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Ultralight Aircraft

GlomGlom
edited October 2011 in Everything Else
A friend of mine just bought a $40,000 car. . . It got me thinking. What would I do with $40,000.

I think I know what I want to buy. An ultralight helicopter!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOQ-JKgUWRA

This one is actually a gyro-copter not a helicopter, but it's the best quality video I could find.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=058NelwSkkw&feature=related

So some of these things cost less than 40k. You build them yourself. And they do NOT require a pilots license or any kind of certification in the US. Although you should probably take some training beforehand in order to avoid dying.

Does anyone have one of these? Am I missing some important flaw? Because at the moment I can't for the life of me figure out why ANYONE would be driving around in a luxury car when they could be flying instead for less munnies.

Comments

  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    edited October 2011
    Am I missing some important flaw?
    First, ultralight helos, relative to your average Porsche or BMW, are insanely dangerous. Fun, but crazy fucking dangerous even with a pilot's license. Don't get me wrong, I want to build and fly a gyroplane someday, but I have no illusions about how unsafe they are.

    Second, practicality. With a sports car, you have miles and miles of publically-funded track just begging for you break the ton on on any given weekend, and do it in the lap of Italian-leather bucket seat luxury. I can't put on my nicest suit, jump into an ultralight, and expect to have a landing strip and hangar space when I get to work, much less look like a man poised to do a professional's job when I get out of the open cockpit. Even if you had a twin-seat Cessna, no one is going to have a strip for it at the office building.

    Third, physics. Ultralights are named for their eponymous characteristic: their ultralight weight. That means that thermoclines and gust affect them radically, and you've got to be ready to adjust course or put that shit down if the going gets rough. Short of natural disasters, if I turn my steering wheel and apply the gas and brakes properly, my car gets from point A to point B with no significant bother.

    There's a huge set of reason why people use companies like MarquisJet to handle private company flights, and why most people will never own or fly an ultralight, but those are probably the biggest three.
    Post edited by WindUpBird on
  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    What would I do with $40,000.
    1. Pay off car.

    2. Pay off any remaining high-interest debt.

    3. Invest some portion of that money into my brewing business.

    4. Throw the rest at a house.
  • GlomGlom
    I agree with most of that.

    I wouldn't say 'insanely dangerous' . . . maybe 'moderately dangerous' would be more appropriate.
    There are no 20 ton Tractor Trailers coming towards you at 75 miles per hour when your flying. Any dangers are: Mechanical error, freaky weather problems or pilots error. There are no other idiots to kill you randomly through no fault of your own.

    You don't need a landing strip for a helicopter, you can plop straight down almost. An ultralight helicopter gives you a lot more options than an ultralight plane as far as landing places go.
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    I'll let Churba explain the unique dangers inherent to ultralights; I'm almost positive he knows more about it than me.
  • SquadronROESquadronROE
    Don't you also have to construct ultralights yourself, for at least some portion of it? If so, considering my adventures with electricity, I don't want to be responsible for something that flies through the air.
  • ChurbaChurba
    4. Throw the rest at a house.
    I'm just imagining Pete throwing wads of dollar bills at the walls of his house.
    I'll let Churba explain the unique dangers inherent to ultralights; I'm almost positive he knows more about it than me.
    Well, my old man, who was a pilot before me, when I was going for my licence, gave me one important bit of advice: "Never fuckin' fly anything where you can still smell the hobby glue drying on the wings." Shortly followed by "Never trust a pilot who isn't wearing proper trousers."

    I don't want to discourage the lad, really. Let me think on the matter.
  • KapitänTimKapitänTim
    Proper trousers? Like big boy pants?
    image
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    I wonder if my campus would let me land one of those ultralight helicopters in the parking lot...
  • SquadronROESquadronROE
    I wonder if my campus would let me land one of those ultralight helicopters in the parking lot...
    Yes they would. I see absolutely nothing wrong with this, and you should definitely do it.
  • AndrewAndrew
    Yes they would. I see absolutely nothing wrong with this, and you should definitely do it.
    Uh what? Absolutely not.

    Also, those things are death traps. You'll more than likely never see me on one of them.
  • SquadronROESquadronROE
    Uh what? Absolutely not.

    Also, those things are death traps. You'll more than likely never see me on one of them.
    Why do you have to ruin my fun.
  • AmpAmp
    Im going for my helicopter licence at the moment. To quote my instructor "Pff if you want to crash and burn do it a proper aircraft".
  • ChurbaChurba
    To quote my instructor "Pff if you want to crash and burn do it a proper aircraft".
    Says the man who flies helicopters.
  • AmpAmp
    You can not deny that it is bloody good fun flying those things.
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