First Ultralight Flight - Wow!

colojo

colojo

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Colojo
Took my first ultralight flight yesterday, which was also my first flight in a powered, open cockpit aircraft. What a hoot! These things are seriously fun and potentially addictive.

We did a one-hour sunrise loop around the Cabo San Lucas area. If you're ever down here I can't recommend doing this enough. The outfit is called Cabo Sky Tours and the pilot, Ernesto, is extremely good.

These are frame grabs from the GoPro video of the flight, which I'll edit and post when I get back home.

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I've been flying all my life and I agree. Ultralights are a blast! I've even made a couple of skydives from them.
 
I flew with Ernesto last week!

He's awesome and flying in his plane really made me think about what i'd like to buy someday. I still think I want a traveling airplane, but if I dont' end up at an airpark, i could sure see having one of these to launch from your back 40 and go up and buzz around for some fun.

it was an "M-Pulse II" with a 4cyl ROTAX. i'm curious to know what these run and what ratings you need in the US for one of these. pretty darned fun.

that said, 12 minutes with Ernesto costs about what 1 hour in a Cessna costs at home. :) Still worth it though
 
MIFlyer said:
it was an "M-Pulse II" with a 4cyl ROTAX. i'm curious to know what these run and what ratings you need in the US for one of these. pretty darned fun.
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If it has two seats, it is an LSA not a part 103 ultralight and you need at least a sport pilot ticket.
 
Holy crap, those trikes cost as much as a well equipped PA-28-140 lol...37K for a trike? cmon...
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
If it has two seats, it is an LSA not a part 103 ultralight and you need at least a sport pilot ticket.
Click to expand...

So, if I get my ASEL PP would I need additional rating/endorsement for one of these? Is this a category/class issue where it's a weight shift category which is different than airplane?
 
I don't think I'll look at those lawnmowers with a kite quite the same again.

I was in Winter Haven last year and a group of three trikes was taking off after a quick breakfast, I think they needed exactly 10 feet of runway lol...
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
If it has two seats, it is an LSA not a part 103 ultralight and you need at least a sport pilot ticket.
Click to expand...

Did the Feds overlook that at one point in time? I had a buddy that had a two seater, long before any LSA classification.

On a side note, I wouldn't get in a Mexican registered small airplane, let alone an ultralight.
 
Kritchlow said:
Did the Feds overlook that at one point in time? I had a buddy that had a two seater, long before any LSA classification.
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Yea, at one time. Then there was the option to convert "fat ultrilights" to LSA catagory, but that window is long closed.
 
MIFlyer said:
So, if I get my ASEL PP would I need additional rating/endorsement for one of these? Is this a category/class issue where it's a weight shift category which is different than airplane?
Click to expand...
Weight-shift-control is a category. 61.5

See also 61.109 J and/or 61.313
 
I always thought the "ultralight style" LSA's would be a nice cheap way to afford flying. But, as someone else already pointed out, many of these even run as much as a nice used airplane.
 
Coloradokevin said:
I always thought the "ultralight style" LSA's would be a nice cheap way to afford flying. But, as someone else already pointed out, many of these even run as much as a nice used airplane.
Click to expand...

The cost of buying is one thing, but have you compared the cost of keeping/maintaining?
 
I remember seeing those on rosarito beach and thinking if I ever wanted to disappear like in the movies, that would be a sweet little gig, flying tourists around the beach in those things.

Then I did see one have a hard landing and damaged the nose gear, they dragged it into a garage just off the beach and started wrenching and BANGING on it, that's when my little dream ended.
 
I thinking I want a Powered Parachute to supplement flying Single engine Land.
It would be a 2 place PPC so it would be registered LSA or ELSA and I would operate it as PPL with PPC add on Rating. Something like that. The closest training for PPC would be 3 hours away.
 
I'd think a 2-person UL would be a fantastic compliment for a flying club with an existing 4-seat aircraft. I think they'd be a blast for the days when you just want to putt around the 30 mile radius of a city.
 
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