Keep in mind I have my PPL, have been flying for 6 years or so, and fly quite regularly in airplanes.
I want an ultralight because I live in a rural area, and I want to just fly around sometimes for fun, without spending a bunch of money to do so. An ultralight would allow me to just fly around our house and neighborhood, maybe down to the next town or so, and not make me have to drive all the way to the airport to do so.
Also - at $130/hr for an airplane, I think an Ultralight will be a lot cheaper in the long run for this type of flying. And a hell of a lot more fun for low and slow stuff.
Gotcha!
So you can already operate as a Sport Pilot fixed wing and could easily get a Sport Pilot add on for another cat/class. That is great!
True, a UL will allow you to do that. HOWEVER, please take in to consideration the weather. I don't know what the weather is like were you live but around here we have not had a weekend suitable for UL flying in months.
ULs that are Fixed Wings (not gyros) tend to be highly sensitive to wind and thermals. All but one of the many UL pilots I know only fly at dusk and dawn to avoid winds and thermals.
This cuts down flying time a great deal unless you don't have to work for a living or you live someplace that has great low-wind, low-thermal weather most of the year.
I had a real eye opener once when I was flying my UL (top airspeed 50mph) and the winds started out at 10mph and an UNFORCASTED wind change brought them to 25mph AWAY from the airport. I was 1/2 into my flight so I now had a groundspeed back to the airport of about 25mph. I had to be ready to put it down for the last half of the way back because of the worry of fuel starvation. If I slowed down to save fuel I would go to zero ground speed!
Many ULs like PPC/PPGs have top speeds of 25-35mph.
For about what you'll spend for an ultralight, you can have a A-65 powered Champ, Chief, or T-craft -- maybe even a Luscombe (but those are high dollar for some reason
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You'll fly plenty low and slow, develop your finer aviator skills, and spend a whole lot less $$ -- especially if you can find an A&P that will let you work on your own bird.
Fantastic Advice!!
After allowing me to HELP with repairs and annuals by A&P came to trust my mechanical skills. Helping reduced the cost of the work done because it saved time.
A&Ps have the option to approve work they SUPERVISE. So now I can do minor work and using video conferencing software, digital photos and my speaker phone option of my cell phone under his supervision and he approves the work.
This not only saves me a bundle of $$ but also allows me to understand my aircraft better, fly safer, consult him before things become an 'issue' and he gets to know my aircraft better as well.
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