[Before I go any further, I want to say that when I use the word “ultralight” I will always be referring to both legal ultralights, which meet FAR 103 criteria, and ultralight-type Experimental Light Sport Aircraft. Although the “high end” of Light Sport Aircraft now gets most of the press, I will always be writing about the “low-end” of E-LSAs…what used to be called “fat ultralights”. ]

When I think of flying I can’t do it without thinking of the ultralight community. It’s tightly knit, yet it’s always open to newcomers. You are “one of us” as soon as you declare your interest in ultralights. You don’t have to own one or even have ever flown one. Just your sincere interest is enough to be accepted. It is the experience of belonging. I’ve been the beneficiary of this community for many years.

When I first started taking flying lessons in 1988, Sandy River Airport was a somewhat ramshackle place, with deteriorating wooden open t-hangars. But there was nothing ramshackle or deteriorating about the welcome that you got once you started to hang around. And the open hangars allowed “lookie-lous” to wander in and out, gawking at these strange and dangerous-looking contraptions. Whether it was clear skies or raining or snowing, you were almost always likely to find someone puttering around, tightening bolts or replacing a bent tube or timing their engine. There’s always someone to talk to, to ask for help, to get – both solicited and unsolicited - advice.

Hangar flying is an art in the ultralight community. Since we fly VFR, and since our little aircraft aren't as weather tolerant as the "spam can general aviation machines", we spend a lot of time sitting under a wing or in a hangar, talking about our flying adventures. It's all I can do to keep a straight face when the stories get too flamboyant. And because telling tall tales is hard work, there's often food involved. Someone will drop by the local donut shop on their way to the airport, or bring some homemade zucchini bread. We gather for summer barbeques and pancake breakfasts. And there's always a potluck at our annual fly-in, where we have to time the competitive events so that they don't interfere with the pilots' ability to chow down!

Being “one of us” happens even when you’re a stranger. When I made the decision to fly my Maxair Drifter to Sun ‘n Fun, I put out the word over the Internet, via the four ultralight-related e-mail lists I subscribe to. I was overwhelmed by the response! Over 100 pilots from all over the country contacted me, offering to help me along the way. From getting gas to getting food to putting me up for the night in their homes – they reached out to me, a complete stranger, just because I was a fellow pilot, flying slow and slow across the country in a tube and fabric aircraft. My son, who is a deputy sheriff, was immediately suspicious. “Mom! You’ve got to be kidding! You’re going to get in a car with someone you’ve never met? Stay in the home of people you don’t know and have never heard of?” He just doesn’t understand the bond that flying an ultralight or an ultralight-type E-LSA creates.

Sandy River Airport is no longer ramshackle. The old t-hangars have been torn down and modern metal fully enclosed hangars now protect the aircraft from passers-by. But the community spirit still exists. Summer barbeques and pancake breakfasts, hot dog roasts around the huge fire pit that the new airport owners built, pilots gathering in old lawnchairs to swap tall tales. And it's not unique to our airport. As I flew cross country, I discovered that wherever ultralight pilots gathered, they had created community.

So if you’re thinking about flying, be aware that it will open up much more than the glory of flight. It will also open up a wealth of new friends, friends who will support and sustain you as you explore what flying is all about.

As a poor college student in the fall of 1959 I faced the same problem.  I chose to join a soaring club - the Orange County Soaring Association who based two WWII ex-military 2-seat training gliders,  a Pratt Read and an LK-10A , and a single seat Schweizer 1-26 at Skylark Field at Lake Elsinore, CA.  I paid OCSA  $100 to join and $10 a month in dues. Instruction in the sailplanes went for $0/Hr - something I could afford.  A half century of inflation has bumped the membership up to $300 and the dues to $55 but the hourly rate for OCSA's modern fleet of gliders and instruction is still $0.  If you're under 22 and a full time student, the cost is about half that.   That means you can start learning to fly sailplanes for the cost of a fuel stop.    What a deal!  See: www.ocsoaring.org

To make things even cheaper, we took camping trips to the El Mirage Dry lake in the Mojave Desert to launch the gliders with auto tows. OCSA still does this except urban sprawl has pushed the camps deeper into the desert.  Here's a story from my early experiences with this type of flying.

