Flying

[Redsoul]

Shoving a motor on your back requires prior paragliding training(I have 2 licenses).A parachute is designed for you to fall to planet earth at a rate that will not kill you and a paraglider is actually an inflatable wing. Just like conventional aircraft paraglider can be stalled in mid-air.....great fun at 6000ft lol.

[SimplyExploring]

Yes - rotor wing

[DaveCon]

Used to fly Hang Gliders till I broke my neck with a less than successful landing :pinch:

Also flew gliders to pilot level with the Air Cadets.

Now work in Aerodynamics (wind tunnels).

[Mike101]

I was going the commercial route and got a frozen ATPL but now i'm too old to live that dream.

When i retire i'll go back to teaching flying but that's a while off yet. Been looking at getting back in the air recently...a YAK 52 is where i'm heading i think.

Mike

[daytona-supersport]

Hmmm, Flying eh. Can't think of a more boring way to burn up the cash.
Used to own a share in an ASW14, glider. Tried power gliders, power plane, microlight,(noisy) and finally flew on a trial session with a complete loony in a helicopter. I think the guy was trying to scare me doing all sorts of silly shit, flying at speed backwards, heading into the trees and then pulling up nigh on vertical, auto-rotation and any other daft thing that he could think of. No worries mate. Bring it on. If I go into the deck, I'll have you right beside me. To fly a helicopter is not so hard. Just imagine you are flying a Bridgeport milling machine and you won't go far wrong.
My general view is that you could teach a chimp to fly a plane. Puttering along in level flight must be the most boring thing in the world. Turn the sodding thing on it's back, tail or side, anything to add a bit of spice. Got a compliment at Newark for my Stuka approach landing. :laugh: :laugh: Near miss, bollocks, show me the marks on the paintwork. Heavy landing, Look! just be grateful you're walking away from it.
Mind you flew with some hot shit pilots. One guy had been flying and instructing since the beginning of WW2. Nothing you could do would worry this guy, we had quite a few real good laughs together. You said land in that field / I meant the field over there, the one without the power lines across the corner. Or, and this was not uncommon, "I though you were flying". :laugh: :laugh: This just before the plane rolls over or you are heading for the deck. :woohoo: IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not try to pull the wings off unless you are wearing a parachute and have plenty of height. This will give you a chance to recover from blacking out. (thumbs)

If you have bundles of cash to play. Give it a go.

Beware. Going from a normal 3 axis controlled aircraft to a Microlight can be interesting, especially the landing bit. Think about this one. :unsure:

[Mike101]

I started on a flexwing microlight some 22 years ago...did 300 hours..had a crash..nearly died...long story for another time. This was on a pegasus flash 2 aplha for those who want to go see.

Went to 3 axis microlight...Cyclone AX3...fun but slow and noisy. The moved to a Thruster t600N..much faster and fun and finally a C42...a very nice aircraft which is still to mainstay of microlight schools.

Did some 1800 hour on the little stuff.

Then moved to the heavy stuff. Did my full PPL on and old Gruman AA5A...old, slow and fun steering on the ground in the mud!!!!!

Did about 250 hours in a piper turbo Arrow...got my jump licence to fly a C206..great fun that was.

Moved onto a Senaca 2 for my dual and then did some 30 hrs on a king air C90 while doing my ATPL exams.

But kids and house got in the way so that was that...!

I don;t regret a second of it...but for me i loved the slow old microlights...everything is slow and so easy.

Flying is not easy to get it right...yes i can teach anybody to do it in a slow thing but when you get up to 200kts cruise things happen very fast indeed and you need to have very good reactions and the ability to do several things at once.

one of the hardest things to learn when moving to faster stuff is slowing the buggers down for landing...no brakes and slippery aircraft makes it fun...many a time i had to side slip while getting used to the extra speed and weight.

Highlights for me....

Being taken for a flight by Bill Goldfinch...he of colditz fame..go look him up.
Taking a 90 year old woman for a flight from Goodwood along bognor beach front...she loved it.
Flying a slow old microflight on a red hot day with the doors off around the edges of clouds.

Give it a year or two and i'll buy something...this time i want a Yak 52..the sound of the big Russian engine is calling me.

Mike

[daytona-supersport]

Hey Mike, You are well ahead of me matey. To be honest, I was a crap pilot, could never take it seriously. I can see why you would go for the YAK, Big old radial up front, chugging away. Will you look to buy or share? How does the maintenance costs stack up on these? :woohoo:

Believe this or not. There was a time many eons ago when the Royal Netherlands Air Force were selling off their Saab Saffire trainers. The going price back then was around the £2.7K mark, that's in fully checked, flying condition. I tried to buy one but I missed out on the one I was after, SOLD. I did look at another in the north of Holland, but condition and paperwork were no good. I was choked up when later, I saw one had been flow over as a freeby for display at the Newark air museum. A pretty little aircraft.

To give you some idea of how long ago this was. I was in Holland for the 50th anniversary of the Goony Bird. I pretty sure it was 1985. The event was laid on by KLM. It was good to look out the window and see an escort of modern aicraft standing on their tails as they flew at Goony Bird speed.

Edit to add link.
http://www.yakuk.com/aircraft-for-sale/
There's some rude aircraft here.

[Mike101]

A decent Yak 52 will cost about 50k these days and that's in very good condition. All in running costs work out to be about £150 per hour excluding a hanger.

The TBO is low and the airframe needs a big rebuild every 500 hrs i think so they are not cheap to own or run..but it's the cheapest you can get to WW2 flying in this part of the world.

They only have a 2 hr range but thats about 200 miles i think...but if i want a tourer i'll get a PA28R again...now i want smiles per hour not miles per hour.

It's not the right time yet to get one for me but in a year or so i'll look again...oh the joys of no mortgage or big bills...all that i earn i can spend on toys for now anyway..it might all stop in a few years but i'll enjoy life while i can.

Mike

[daytona-supersport]

A decent Yak 52 will cost about 50k these days and that's in very good condition. All in running costs work out to be about £150 per hour excluding a hanger.

The TBO is low and the airframe needs a big rebuild every 500 hrs i think so they are not cheap to own or run..but it's the cheapest you can get to WW2 flying in this part of the world.

They only have a 2 hr range but thats about 200 miles i think...but if i want a tourer i'll get a PA28R again...now i want smiles per hour not miles per hour.

It's not the right time yet to get one for me but in a year or so i'll look again...oh the joys of no mortgage or big bills...all that i earn i can spend on toys for now anyway..it might all stop in a few years but i'll enjoy life while i can.

Mike

There's always a deal out there.
I put a link here just to show people what a great aircraft the Yak is.
http://www.yakuk.com/aircraft-for-sale/

You can't take it with you, so blow the lot having fun. :laugh: (thumbs)

Edit, Mike I found one you might like. OK, price is a bit on the strong side but maybe with a bit of ducking and diving.

http://www.yakuk.com/aircraft/yak-1/

The price? It is very expensive. In excess of £2.5 million has already been spent. :woohoo:

The price is £1.5million down and £1.5million to be paid over the completion of the restoration and the issue of a CAA Permit to Fly. The price is subject to VAT or the aircraft can be exported out of the European Union without VAT.

[Mike101]

That's just what i am doing.

For the first time in a long time my life is stable and good and i'm enjoying it all...boats for the next couple of years and then a Yak after that..maybe.

Mike