Here is how you could teach yourself how to fly with no official training. Disclaimer, this is not a definite guide to follow, just rough guidelines. With that said, here goes. Step one: purchase a simulator. Like the new Microsoft flight simulator. Step two: purchase a good rig for it. When I say rig, I mean yoke or stick, pedals, Throttle quadrant, ignition switches etc. Step three: set the realism settings in the simulator to the absolute highest settings. Also, pick real world weather and make sure it is accurate. Step four: get really good at that. Step five: buy an ultralight that is really easy to fly. Look around for ultralight aircraft that have got really easy characteristics. If possible, get ones with reinforced/spring suspension landing gear in case of a hard landing. I would recommend nosewheel not tail wheel. Although, if you are the kind who learns manual before automatic in cars, then maybe a tail wheel would be better for you. Look at the pros and cons of both, and make a informed decision. Six: make sure you have a strip which is at least 1000 m or longer. I see people with no training taking off on short strips all the time, it’s much more dangerous because you might stall on takeoff. it also means that if anything happens, you have no room to stop. Step seven: pick a day with absolutely calm weather. Little to no winds, not too hot, not too cold. Step eight: taxi the aircraft first. Yes, I know that the guy said don’t do this. But if you are going to teach yourself, do it. And keep doing it until you have it down Pat and you’re really good at it. Get to the point where you are super comfortable controlling the aircraft on the ground. There is no point learning how to fly the aircraft, if you can’t control it on the ground and you will just taxi straight into a fence, pole, or tree, on the ground. Step 9: do crow hops. This is why I say 1000 m or more. Much less, and you won’t have room to do this. Crow hopping involves getting the aircraft up a few feet off the ground without actually taking off and then landing again. This is also where spring suspension or good landing gear comes in. A bad landing gear can collapse under these if done incorrectly. Step 10: takeoff above the takeoff speed of the aircraft. Again, this is where a long runway comes into play. Many experienced pilots will try and takeoff as early as they can and use as little runway as they can. This is not recommended with people with little to no training. With a nosewheel aircraft which is the only one I’ve ever flown, keep the stick scented until you get to 5 to 10 kn above your aircraft rotation speed. This can be found in the aircraft book. This can avoid a stall/spin scenario on takeoff which could be dangerous. Step 11: gain altitude. I see many people flying at low altitudes when they have little to no training. This is a mistake. Get as much altitude as the airspace above the field allows. If possible as well as picking a long strip, pick a field that has 7 to 10,000 feet of uncontrolled above it. And get up between three and 4000 feet. Step 12: do small turns first. Don’t try and swing the aircraft around in big steep turns until you practised your small turns. Continue to practice your turn at high altitude, which can avoid too much drop during a bad turn. Step 13: practice stalls. At a high altitude from the ground, it’s very important to practice stalling the aircraft so that you get the feel in case this happens near the ground. Keep doing this again until you are super comfortable with it and it feels natural. Step 14: come in fast. A lot of people come in slow and drop onto the runway. Again, this can damage landing gears of weaker aircraft. Coming in fast will also allow you to keep maximum control until the last possible second. Again, this is why long strips are good. Congratulations, you know how to fly. Again, please do not use any of these steps as actual professional information. These are only steps from me and people that I know after some experience with them. Another couple of bonus steps that I would recommend are checking out some good RU-vid channels like 8 Mike alpha.com RU-vid channel. He’s got some really great tutorials about how to be a safe pilot. Also, I would recommend reading far part 103 in depth so that you make sure that no laws are broken. Again, I do not condone any illegal activity. And again, this is all done at your own risk.
You explained it pretty great You sounded like this Hey guys don't worry this is simple ultra light only thing what you need is to focus. That sounded great! I like that Great job!
65 hours of actual training and solo in small GA craft. Hoping that will go a long way to help with Ultralights. Still going to get some training, but guess it might only be 10 hours or so needed. Let's hope ;)
Without any prior flight experience, the average time it takes to fly ultralights is around 10 hrs. Learning GA first helps none. Then you have to break certain habits. For me, teaching a private pilot is the worst. Egotistical know it all's. Get training in an ultralight. Open your mind and LISTEN.
I had a paraplane, no training, broke two props, fixed them, then I learned to taxi around, make short hops around the field and figured it out. Landing was no problem.