I rode my motorcycle from Los Angles out to El Mirage Dry Lake in the high desert Friday evening to camp with other OCSA members.  Early Saturday, I awoke to the smell of coffee and bacon and the sounds of a campsite coming to life.  As I crawled out of my tent I felt the chill of the vast dry lake surface on my bare feet.  The sky was a deep blue and the sun was still a ways below the horizon.  The smoke from a campfire rose straight up as far as I could see.  The rumble of an early '60's muscle car broke the morning quiet.

"Get ready, we're gonna fly", someone shouted.  I put on my boots and a jacket against the deserts' morning chill and began to pre-flight the hulking Pratt Read - an unusual sailplane with side-by-side seating and "gull wing" doors.  Another pilot jumped in the right seat after offering to share the launch cost.

Satisfied everything was present and working, we strapped into cockpit and signaled our readiness to launch with a thumbs up.  Someone snapped a tow wire onto the release hook and leveled the wings and radioed the tow car to start the launch.

The launch began eerily as the glider surged ahead silently with no obvious means of propulsion.  We lifted off and slowly rotated into a 45 degree climb at 55mph.  As we climbed, the morning twilight dropped away and the brilliant desert sun burst into the cockpit.  The climb went on for a couple of minutes topping out 2500 feet above the dry lake bed.  I pulled the release when the climb reached zero and slowed to the 42MPH minimum sink airspeed where the sound of the airflow over the glider was barely audible.

The air was velvet smooth and the Pratt Read responded to our fingertips  What an incredible way to learn precise stick and rudder flying.  After 15 minutes of utter joy, I lined up for a landing.  With unlimited 'runway', I decided to play with ground effect.  Diving the glider down to a couple of feet above the lake bed, I let it cruise along for almost a mile before the single wheel kissed the fabulously smooth lake bed and rolled to a stop precisely where we had started from.  That auto tow cost 50 cents for a ride no Disneyland "E-Ticket" could match.

I opened the gull-wing door and the smells of breakfast again filled my nostrils.  I wanted to just sit there and take it in but someone else wanted to fly.   I turned the glider over to the next pilot and grabbed breakfast then took my turn running wings and driving the tow car.

Later, when the desert temperature soared into the 100's, huge dust devils churned across the lake bed marking strong thermals.  Then a 50 cent auto tow let me fly for hours at 12,000 feet enjoying the cool shade under cumulus clouds.

So, if costs are holding you back, consider a soaring club.  The flying and camaraderie are great and the costs are minimal.  To get started check out  www.ssa.org - on the right side of the web page click the "Fly a Sailplane Today" and the "Find Where to Fly" buttons.

Sharing aviation with someone, now that's a rewarding experience! I recently had the opportunity to design and lead an after school aviation program for middle school age kids appropriately called "The Future Pilot Flight Academy."

I've always had a huge passion for aviation and try to be an ambassador wherever I go. Seeing a group of kids at this age get so excited about flying and what happens "behind the scenes" to make each flight a success was powerful to experience.

You don't have to create programs to enjoy sharing your talents and fervor with everyone. They're programs already out there. The Young Eagles is a prime example, in-fact my first flight was thanks to a Young Eagles pilot.

As an instructor I get to share my passion with a student, watch them grow, and become a positive light to show others the joy of aviation, it's a wonderful cycle.

You don't even have to be a pilot to take your loved ones flying. I take up many of my students family members on a regular basis. You'd be surprised at how carefully the airplane is preflighted and how delicately they fly it when they have family on board. "Now only if you flew that way everyday!" I usually say to them.

