N#, carrying a passenger and has a crash.

http://www.ky3.com/news/ky3-two-injured-after-hitting-a-tree-in-a-powered-parachute-20111225,0,515960.story
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Don't see anything there in either the written story or video clip about certifications or registrations. What did I miss? Or is your son the source of the "investigation report"? Just who is your son? An FAA Inspector?
 
Ron Levy said:
You mean this post?
Don't see anything there in either the written story or video clip about certifications or registrations. What did I miss? Or is your son the source of the "investigation report"? Just who is your son? An FAA Inspector?
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Perhaps decaf would be appropriate...
 
Clark1961 said:
Perhaps decaf would be appropriate...
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Cap'n Ron makes a good point. I have seen nothing anywhere that says that the pilot wasn't licensed or that there was no N-number. I take any aviation related story on the news with a grain of salt. They usually don't have a clue what they're talking about. Just because they say powered parachute, doesn't mean that it's not actually a powered paraglider. However, from what I could see in the video, I'd say that it is likely a powered parachute. I looked at the NTSB site and see no preliminary reports or anything. That doesn't mean that it won't show up. Anyways, to the OP, if you say that the pilot didn't have a license or N-number, some facts to back it up would be nice. A source of info, perhaps? The news story pretty much sucked and they made no mention of the license or N-number.
 
Back when I was a coroner I went to two crashes of an ultralight with a fatal... Both times I remember the State Police being outraged that the FSDO refused to come out and do an investigation...
The one time the Lieutenant was grumbling at me when the FSDO refused, "What are you going to do about that?"
'Nothing' was my reply...
Dammit, we don't do airplane crashes the FAA does
It's not an airplane
Gawd dammit it has wings
So do birds It's still not an airplane
How do you know that
Because I am a pilot
So what are you going to certify as the cause of death - an airplane crash?
Nope
What then
Stupidity maybe I haven't decided

With that he stomped off, mumbling...
 
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