Good message. WAY more people die in these than what have to because they're treated like sky go karts. Follow a checklist, get training, and don't be an idiot if you don't want to die.
“Took it off”? “Take it off”? It’s going to be difficult to fly if you first “take it off”. I just hope you don’t take off your clothing before taking off with the aircraft. What I really mean to say is before giving any advise, try forming a proper sentence.
Everythings easy till it ain't. Many, if not most, are prone to panic and I imagine one wouldn't want to find themselves panicking while in the air. Peeps like Stalone, Arnold and Bronson don't panic of course : ). Always been a fan of this quote: 'Under pressure, you don't rise to the occasion, you sink to the level of your training."
I like the fact that part 103 UL owners/pilots can still choose how and if they get training. This will probably not be the case in years to come. I took a 10 hr UL flight training course at my local airport, still felt not quite ready because 3 of the 5 instructors I had there were incompetent bone-heads, then took 6 hrs with a regular GA CFI...then I flew my plane, a MiniMax 1500R. To those new to the hobby I suggest; 1.Hang out at a field where UL's fly. Talk to pilots. Learn which plane you want. 2. Buy a plane (or build one). Work on it. Learn all about it. 3.Find UL flight instruction and only fly your own plane when both you and your instructor believe you are ready. Even if you have a PPL or GA flight time, get some UL dual time. They are different ,and in some respects require more skill /different skills than a more complex GA aircraft.
if you decide to fly a part 103 without traing, do yourself a favour, read, read, read. I did at least 40-60 crow hops, glides, never went higher than 6 ft. done that for 2 months. I was a runway pro. and still before I actually left the ground I went to an older fellow with an M squared 2place and he trained me for 2 weeks straight. he said I was about 90% ready by myself but having him show me the right way just made me feel better. Now I decided to get my PPL so I can do more things.
I talked to a guy who trained himself he only had lot of RC airplane experience he did the same crow hops he said one thing that can't teach yourself is coordinating turns some of these ultralights if you get uncoordinated in a turn can induce lot of drag stall in the pattern when trying to land. I have been wanting to get my PPL but medical is a real hassle if I end up denied I'm planning on going with ultralights. Some say I should just go light sport forget the medical limited to 1320 might as well just fly ultralights.
Right there with you brother. I just got my first few patterns in a little over a week ago. Now life keeps keeping me from getting back up there. I gotta relearn everything I practiced when I spend too long away from it. But that's all part of it I guess.
So what Licensed pilots have died as well just because they had a license doesn't mean they had magic powers it just means they have experience the same way and MMA fighter is going to know how to fight a lot better than a street fighter they may very well both know how to fight in their own their own right only when comparing apples to oranges do you see what people think is a problem when in reality it's just a difference between the two
Bought one and guy was going to show me how to fly it after he got back from vacation. Well I was younger and dumb and decided "how hard can it be?" And went for my maiden flight. Lasted about 3 minutes and landed so hard I broke the fiberglass axle. Bad idea. Ould have been much worse
I saw a woman killed when she took off fine and realized she didn't have clue about what came next and fell at least 200 ft straight down.....Look before you leap ..
They’re like the motorcycles of the aviation world. You’re just kinda out in the open, there’s not much to them and things are great until they aren’t.
I taught myself how to fly gyroplanes or the more common name gyrocopters. I had flying experience in a two place quicksilver, rans s-12, cessna 172, cessna 182, piper cub, and a skypup ultralight I built from plans. The gyroplane I built was a gyrobee from plans and it flys alot like a quicksilver with a high amount of drag with a cruise speed of around 45mph. The biggest plus with gyroplanes is the amount of wind and turbulence you can fly in that would ground even a cessna pilot.
@@Mike-01234: Those crashes are from 'PILOT ERROR'. But there's a LOT of gyrocopters that crash when they accidently do what's called a 'PUSHOVER', where they climb out, then push the cyclic forward too rapidly while under high power and the push prop ends up pushing them forward into a forward tumble in the air and once that happens, there's no getting out of it. They come down like a rock and the pilot (and passenger, IF there is one), are both dead on impact. LOTS of videos that show this happening, but also SOME pilots take off to fast before the rotors are able to be up to the right r.p.m. and THAT causes them to crash also after take off. There's a video about a rich guy who did this in Salt Lake, Utah EVEN AFTER being warned by his instructor to not take off too soon, to gain more r.p.m's in his rotors before pulling back further to take off. He crashed on video and was instantly killed, (obviously), but he was over confident and it cost him his life.