So what are you waiting for? You have a passion, don't keep it to yourself, share it with others.

Need help with your flight training? Visit MzeroA.com for audio & video podcasts, along with insightful articles.

As an aviation and aerospace podcaster, this is always a unique time of the year for me.  By now, airshow season in the northern United States is over and I usually have a huge pile of content from the season that I can sit back and really think about. 

It’s not that I don’t fly or go after great experiences in the winter (in fact, the Super D gets great hang-time on the hammerheads during the colder weather!), but the pace slows up a little.  Year-end stuff at work is going to keep me out of the sky to some extent and I’m not actively working on any particular rating again until spring.  Many of my fellow aviators and aviation enthusiasts are also scaling back a little, too.

The important thing is that we all have time to think.  About next summer.  About what aviation means to us.  And we have time to make plans and set agendas.

In particular, I’ve been thinking a lot about my local airport.  I fly primarily out of Oakland County International Airport (KPTK or “Pontiac”), where Sutton Aviation rents me aerobatic trainers andprovides instructors and where the CAP Michigan Wing’s glass-cockpit C-182T Nav III is based.  The picture above shows the ramp there during the airport’s open house on 16 August.  I took it from the back seat of one of CAP’s gliders during a demo flight (and, yeah, I got to log it).

Now is a good time to get involved with your local airport.  To make the calls and hit a meeting or two to really understand what’s going on in the pilot community there and to understand how the airport is faring among its many constituencies.

It’s easy to think of pilots and passengers as being the only constituencies of the local airport.  But it’s a lot broader than that.  The surrounding community is a big consideration.  Most of the people over whose homes we fly are non-pilots and, unbelievable as we might think it, many don’t particularly like aviation or aviators.  Many of them think of us as a nuisance because of the noise we make and might even harbor fears that one of us might drop a Cherokee in their yard someday.  And no noise abatement program or commitment to safety is going to change their minds.

Unless we get out there and take our message to them.  Your local community of pilots, maintainers, controllers, and others is very well positioned to help do that.  After all, those folks know the facts and are probably able to express their excitement about aviation in a genuine way that can reach members of the community.  And, by the way, if you’re reading this, you’re probably one of those actual or potential communicators that I’m talking about.

This is a great time of year to make a few phone calls and get involved in the promotion and support of your local airport.  The operational tempo is a little slower and we can all take a little time to attend a meeting, take on a volunteer opportunity, or simply become more informed about the airport and its constituencies.  And it’s never too early to get involved in the planning for next summer’s activities like open houses, airshows, and other events.  Believe me, it’s already going on.

The AOPA Airport Support Network (“ASN”) is a good place to start.  Check out http://www.aopa.org/asn/, where you can find out who the ASN volunteer is for your airport and, if you’re an AOPA member, you can e-mail the volunteer directly from the ASN web page.  The page also has a lot of great downloadable resources, including AOPA’s Guide for Airport Advocates: Participating in the Planning Process; AOPA’s Guide to Airport Noise and Compatible Land Use; and The Complete Guide to Holding an Airport Open House.

Not every airport is under threat from its local community, a fact that is due in no small part to the efforts of AOPA, EAA, and other groups.  In those cases, you can join in the effort to keep the ball rolling and make sure that the message continues to go out to the community.

Some airports are under threat from development, encroachment, and just plain misunderstanding.  If your local airport is one of those embattled facilities, ASN can help you to find out how to help protect the airport and communicate effectively with your friends and neighbors about it.

And it doesn’t stop there.  You might find local pilot groups, EAA chapters, IAC chapters, CAP squadrons, and others who share your love of aviation.  You won’t know until you start poking around and getting involved.

It’s a great time to pick up the phone and use these colder months to get involved at your local airport.  Some of your best friends are probably waiting to meet you.

Will and I are pleased to announce our participation in the first-ever AOPA Aviation Summit "GA at the Movies" Luncheon.

