Backyard glider

[BenAnderson]

Hey Guys, due to some sorry mishappenings I was forced to sell my ultralight. Now, a few months later I feel that urge to fly again. Me and my buddy were thinnking of something that could fly merly in the backyard, 2 acres of flat land. Do you have any ideas, this wouldn't be an aircraft to fly above the 20 foot marker, but merly a glider or parasail. It would be more like the wright flyer then anything else.
Thanks

[Bill Greenwood]

Ben, have you thought about flying a glider, ie sailplane? I am not sure where you are, but I know there are some glider operations around. Look in local yellow pages or on line for phone numbers. It is not the same as an ultralight, but might be a lot safer than something like a Wright Flyer homebuilt and it will really fly. Go try an intro flight if you have not done it.

[BenAnderson]

I took a ride in a glider not to long ago, but actually this project is something me and a friend could do over the next few weekends. I thought about the easy riser type design, but that's still a little extravagant. The original idea was to build something that could be launched by a vehicle and glide for maybe 50-100 yards, if that. Not really airworthy but a fun project to put in the book of experience.
Thanks for the reply,
Ben

[Adam Smith]

How about a primary glider?For example http://www.airventuremuseum.org/coll...%20replica.asp

[srbell]

Considering the limited space for takeoff, very brief cruise, and landing maybe a hovercraft could satisfy the urge to build something that sorta flies.

[BenAnderson]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I really appreciate them. This sounds a little crazy, but I wonder if there's any chance I could develop a wing system, similiar to that a a jet, for steering on a hovercraft. I really like the idea of a hovercraft, I think the primary glider is still just a bit out of reach. Sorry about the poor grammer, this blog will not let me correct it. Thanks again for all the replies, I really appreciate them. Ben Anderson,

[mcstorch]

check out the airchair gliders. They may be exactly what you are looking for. Randy

[Hal Bryan]

Ben - depending on how much space you have, and building on srbell's suggestion, try Googling "WIG hovercraft" (WIG = wing in ground-effect.)

There's a lot of them out there - this was the first one I found:



Here's another one - this video made the rounds a while back:

[Grant Smith]

2 acres is pretty small, especially if it is square. The only thing I know of to operate within that area is a paraglider and it can be winch launched or towed by a quad runner or other light weight vehicle. I doubt you want to build one, however, a used wing may serve your purpose. Be carefull. Towing is dangerous if you do not have good sense or training.

[Timm Bogenhagen]

Do you have a hill in your backyard? How about the Basic Ultralight Glider (BUG) by Mike Sandlin, http://m-sandlin.info/