Where is UL growing?

[Buzz]

There is one area of ULs that if not red hot, is pretty close: powered paragliding. Lots of the same excitement there as there was is ULs 30 years ago.www.footflyer.com

I think this begs the question of what people think of when they say "ultralights".

There are some powered footlaunched hanggliders out there and there are some powered paragliders. But those are very narrow segments of ultralight flying.

I'm not trying to exclude them [I started out in Rogallos], but when I think the average person is thinking "getting into flying an ultralight", they are not envisioning a powered paraglider. Especially if they are over 40.

Am I correct in assuming that powered paragliding is not taught [for the most part] using dual instruction? If so, could it's growth partially be because the dealers are able to train, unlike ultralight dealers today?

-Buzz

[Dana]

There are "some" powered hang gliders-- they're quite difficult to set up and launch without assistance-- but there are many thousands of active powered paraglider pilots in the US today. It may not be what people think of when people think of "getting into ultralights", but it has its own appeal... it's a blast! The easy transportability and lack of need for a hangar is also a big plus. Many PPGers, including myself, are also (and first) airplane pilots... and I think the average age is well over 40. Few younger adults have the $7-10K for such an impractical toy (of course, this applies to all forms of ultralights).

Re training, yes, most PPG instruction is not dual. There is some controversy over whether this is advisable, but it works because the most difficult part of PPG is getting the wing inflated and getting airborne. Once you learn to control the wing on the ground-- takes most people about 10 hours of practice before even strapping the motor on-- the rest is easy... and the low speeds mean even if you screw up, equipment damage (broken propellers and cages) is more likely than injury.

There is actually a 103 dual training exemption still available for PHG and PPG... but it's limited to foot launch only. A 2 seat PPG with wheels is considered a powered parachute, and must be certificated and flown by a certificated pilot.

[Buzz]

Re training, yes, most PPG instruction is not dual. There is some controversy over whether this is advisable, but it works because the most difficult part of PPG is getting the wing inflated and getting airborne. Once you learn to control the wing on the ground-- takes most people about 10 hours of practice before even strapping the motor on-- the rest is easy... and the low speeds mean even if you screw up, equipment damage (broken propellers and cages) is more likely than injury.

This is good information Dana.

It reveals the correlation between getting into flying something and training. There is little or no training in ultralights and the activity level is plummetting. There is effective training for PPGs. Even with a pretty long period of ground training before even attempting a safe takeoff [10 hrs] the sport is still growing.

While one could say the growth of PPG has been because it's a more compelling form of flying/no hangering needed, etc., I suspect the difference in the growth is primarily because of the availability of training.

Most PPG instruction is not dual. There is some controversy over whether this is advisable, but it works because the most difficult part of PPG is getting the wing inflated and getting airborne.

This is more great information. The reason why dual instruction is not needed in a PPG is because having the instructor on-board is not necessary to learn how to inflate the wing and get it airborne.

The most difficult part to learn about flying something like the MX are landings and takeoffs. Those can be learned without an instructor on-board when the training methodology only has the student flying a hundred feet or less at an altitude of a foot or so for the initial flights. That's not a height where the student is going to get in much trouble.

[One could ask, "How can you be assured that's all the flight will involve?" The same way a CFI assesses a student is ready for their first solo. The student has acquired and demonstrated all the component skills necessary for the solo flight profile as intended by the instructor to be completed safely, successfully with deviation.]

-Buzz

[Buzz]

There is actually a 103 dual training exemption still available for PHG and PPG... but it's limited to foot launch only. A 2 seat PPG with wheels is considered a powered parachute, and must be certificated and flown by a certificated pilot.

Hey all, this could be the solution to training in rigid wing ultralights.

Let's just modify the 2-place trainer ultralights so they are footlaunchable and then call them a "rigid wing" PPG. LOL.

We just need to find students and instructors that can run while carrying about 150 lbs. each [or more.]

-Buzz

[Buzz]

I thought it might be useful to list the pros and cons of SSTM vs the old dual ultralight training from the instructor's perspective. Here's some I come up with.

Pros

• Training aircraft are cheaper [MXs can be had for $2-3000]
• Can teach beginners in groups [like they do hang gliding].
• Groups = more revenue per hr. for the instructor.
• Groups = a more social experience = more students will finish. [One of the primary reason AOPA found 80% of people quit GA training. No social component.]
• No FAA exemption needed
• Less instructor liability [instructor is not PIC]

Cons

• Less flexibility in training conditions. [Need calm or near calm.]
• More maintenance per operating hour on the trainer. Gets beat up more.[More time spent in ground ops, more bouncy landings, etc.]
• No flying for the instructor [they are ground bound]

Let me know what pros/cons you see as an instructor.