I built a Benson gyrocopter many years ago, I taught myself to fly it, took nearly a year just about wore out the tires going up and down the runway, Would I advise anyone too do that, NO and hell no, flew it for about 2 years, many many hours on it, sold it before I killed myself. two of my friends did just that. there are many old flyers, there are no old bold flyers.
I had 10 hrs in a Cessna 150 before I bought and tried to fly my MX Sport. I tried finding anyone who could train me, but that's just not really a thing around where I live (Milwaukee area). So I did 3 "Bunny hops" and by my 4th, I was about 40 feet up and decided to continue on. It was scary, and I held onto one of the tubes with my left (throttle) hand, which of course doesn't help anything. The thing is, you go up, and there's really nothing in front or around you that keeps you confident that you're not just hanging out in the open air. I circled around the airport (non towered) and slowed it down, yet keeping some throttle on to ensure I wasn't going below 40 mph, flew it just above the runway and slowed down while still flying just above the runway until she settled in. Probably one of the best landings I've ever done. Also, when turning (in the MX) I hardly ever use the ailerons as the rudder does the job. My mistakes (several flights in) are I had my headset pulling off my head, by the time I decided to forget about it, I discovered I was doing 80 MPH! I wondered why my headset was being blown off my head!!! I once forgot to put my seatbelt on. Now I place them over the seat. I've had engine problems, but never bad enough that I couldn't turn around and land ever down wind. Today, I fly in weather that's pretty windy, sometimes hazy, but one time I was headed out to a fly in and there was a wall of clouds / fog I may have had to fly into to land. I turned around. Better safe than sorry. When I landed, I called and they said it's cleared up, so more gas and off I went! About 50 hours now, even flew all winter with a snow mobile suit, helmet and gloves. Training or no training. It depends on your confidence and abilities.
NEVER EVER EVER try to fly an ultralight without instruction. YOU WILL DIE. As far as pre-flight checks go I use the C I G A R S. method. C= controls, I= instruments, G= gas, A= attitude (if you have flaps), R=runup (the engine), S=safety (seatbelts, helmet , glasses, ) I always invested in a BRS parachute system. It's called insurance. When there is nothing you can do and you are going to crash, you pull the handle for the parachute. This will bring you and the ultralight down safely.
Definitely not a video game where you can turn crash off. In other words real time provides no practice on mistakes. And you mostly only get one real time. Dont do it and get training and live!!! Totally agree!!
@@coaaa505 altralites are kits or fully built for you I bought mine used . Get some training even 5 or 6 hours flying takeoff and landings would really help towards safety 👍
I once thought I was able to launch/take off in my Spitfire 3 axis UL. 503 Rotax , I pulled back on the stick at 35 mph but didn’t know I had to let it back up, so I held the stick back, and the plane immediately went to left as it left the ground and crashed sideways into grass in front of the hangar, it was 1:30 pm, slight crosswind , and I had No Business trying to fly that day! I was not patient, had No training, and I crashed! Thank god I walked away without a scratch, the planes lest landing gear bent outward, so it cost me 400 to have a new landing gear made..and I sold it! I bought a weight shift nano type trike, took training, and I am waiting for it to be finished up. It is with a Rotax Tech mechanic here in WNY ..complete rebuild with all new “Rotax” parts, washers, bearings, gaskets, etc…. Small fortune but hey, I want it to fly safe…. Training is a MUST HAVE for anybody planning on flying an ultra light, trike, or any other 103 type aircraft… it’s not worth your life… in the split second it took for me to crash, I saw my life flash before me…. I was very very lucky, you might not be..training.. fly high! Fly safe! Fly often! 👊🏼✌🏼
I fly a Trike. Know it's totally different but how difficult should it be to learn to fly this type of aircraft. I know the big difference for pilots is with Trike you push out to go up and with this type you pull stick in to go up. The foot pedals is what I'm not sure how difficult it would be. I have a chance to buy a Rans S-14 but think that is too much place to learn on. May just keep my Sabre Trike. I saw that a Sports License is about $6000, too rich for my blood.
