Who needs training? Just buy a microlight and take off, what could go wrong?
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Who needs training? Just buy a microlight and take off, what could go wrong?
Stumbled on this on youtube, what a bunch of total 
.
Microlight trike Crash!!! - YouTube
By the look of things, they had no real flying experience and no idea how to fly the thing, they just bought a microlight and thought this will be funny ....
I swear they probably have no idea how lucky they were it didnt take off properly, the guy surely would have died.
.Microlight trike Crash!!! - YouTube
By the look of things, they had no real flying experience and no idea how to fly the thing, they just bought a microlight and thought this will be funny ....
I swear they probably have no idea how lucky they were it didnt take off properly, the guy surely would have died.
Last edited by gordonquinn; 23rd Oct 2012 at 21:38.
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So the story goes chap lands at exeter caa happen to be on the apron and note the lovely tail wheeler that has just parked.
Being hospitable they wander over and express their admiration of the beautiful machine, clearly well kept and pristine.
Inevitably they get chatting to the pilot and eventually happen to ask where he learnt to fly.
We be teach me self he sayz
You do have a licence, dont you
Ess i do, i ave a licence to drive the tractor, so i figure if its good enuf for that its good enuf for this
And where do you have it maintained
Well ess i do that as well, ess do the tractor you see
And why are you here
Well that great dobeck farm boy of mine he forgot to fill up the cans so before i could check the cows i had to fill her up here ye see.
10 years of aerial cow checking never an accident entirely self taught.
True story i gather.
Being hospitable they wander over and express their admiration of the beautiful machine, clearly well kept and pristine.
Inevitably they get chatting to the pilot and eventually happen to ask where he learnt to fly.
We be teach me self he sayz
You do have a licence, dont you
Ess i do, i ave a licence to drive the tractor, so i figure if its good enuf for that its good enuf for this
And where do you have it maintained
Well ess i do that as well, ess do the tractor you see
And why are you here
Well that great dobeck farm boy of mine he forgot to fill up the cans so before i could check the cows i had to fill her up here ye see.
10 years of aerial cow checking never an accident entirely self taught.
True story i gather.
Last edited by Fuji Abound; 23rd Oct 2012 at 23:22.
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You can laugh but as a ATPL holder with a SEP rating there is nothing stopping me legaly jumping in a weight shift microlight and having a go.
In fact I even know someone that did that with a EBay special.
Took him 3 approaches and a new pair of pants to get it back on the ground.
In fact I even know someone that did that with a EBay special.
Took him 3 approaches and a new pair of pants to get it back on the ground.
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If my (fading) memory serves me correctly, when hangliders/microlight aircraft first came into being, it was not a requisite to have a licence, the authorities being very brave and tried to let things run for a while to see how it worked out.
However circumstances (namely the rapidly increasing accident rate) soon brought about the legislation we now all enjoy!
However circumstances (namely the rapidly increasing accident rate) soon brought about the legislation we now all enjoy!
Last edited by Noah Zark.; 24th Oct 2012 at 01:20.
That was definitely the case in the USA and may still be. The thinking was, fly at your own risk but you better have good insurance 'cos if you crash and cause a lot of damage, you're gonna need it.
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If my (fading) memory serves me correctly, when hangliders/microlight aircraft first came into being, it was not a requisite to have a licence, the authorities being very brave and tried to let things run for a while to see how it worked out.
Ciao,
Dg8000
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further to dg800
the early Rogallo hang-gliders were invented in USA an English aeromodeller of my aquaintance experimented with some large bamboo poles and Ex-War-Department fabric. His eventual practical design was sold in kit-form through adverts in "Exchange and Mart" - best described as a paper predecessor to "fleabay".
Some time down the line, the business became "Skyhook" and produced many aircraft.
The owner was Len Gabriels,- A keen dinghy sailor and great orator, he once gave a lecture explaining just how much an inch of bilge water would degrade a dinghy's performance.
and, yes, he said the regulators were so hidebound that the innovators could run rings around them. Tales of early powered hang-glider experiments were enthralling. great bloke,deserved his success. and most of it self-taught from public library.
the early Rogallo hang-gliders were invented in USA an English aeromodeller of my aquaintance experimented with some large bamboo poles and Ex-War-Department fabric. His eventual practical design was sold in kit-form through adverts in "Exchange and Mart" - best described as a paper predecessor to "fleabay".
Some time down the line, the business became "Skyhook" and produced many aircraft.
The owner was Len Gabriels,- A keen dinghy sailor and great orator, he once gave a lecture explaining just how much an inch of bilge water would degrade a dinghy's performance.
and, yes, he said the regulators were so hidebound that the innovators could run rings around them. Tales of early powered hang-glider experiments were enthralling. great bloke,deserved his success. and most of it self-taught from public library.
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I thought it was Hiway Hang Gliders based in Sussex and then moved to Wales or a similar name with a few others in the early days in an around Brighton.
Does my memory deceive me?
Does my memory deceive me?
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In the early to mid 1970s there were no UK regulations or formal tuition for hang gliders. On new year's day 1975 I stood on a steep hill in the Peak district, having been offered a go on a Rogallo belonging to someone we'd met up there a few weeks before. A friend desperately wanted to go first. So I stood back and let him. I held the front rigging while he got himself strapped in and ready. Fifteen seconds after launch, he was entangled in the wreckage of the glider at the bottom of the hill. 
Put me off the idea, really.
Put me off the idea, really.
I think I'm right in saying that it's still perfectly legal to strap on a hang-glider and jump off a cliff with no training. On of my hang-gliding buddies had a high-performance glider that had previously been in a fatal accident where a man with no training attached a power harness and took off straight into some power lines.
I have a vague memory of a newspaper story about a spitfire pilot who made off with his son's flexwing, and came back safe and sound. c. 1990
The Wright brothers were eminently sensible, read books, talked to people, made tethered flights, and I'm sure would have taken training had it been on offer. I always think it remarkable that only one of them died in a plane crash.
I have a vague memory of a newspaper story about a spitfire pilot who made off with his son's flexwing, and came back safe and sound. c. 1990
The Wright brothers were eminently sensible, read books, talked to people, made tethered flights, and I'm sure would have taken training had it been on offer. I always think it remarkable that only one of them died in a plane crash.
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Although neither Orville nor Wilbur died in accidents, I seem to remember reading that when they went commercial with their flying machines they hired a group of "salesmen" who were presumably trained to fly (by the Wrights, who else?). Virtually all were killed.
err.............
err.............
Last edited by astir 8; 25th Oct 2012 at 08:05.
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If e.g. the CAA could not find witnesses to his flying then they could not get him.
IANAL but I would think that a casual remark to a CAA employee that you did something would be vulnerable to a later retraction.
I mean, it's not as if 100% of what people say in aviation is copper bottomed truth
If I wrote on here that I flew under Tower Bridge last night, they would not be able to get me for it.
IANAL but I would think that a casual remark to a CAA employee that you did something would be vulnerable to a later retraction.
I mean, it's not as if 100% of what people say in aviation is copper bottomed truth
If I wrote on here that I flew under Tower Bridge last night, they would not be able to get me for it.