AOPA President and CEO Craig L. Fuller will kick off this exciting event by presenting the Joseph B. "Doc" Hartranft Award and the Laurence P. Sharples Perpetual Award to recognize each winner's contributions to general aviation.

During the three-course lunch, attendees will get a behind-the-scenes look at two aviation movies, "A Pilot's Story" and "Amelia."  Will & I will talk with Mr. Fuller about why we're making the film, what's surprised us about pilots, and the highs and lows of the production process.

Then, key contributors from "Amelia" will share their insider perspective on how the freedom and adventure of the legendary aviator's life were captured on the silver screen.

GA at the Movies Luncheon

Friday, November 6

12:00 to 1:30 P.M.

Marriott Grand Ballroom

Purchase tickets online at

http://www.aopa.org/summit/register.html

See you at Summit!

To watch trailers of "A Pilot's Story", please visit:

www.apilotsstory.com

A bit about me: I’ve been flying ultralights and Experimental Light Sport Aircraft for twenty years. I soloed in a Sunburst ultralight in May, 1989. That sweet bird had a five gallon gas tank, 40 foot wings with spoilerons, a 28 hp Cuyuna engine, and a cruise speed of 32 mph. I flew it happily, often pushing it to its 40 mph limit since everyone I flew with flew much faster than I could. They were the “big boys” flying CGS Hawks, Flightstars, Quicksilvers, and other ultralight types.

Even though I was the only woman ultralight pilot in the area, (I’m based in Sandy, Oregon, which is in the northwestern part of the state, in the foothills of Mt. Hood,) I never felt excluded. I was welcomed as a new pilot and treated to all the jokes and teasing that are a rite of passage in our flying community. Since then, I’ve flown ultralights and Light Sport Aircraft in many different states and several other countries, and I’ve found the generous welcome of other pilots to be the same everywhere.

In 1991 I bought my Maxair Drifter, (a registered Experimental Light Sport Aircraft,) and have been flying it ever since. This past spring (2009) I flew it from Sandy, Oregon to Sun n Fun in Florida, and back to Oregon. It was seven weeks and 7100 miles. A life changing experience!

My husband and I live on an “Old McDonalds” farm, raising most of our own meat: beef, lamb, and goat. We also have two Great Danes, a llama, a horse, and two barn cats. Neither Norm (my husband,) nor my son Mark are pilots or have any interest in flying.

Fortunately, Norm is incredibly supportive of my flying addiction, or it would have been really difficult to do most of the long cross-country flights that I’ve done.

When I’m not flying, I’m a management consultant who works throughout the U.S. In speaking engagements and workshops, I use my ultralight flying as a metaphor to urge people to spread their wings and do more than they think is possible. You can find out more at www.LessonsFromTheEdge.com

In this Blog I want to share the joy you can have in any type of aviation, and encourage you to stretch your own wings.

I hope you enjoy reading my Blog and I especially hope we’ll have a dialogue as you respond with your own experiences.

Wishing you blue skies and calm air -
Arty

 It has been a while since I last blogged my progress with my flight training. I did a lot of training in the month of July including simulated instrument training and finishing up my cross country flight requirements. Also, my CFI and I did PTS prep for about three hours.

The checkride was set for July 29, 2009. I felt very ready for it. However, I will say that I was nervous about the oral portion.  As a result, the oral portion of the PTS was the most difficult part, but I managed to prove my knowledge of the flight rules according to the FAR. The in-flight portion of my checkride was easy because I knew my skill level was higher than average for a student pilot. As soon as the examiner and I landed for completion of the checkride, the examiner immediately wrote a note as I parked the airplane in big letters, “YOU PASSED!” 

