An Ultralight Beginner

[malexander]

Thanks Malexander.

I've been fortunate to be around people that have shared their experiences with me. I've also had some real fun experiences in aviation. I'll post a picture of one my most fun ones..

The back of the head in the photo is Chuck Yeager. This was taken from the backseat of his P-51 at EAA in '96. In the back of the other Mustang is Rusty Wallace [the NASCAR driver]. They are flying formation with my Cessna Skymaster being flown by a friend of mine [as I mentioned in a previous post, I owned the 337 for business but never checked out in it]. You can see there is a ball on the side of the Skymaster. That's a $400K TV camera I had mounted on it. We were shooting a segment for ESPN. Yeager formed up under our tail right after this shot. We were looking down in his canopy and one could watch him move the stick and watch him actually flying the airplane.

Watching him fly through the TV monitor in our plane was a treat. It was like his P-51 was on a rail off the bottom of the Skymaster. You could see the unbelievable touch he had. There were 3 other P-51s in trail below us at the time all trying to hold position on him and the others were bouncing all over the place in comparison.

I really got a chance to talk with him a lot that year and heard some of his stories. [Miller sponsored the plane and we did a TON of aerial coverage for the 5 networks on NASCAR, Indycar, MLB, NFL, etc. We were talking to Chuck for several months after EAA about flying the plane during coverage of a World Series game and then putting a lipstick camera on the dash and have him chat with the guys doing the game coverage. The network doing the Series that year had already committed the aerial coverage duties to someone else, so it never materialized.]

I love ultralight flying. It's still the best form of aviation out there for the pure experience in my opinion.


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Cool stuff.
Thanks

[Malpal_mikey21]

Thanks for all the insight. I believe I am going to stick with the task at hand, get into a single Quicksilver. I will do that for now and if the bug never goes away, maybe I will go after the LSA.

Thanks again,

M & M

[Buzz]

I think that's a good plan. If you do get into a QS, there is a yahoo group "Quicksilveraircraftowners" which is a good forum on Quicksilvers. Lots of sharing on there.

[Malpal_mikey21]

Buzz, I sent you a private message.

[jedi]

First, as Dana has said, if you are getting training in a 2-place Quicksilver, your instructor can't give you training that you can log towards the Sport license. One can GET logable Sport Pilot instruction in an ELSA they own [Experimental LSA] but one can't GIVE logable instruction in an ELSA [unless it's the student's].-Buzz

Buzz - I think you are wrong here. Presumablly the 2 - place Quicksilver would be an N numbered E LSA (Experimental Llight Sport Aircraft) and the instructor would be either a Light Sport Instructor or CFI qualified to teach for a Private Pilot certificate. If the instructor is Light Sport he can GIVE instruction towards the Light Sport pilot certificate but he can not charge for that flight instruction. If the instructor is qualified for PPL instruction the instruction will count towards a PPL. However, he can not charge for the instruction given in an experimental aircraft.

[Buzz]

Hi Jedi-

I have a friend that is a SP-CFI. I have several ultralight friends that want to get a SP and a 2-place ELSA I've been thinking of selling. I asked him if he could instruct them in it toward the SP if we made it a club airplane. I would retain a share so I could continue having access to it. The other club members would use it to get their SPs.

He checked with the local FSDO. They confirmed that it is no problem to give compensated flight instruction in a group owned ELSA aircraft. [Which should mean there is no problem giving it in a single student's ELSA.]

The specific reference the FSDO said covers it is paragraph 3-292 of FAA order 8900-1 Volume 3. [They said where it gets a little fuzzy is if there is a majority shareholder in the aircraft. That majority shareholder cannot receive any compensation for other owners flying the aircraft. The club members CAN pay club dues for the use of the aircraft, but it couldn't go into the majority shareholder's pocket. Probably to prevent a SP-CFI from giving instruction for compensation in his own ELSA by selling $1 shares to each student. He retains complete control of the ELSA and each student is "an owner".

BTW, this SP-CFI will not be a shareholder and the FSDO knew that. So, there is no requirement for the SP-CFI to be a partner in the ESLA.

I haven't looked up the referenced reg myself yet, but that's what the SP-CFI reported back to me on my inquiry when he went over it with our local FSDO.

-Buzz

[Dana]

Buzz - I think you are wrong here. Presumablly the 2 - place Quicksilver would be an N numbered E LSA (Experimental Llight Sport Aircraft) and the instructor would be either a Light Sport Instructor or CFI qualified to teach for a Private Pilot certificate. If the instructor is Light Sport he can GIVE instruction towards the Light Sport pilot certificate but he can not charge for that flight instruction. If the instructor is qualified for PPL instruction the instruction will count towards a PPL. However, he can not charge for the instruction given in an experimental aircraft.

Not quite. An instructor can charge for instruction in an ELSA (or any experimental) but he can't charge for the use of the aircraft (i.e. if the student owns the aircraft, no problem, but the instructor can't rent it to the student). With a FSDO issued LODA, the instructor can rent the aircraft to the student, but there are a lot of hoops to jump through to get the LODA. The LODA will exclude instruction counting toward any certificate but again, if the student owns the aircraft the hours will count.

[dirt_mover]

just joined this forum. I am looking for an ultralight and would like some training . If you can train me i would be interested in buying 1 of yours. Thanks.

I've been a "real" pilot for 40 years and flying ultralights for 35 years. I was an ultralight instructor under the old rule.

I live 25 miles west of Milwaukee in Pewaukee. I'd be happy to talk with you about your aviation aspirations and share whatever knowledge I have.

I have a 2-place Quicksilver Sprint II that was an ultralight trainer and is now N-numbered. I also have two single place Quicksilver MXs ultralights which I'd be willing to sell if you are interested in either of them. Both have Rotax engines. That model was the entry level ultralight for thousands of new ultralight pilots. It could be a very affordable first ultralight for you. They are relatively easy to learn to fly and very docile. You'd have little trouble selling it if you wanted to move up at some point.

Unfortunately, all my aircraft are stored right now because of a lack of local hangar space. However, if you were interested in one of the MXs, I could probably provide you some basic training in the 2-place Sprint II and then help you transition to the MX. [I can't just give you training if you are interested in a different ultralight. I am not able to charge you for training because I am no longer a current instructor under the new FAA rules.]

Whether you just want to meet and pick my brain or are interested in one of the entry level ultralights I have, I'd be happy to help in any way I can. All of us in aviation have depended on the help and encouragement of another along the way. It's not an activity that is easy to enter without some help.

-Buzz