I've done the Microsoft FS quite well and my wife throw a real fly-thing (Cessna) for my birthday. I was amazed about the similarity between FS and real flying. Guess, that's why its called FS. The point is: No one leave the cave and pop up at an airstrip with an UL, ready to go.
My Suggestion: Fly a R/C TRAINER plane for at LEAST One year first. And fly often when time permits. If you don't, please take out a LARGE life insurance policy on yourself and make me the benefactor. THANKS. 😁😁😁😁 .
Had 26 hrs in a 152 got a 103 pissed around on the ground then up 20 feet circle around land several times then 109feet many times now mind you sunny day light breeze no winds really just went for it on the 2nd day no problem. It's not for everyone I might just be lucky I guess..😎
When I first saw a Sabre Trike video I thought, Hey that looks easy. Then I bought one and took lessons and found out is was not as easy as I thought. I got more comfortable after the first lesson but I learn more I didn't know each time I went up, but it was fun.
I teach. Not certified, but after many years and hundreds of hrs, i enjoy watching those I teach do their first solo. I posess many shirt tails. Self teaching is NEVER a good idea. One commener said that lessons cost a lot of money.thats better than paying with your life, or at the least, destroying your aircraft. If you have never flown, take one lesson, and you will understand that its not as easy as it looks.
CORRECT! It's NOT as easy as it looks and WITHOUT ANY training, SOMEBODY'S gonna panic when something goes wrong up there and in THAT MOMENT, they're going to be WISHING that they didn't take that cheaper route.
Old pilot here with free advice. Three things a man should never share; Your under ware, your woman, or your airplane. Club or group planes are a fail.
That's up to an EXPERIENCED instructor AND yourself. You MUST BUILD your own confidence when being trained, ESPECIALLY in emergencies. You need to learn what to do if your engine quits, stalls, learn how to crab in order to not overfly your emergency landing locations, stuff like that and you can't learn that on your own without training.
You are correct!..yes you can fly with no training and, a kid can probably drive a car with no training. But, sometimes the outcome isn’t very good at all! Get training!
My advice is, IF you decide to buy an ultralight and just try to take off without ANY training, you should: A. Kiss your family goodbye, 'cause it MAY BE the last time they see you ALIVE, B. IF you get into the AIR and you're having fun buzzing around, you'd BETTER have a LIT of fuel in your tank, 'cause once it runs OUT, YOU'RE COMING DOWN and WITHOUT training? C. While in flight, release your seat belt, lean as far forward as possible, bend your knees up toward your shoulders, place your head FIRMLY between your legs and KISS YOUR BUTT GOODBYE ALSO, 'cause WITHOUT TRAINING, YOU ARE gonna crash, but HEY! It was fun while it lasted, wasn't it? GET TRAINING! STAY ALIVE! LIVE to see your family and friends again, 'cause it's YOUR LIFE you're playing with up there and once you reach that moment of, "UH OH!", IT'S TOO LATE to turn back the clock and be safe on the ground again. It's BETTER that you just SAVE YOUR MONEY and hire an EXPERIENCED ultralight pilot to give you a course in flying. HOWEVER, ANYONE can get on an ultralight, fire it up and take off and fly around, but the TRAINING is about 90% teaching you HOW to get back on the ground WITHOUT killing yourself, or others. I took a 10 hour course in flying ultralights back in the late 1990's. Even AFTER that 10 hour course, I STILL needed about 3 MORE hours before I was ready to solo, which I'm GLAD that I spent that extra money to do, 'cause it ALSO helped build my confidence more to feel more assured to fly solo. That 10 hour course, (back THEN), was $1,050.00 bucks, but it included ground school, the books, (flight instruction manual which also taught how to read the weather and a flight log), as well as the cost of the instructor, plane and fuel.
He said three steps, and you only did two. Step three is take off and fly. But you forgot step four. Land. Or get some training. One or the other. I would recommend getting training, but if you are not going to get training, well learn about flying from At least a simulator.
Well that was a long way of saying don't do it...... I would say learn to fly RC planes very well, get a flight simulator with yoke and pedals and "ultralights" to sample.... study youtube... eat breath and sleep aviation for 4-5 months and then go for it. If you have to hire a flight instructor for your maiden
I have a PPL as well. I was directing this video more to people that are looking to get into flying ultralights and have never been in any craft with any type of instructions or know the fundamentals of stick and rudder flying. I did not get training in an ultralight but I was flying a lot of stick and rudder airplanes. There were things I had to learn flying this craft lots more rudder authority needed for turns ailerons help slightly but only when rudder is input.