 Thus, I am proud to announce that I earned my Private Pilot Certificate! It was a challenge overcomer and dream come true for me that day. It will be a day I will never forget. I have always wanted to be at the controls of an aircraft; ever since I was little when I watched airplanes take off and land at airports.  A day after I passed the checkride, I took my girlfriend up in the air for the first time. It was such a good flight to Chehalem Airpark (0S5). We went there for a dinner picnic at the airport where it was surrounded with trees and picnic tables. It was very nice and a good experience for both of us. I am excited to be able to fly in the Northwest with my family and friends. In fact, my dad and a couple of friends let me fly them around in the 172 last month. It sure feels good to have people trust me as I am the pilot in command. Not just pilot in command, but also because I am Deaf. I do not care if I can hear or not, all I care is that I can prove to people and the FAA that I can do anything and be safe. The next step for my flying endeavors will be IFR training and tailwheel training. I want to get as many ratings and certifications as possible, so I am taking it one step at a time. Instrument rating is next. Also, I met a CFI who knows sign language and is willing to train and sign me off for tailwheel flying. I am looking forward to it as I start soon. This is all for now. I will keep you updated on my progress and accomplishments. Thank you!

The picture above was after the checkride. Tom, the examiner, on the left and Wayne, my CFI, on the right.

Aviation is always and ever about having new experiences.  And, ideally, sharing those experiences with others.  At Oshkosh, I had the opportunity to fly the Remos GX, a light sport aircraft (“LSA”) manufactured by Remos Aircraft.  And I did it with a group of good friends that ran the gamut of skillsets, missions, and capabilities.

This was my first time flying an LSA of any kind.  I had been thwarted by weather the few times that I’d tried to schedule a flight in a Flight Design CT in my old stomping grounds of Hillsdale, Michigan, where Flight Design’s northern Midwest distributor, Hillsdale Aero, is located.

So it was an unexpected bonus that Rod Rakic and Mike Miley of www.mytransponder.com arranged for a group of new-media types to go fly this aircraft.

We showed up at Orion Air on the field at Oshkosh in the morning and each hooked up with a demo pilot and airplane put of a rotating fleet of three GXs and departed to the north of the field to go crank and bank for awhile.

I enjoyed flying the airplane.  It was responsive, it met all of the book numbers, and struck me as meeting all of the promise of the LSA category.  I need to fly a couple of other LSAs in order to have a real feel for how the Remos GX stacks up, but I’m a confirmed fan of LSAs if the GX is at all indicative.

But here’s the best part.  As I was preparing to do the coverage, I realized that I didn’t have enough of an experience out of one flight to fully cover the aircraft for my podcast, Airspeed.  I really needed some other perspectives.  Rod and Mike had gathered such a wide-ranging group of people to fly the demos that day that I decided to just throw the doors open wide and invite everyone who flew that day onto the episode to talk about the aircraft.  David Allen, Scott Murphy, Bill Williams, and Mike Miley accepted the invitation and all piled onto a Skype call and recorded a really interesting episode.

David and Scott are student pilots to varying degrees.  Bill Williams is a recent private pilot.  I’m a reasonably experienced private pilot.  And Mike Miley is a highly-experienced instructor.  We had the waterfront covered.

The episode just recorded itself.  I didn’t really have to moderate at all.  Each of my friends asserted his point of view and identified what mattered to him from his perspective.  The students talked about each of operation, cost of training, and the likelihood that the aircraft would be available at flight schools in their areas.  The already-certificated pilots talked about gross weight and ability to accomplish go-places missions.  Mike talked about what it would be like to instruct in the aircraft.

And, in addition to taking away some insights about the aircraft that I had not had myself, I was reminded just how much one can learn among pilots by just sitting back and listening.  Especially if we’re used to talking and being listened to.  I recall a couple of points in the conversation where I just left my microphone off and took notes as the students became the instructors, identifying with great clarity and energy what mattered to them about this aircraft and what ought to matter to LSA manufacturers, regulators, and others.

This could have been a perfectly acceptable episode of the show with just me talking.  But it turned out to be so much more just by adding some additional voices.

