Arty Trost, October 28th, 2011
Oct. 28, 2011
How has this happened? Almost four months since I’ve posted to this blog! And SOOO much as happened since then – maybe that’s the problem.
My last post was July 5, as I was getting ready to fly to Oshkosh. I won’t whine about the wonderful time we had hosting two Norwegian teenagers – who stayed for a full month, leaving only 2 days before I took off on my grand adventure. Even with trying to be a good host, I did carve out time to check out the Talon thoroughly and pack carefully. This was going to be my first major cross country flight in the Talon with the new gas tank, and the first one where I had to take everything for both hot and cold weather. Read More >>
Posted in LSA, Ultralights | 1 Comment »
Arty Trost, July 5th, 2011
I had all these good intentions – to blog weekly about my upcoming flight to Oshkosh. And to get started on my “To-Do” list that HAS to be done so that I can leave on Tuesday, July 19. So what happened? The weather turned into real flying weather, and I’m getting distracted! I go to the airport to fly “just for 30 minutes” and I can hear Norm chuckling. When I see him three or four hours later, he never says “I thought you were only going to fly for half an hour.” Maybe that’s why we’re still married after all these years – he knows when to stay silent!
In my last post I wrote about gunk in my fuel filter, and deciding to get a new gas tank to replace the fiberglass one that appeared to be disintegrating. Boy am I glad I did! Read More >>
Posted in LSA, Ultralights | 3 Comments »
Arty Trost, May 31st, 2011
Rain, rain, rain…and more rain. Only a very few brief windows for flying. I try to keep myself from severe flying withdrawal by reading anything to do with flying and watching movies featuring great flying. Then the phone rings. A good friend of mine in Tennessee has bought a Maxair Drifter – from a friend of mine here in Oregon. He’s going to fly his new Drifter home instead of pulling on a trail. But he doesn’t want to do it alone. If he makes a detour to EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh – do I want to fly along? Read More >>
Posted in LSA, Ultralights | 2 Comments »
Arty Trost, April 11th, 2011
In my last post I said I’d write about some of the places I’ve flown internationally – and why I’m so grateful for our comparative lack of flying limitations here in the U.S. I’ll start with my experience in South Korea.
First, let me be very clear that my experiences happened in the fall of 1994 and the regulations have changed since then…but how much, I don’t know. I searched the Web before writing this post but could only find the Korean Civil Aviation Authority website in Korean, not English, and so wasn’t able to track down current regulations. I also found one flying club – Expatflyers.net, which provides LSA training– and a company that gives scenic tours – Aerotourkorea.com – but couldn’t find any of the four ultralight clubs that existed when I was there. Read More >>
Posted in LSA, Ultralights | 5 Comments »
Arty Trost, March 14th, 2011
Two seemingly unrelated events got me thinking about how incredibly much freedom we have to fly ultralights—and all private aircraft—here in the U.S.
First event:
I was at a meeting of my ultralight club last month, and one of the members began a familiar refrain. He was grumbling about the FAA and how difficult they made things for pilots. “We need to be free to fly!” he groused. “They do everything they can to throw obstacles in our way.” On and on, like a broken record, with others nodding their heads, until the subject shifted to a discussion about whether or not doing crow hops was safe. Read More >>
Posted in LSA, Ultralights | 1 Comment »
Arty Trost, October 14th, 2010
“When we last left our intrepid heroine…” (Sorry – I just couldn’t resist. )
In my last post, I was in a hay field, having dead-sticked in after my engine died. 
I called a good friend, told him of my predicament, and asked if he’d load up his trailer and come get me. (Ultralight pilots are an amazing group. They are always ready to come to each others’ aid. Even if it means a 3-4 hour drive.) Dave first asked me if I knew what had caused my engine out. I had checked the float bowls, and it wasn’t fuel starvation. Even if I was able to get the engine re-started, I wouldn’t have been able to fly it out—the uncut hay was much too high. So he said he’d round up his wife and son, load the trailer and an ATV, and be on his way. Read More >>
Posted in LSA, Ultralights | 1 Comment »
Arty Trost, October 4th, 2010
There is a large annual airshow in Arlington, Washington that takes place the weekend following Independence Day. I’ve been flying there in my Drifter for the past 15 years. The first time I flew to Arlington, I was with 10 other ultralights. In the years since, sometimes there are four or five, sometimes there are two, and sometimes I fly alone. This year was one of the “fly alone” times for the 250-mile flight. I flew my new Talon, knowing that people would be amazed that they weren’t seeing my Drifter. As always, the airshow was a time for seeing old friends, meeting new ones, attending educational forums, and browsing aviation-related vendor booths. Read More >>
Posted in LSA, Ultralights | 4 Comments »
Arty Trost, September 20th, 2010
With great regret, I’ve decided to sell my Maxair Drifter and get another LSA. Fellow pilots have been urging me to “upgrade” for years. Many of them are frankly astonished that I’ve continued to fly my venerable Drifter, especially on such long distance flights. (Since 2000, I’ve made a long-distance flight each year; the shortest was two weeks and 2800 miles; the longest was seven weeks and 7500 miles.)
My Drifter was built in 1984 and I’m the third owner. It’s completely open and has been described as a molded plastic seat mounted on an irrigation pipe with a lawnmower engine and wings. However others may disdain it, it’s served me well in the 18 years I’ve been flying it. But its cruise speed is 55-65 mph, although I can push it to 70 mph if I absolutely need to. The pilots I’ve been flying with are all flying slightly faster E-LSAs, and are getting tired of waiting for me on our long distance flights. Another 10 mph will make a big difference in keeping up. Read More >>
Posted in Airplanes, LSA | No Comments »
Arty Trost, January 21st, 2010
I was standing in line at a hot dog booth at the Arlington, WA fly-in, a wonderful 5-day event full of airplanes, airplane lovers, vendors, educational sessions, and mostly junk food. I couldn’t help overhearing the two people in front of me.
Person #1: “I’ve GOT to start flying! It looks like so much fun, and I’ve put it off too long. There’s an instructor here who can give me lessons in a Light Sport airplane, and I’ve decided to work on a Light Sport pilot license [certificate].”
Person #2: “Why in the world would you want to go for a Light Sport License [certificate] when you can work on a Private license [certificate]? You don’t want an LS license [certificate] – you really ought to get a Private.” Read More >>
Posted in LSA, Ultralights | 13 Comments »
AndrewS, December 21st, 2009
In pulling the Czech-made LSA SportCruiser out of the hanger, the first thing I noticed is that the plane is so light that you can practically drag it to the next airport, instead of fly it. But fly it you should. The Sportcruiser is spiffy, fun, easy to fly, and quite capable of taking you places.
I have flown several LSAs and the Sportcruiser lives up to everything the category of aircraft should be. I got checked out at Mid Island Aviation at Islip Airport on Long Island (ISP) and now have half a dozen hours in it. ISP is a big boy airport, where you que up behind Southwest jets to take off. So the first thing you'll discover is that, yes, you can fly an LSA out of an airport that sits in Class C airspace. Read More >>
Posted in LSA, Ultralights | 4 Comments »
How has this happened? Almost four months since I’ve posted to this blog! And SOOO much as happened since then – maybe that’s the problem.