If I'm ever able to learn to fly, I think I'll start with a glider first as a glider license is just a step up from no license and a step down from a pilots license that requires a medical certificate.
Lots of taxi-ing and crow hops and setting it back down. Got to keep that motor and idle up or it drops like a rock. You really don't need training from another person, but you do need to understand fully how airplanes fly and work. Tons of hours in the sim can rapidly progress your pilot skills. I would rather fly with someone with 2,000 hours in the sim and zero hours IRL, versus someone with zero sim time and 25 hours in real life. What p155es me off is that most spam can pilots get training but never learn how to fly a glider or fly a wing. They have absolutely no idea what to do when the engine stops turning. If you want to get real life training, forget airplanes. Learn first in a glider. Glider pilots dead stick land every single time. If you don't have a glider, well heck, do what I would do as your flight instructor, and flip that spark plug kill switch off at the most inopportune times. Just took off? Yeah I'm flipping the switch. You're like... what the h3ll! Seriously? We just took off... Chyeah... that's when your engine is most likely to fail... it's cold, maybe you got bad gas, your gas lines are at an angle, you probably didn't run it up long enough, so yeah, I'm switching it off. Nope, see, you started to make the deadly turn back to base... you messed up already. Before you took off you should of looked at Google Maps satelite view on your smart phone and know in your mind all the best fields straight ahead for you to land in... :-)
@@BK-jf1ye I don't have a Quicksilver, I have a Volmer Jensen VJ-24w, a Chotia Woodhopper, and a Poorboy. google Choppergirl Airwar for pictures. I have all of 1 min in a Quicksilver from sitting in the seat of one parked at our local EAA in the hanger. All I got to say about the Quicksilver is... "whole lot of (draggy @$$ wires!) lol If you crash you'll probably look like a guy tangled up in a bent alluminum lawnchair wrapped around with clothes line in a big tangled ball. Otherwise, well, it's a plane, and it will get you flying low and slow over some fields. The SkySurfer Brian Fitzgerald has a lot of fun in his, at least I think he has a Quicksilver. Been a while since I watched his videos... "Autumn Air" was the best video. About the best flying Ultralight is the Legal Eagle, followed by the Skyraider if you want more power, and also maybe the Super Phantom for aerobatics. Be careful... a lot of self proclaimed experts on the internetz, and I'm one of them... :-p Quad copters are the way to go now. Flying an ultralight in 2021 makes no sense at all anymore. It did up until maybe 10 years ago, but now... you can carry your plane in your hand and be in the sky in minutes looking around and ing full acrobatics, up to 5km in any direction. Land. Drive to next spot, Back up in air. No airport or hanger or dirty engine maintenance required.
@@choppergirl you should of built a skypup, it has a true 12:1 glide ratio and simple 2 axis controls. I built one put around 100 hrs on it and sold it cause I was tired of only being able to fly in the calmest of conditions.
@@gyrojeffro2263 My VJ-24w is 9:1 with 3-axis controls. Friend wants to sell me another one with enclosed trailer but I don't think I can ever go back to flying straight and level again. I'm all about non-stop hardcore aerobatics now. Are you guys doing the Wrens Gyro Fly-in this year? I went a few times; once when one of the club guys brought the Apache. Took pictures. Nandi the Prez of EAA 172 told me I think they are not doing an airplane fly in. I always went just to see the Nieuport 11 parked in the hanger.
@@choppergirl theres a gyro fly-in at wadesboro NC on may 12, about 60 miles from me so I'll probally fly my himax airplane there if I get my new tailwheel leaf spring in time, beat it up pretty bad landing in rough fields and it finally broke completely.
Ik you probably won't respond but this sucks. I wanna learn to fly ultralight so badly but I've looked all over the Internet and everywhere and I can't even find anyone who trains this stuff. It's almost like you have to already know people that fly them :(
I’ve seen quite a few people fly without any training and do great. Some people are smarter than other and not everyone has the same natural abilities. I bet that you can’t ride a stand up wheelie on a street bike either .
