Former Stock Car Driver killed in Ultralight Crash

Kenny Phillips said:
Given the speeds of that thing (part 103), one could probably fly it into a wall near stall speed and walk away.
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Yeah. I would think you could set it down in a very small space.

But they have so little protection around the pilot that any collision is going mostly into your body and not some beer can thick aluminum to dissipate it like heavier aircraft.
 
Those who have never earned a pilots license are at risk for stall/spin in ultralights. Those that have earned a license in conventional aircraft are at risk to grossly underestimate the airframe drag when power is reduced. Just sayin', based on the small sample of ultralights at my airport over the years. I watched a good pilot ball one up 200 feet short of the runway when power was chopped too soon for landing.
 
I am interested in knowing what happened. I am sure as a modified driver he had a few wrecks in which the car was probably cut up into scrap, yet he walked away from it.
 
chemgeek said:
Those who have never earned a pilots license are at risk for stall/spin in ultralights. Those that have earned a license in conventional aircraft are at risk to grossly underestimate the airframe drag when power is reduced. Just sayin', based on the small sample of ultralights at my airport over the years. I watched a good pilot ball one up 200 feet short of the runway when power was chopped too soon for landing.
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Those things do NOT glide. Power off and they usually get wadded up. A guy twisted one all up last week at my home field when the air filter came off his Quickie’s Rotax and went through the prop, shredding it. Instant engine loss, instant contact with runway, and he was up about 20’, flying level at full throttle. He pointed it down immediately and it didn’t flare. Pancaked it and bent/broke numerous tubes. Somehow he was ok. Frame took the impact energy, I guess.
 
Beechtalk people say that he was walking and communicating after the crash, but succumbed to burns later.

The Aerolite 103 uses a typical cylindrical tank that almost all legal ultralights use (except Belites, because James Wiebe is convinced that plastic tanks are safer).
 
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