-Buzz

[Dana]

One big con, which I've heard of many times: Student seems fine until he gets airborne, then panics and freezes.

[Buzz]

One big con, which I've heard of many times: Student seems fine until he gets airborne, then panics and freezes.

Good comment Dana.

Two thoughts.

First, if a student panics or freezes doing SSTM in a Quicksilver MX [what we're talking about], the instructor has erred by bringing the student along too fast.

When a person freezes, it means they don't know what to do next. They've been put in a position where they don't know the correct response to the situation. By bringing them along too quickly, the instructor has "put them behind the ultralight".

That can be prevented by breaking the learning process down into smaller steps so the chance of the student getting behind the airplane is eliminated. The SSTM process used for the MX pretty much prevents a student from getting behind the airplane [or far enough to cause a feeling of panic and freezing].

The most likely time for a student to panic is the first time they ever leave the ground. They can feel overwhelmed by the experience. The key is to have them only have to do one response to lifting off.

If one reads through the SSTM sequence in the Quicksilver MX under "Learning to Fly Ultralights" in the Learning To Fly area, the first flights are very very short and there are really no variables the student needs to deal with.

On the first flight[s], the only response they make to breaking ground is a smooth closing of the throttle. That's it. It's the only response they need to be trained to do. They don't change the pitch position of the stick from the start of the ground run through the landing.

With the SSTM, the instructor is talking to the student on a dedicated radio channel. During the the penguin training they have had the student practice responding to "Ease off". The student has demonstrated they respond properly and understand how fast that means to come off the throttle.

The student knows the response to lift off is smoothly closing the throttle before they start the ground run. They've rehearsed it mentally.

If someone still manages panic, the instructor just tells them to do so. Most a panicked student is going to do is slam the throttle close rather than ease it closed. That's going to result in a bounce.

If the flights are done in calm air, the only thing the student is learning on the first flights is how power makes them lift off and then land. Power is the only thing they are changing and working with.

Lastly, in my posting today under "Learning to Fly Ultralights" there is a video where Dan Johnston makes a point about how effective SSTM was using radios with the MX.

I would suspect the people that have frozen during SSTM were being trained a friend that was trying to teach them pitch control and throttle control at the same time, wasn't talking them through their flights on a radio and probably were not training in an MX.

I suspect Dan Johnston had very few students ever freeze on the controls during their initial flights when he was doing SSTM. I don't think he would have spoken so positively about his experiences if he had.

My thoughts.

-Buzz

[Bill Berson]

I think it would help if the student had at least one flight in a small airplane just to see the ground from above for the first time as a passenger. I remember my first flight/ lesson in a Cessna 150. The instructor was explaining takeoff and climb and flight maneuvers and all I wanted to do and could think about my first minute in the air was looking out the window.

Also, how is stall recovery and steep turns taught from the ground?

[Buzz]

Also, how is stall recovery and steep turns taught from the ground?

Stall recovery can't be taught in the MX because it doesn't have much of a stall. It won't fall off on a wing and won't break. It mushes forward.f What the student needs to learn in the MX is to keep it flying. Don't get slow or it mushes.

As for teaching any of the more advanced manuevers, the concepts and processes are taught on the ground and the student practices them in the air. If the control inputs need to be demonstrated by the instructor, that can be done using a Go-Pro video camera.

The instructor reviews the student's practice using a $35 GPS data logger, Google Earth an a GoPro camera facing the student so he can see inputs. With those 3 things you can monitor how the student flew and what the ultralight did [climb and descent rate, ground track, etc.]

[BTW, I shared this flight monitoring process with an airline pilot friend. He said, "Wow, that's a lot more information than I had about a student's solo practice back when I was instructing. All I could ever ask was "How'd it go?".]

Again, the student is brought along so they never get behind the airplane. Very gradual steps. The first time they practice, they are not going to cut the power and hold the stick back to get into a full mush. It would be overwhelming. But the can work up to it in steps. To successful have completed that part of their training, they need to demonstrate it on the GoPro camera.

That's the way they could be taught, practiced and monitored if we stayed completely single place through some of the advanced maneuver training.

However, once a student transitions out of the basic 2-axis trainer that has virtually no "stall break" and simply mushes straight ahead, then it would make sense to have them go spend some time getting some dual in an LSA that has stall characteristics more like the ultralight they are transitioning to.

Again, what we are talking about is "Is there a way of getting people who want to get into ultralight flying started now that the dual training exemption is gone?" My belief is the way is to change the training sequence and apply some of the new technologies to the SSTM [cheap aviation radios, GoPro cameras, GPS trackers and Google Earth, etc.]

-Buzz

[FlyingRon]

The mush is the stall and you have to recognize it. In fact one might say learning to recognize stalls without a dramatic 172-ish break is somewhat harder.