As pilots, we’re all pretty good talkers.  It’s what we do.  If the words “there I was at five thousand feet . . .” don’t come out of your mouth at some point during the first couple of years of your flying, you’re not doing it right.  It’s about adventures and experiences worth relating to friends and anyone else who will listen. 

But it’s also about listening.  It’s about including others in your conversations and figuring out how their experiences matter for your own purposes.  How what they’re learning applies to you.  How what they know will help you along in your own journey. And how glimpses back along the road that you’ve travelled make your own journey so much more special.

Long and short, I set out to put out a regular episode about a very capable LSA.  And I got a welcome reminder about how much out collective conversation matters.

You can see the show notes and listen to the episode at http://tinyurl.com/kludml.

Pictured in the group shot above are (L-R): David "Ducky" Allen, Scott Murphy, Cole "FOD" Tupper, Bill Williams, Rod "Fanboy" Rakic.

In my opinion, an industry built on a negative cannot survive.   If you question my thesis, riddle me this:  If the FAA eliminated the Third Class Medical for all single engine pistons (so your Cessna 172 qualified)  or raised the maximum weight limit so more legacy aircraft would qualify as an LSA (neither of which is under consideration) what would happen to the nearly 100 LSA manufacturers?   Do you think there would be any market for them?

While some LSAs are making their way into flight schools and while there are now hundreds of Sport-rated Pilots, the industry remains built on the back of older pilots.   This cannot be what the FAA had in mind.

As someone deeply interested in the LSA category (I continue to demo fly them with the possibility of buying a share of one), I'm interested in what can be done to  keep the industry from falling apart.   And I'm afraid that's where it's headed.

First, there will be a shakeout.  A few hundred sport-rated pilots cannot support one-hundred aircraft manufacturers.

Second, I'm concerned that seasoned, multi-engine rated pilots who give up their twin for an LSA because of medical concerns will, in fact, lose interest because of the sport-pilot limitations.  Where once they could shoot low-minimum approaches with their family of four, now, as Sport Pilots,  they're limited to day VFR flying with their one passenger or their dog (but likely not both)  These pilots will stop flying when they get bored.

Third,  just as young people don't want to drive Dad's Oldsmobile, young would-be pilots won't want to fly aircraft known for servicing mainly older people.

The LSA rule is the most exciting development in general aviation in decades.  It's the only sector that is showing growth during this economy.   It needs to be nurtured.  That means LSA's need to grow their demographics, not just grow in number of aircraft available.

-Andrew

Sailplanes are an exception.  Their minimum airspeed is not much faster than the birds themselves.  Large birds like eagles can glide in formation with us.  That they often choose to do so is a matter of great delight for sailplane pilots.  Silent sailplanes seem to get a aerial welcome from soaring birds  that noisy airplanes don't enjoy.

Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQnGvqXLrJQ The beeping sound is the sailplane's audio variometer indicating strong thermal lift.  The pilot is learning he can't outmaneuver an eagle.

Soaring birds work cooperatively by watching each other to detect the thermal updrafts they exploit.  One bird soaring upward in tight circles will quickly attract others.  A sailplane in their midst is seen as simply a larger, and possibly smarter bird.  (After flying a couple of circles with us they tend to  abandon that impression.)  There is clearly body language communication between the birds - and with humans if we take the trouble to learn their language.

In desert areas you can see large flocks of vultures circling in thermals.  They clearly define the thermal updraft serving as markers for sailplane pilots looking for lift.  One has to be careful with circling vultures.  Sometimes they mark thermals, sometimes a dead cow.

A South African glider pilot told a story of being followed all day by a large flock of African Gray Vultures.  "What do you think they were doing?" he asked.  "Waiting for you to crash?", suggested a less than generous friend.

I've had eagles fly just ahead of the wing leading edge only a few feet from my cockpit.  Looking into those intelligent eyes at 16,000 feet is an unforgettable moment.  Most of you will recognize the look of respect exchanged between experienced pilots.  I swear, I've seen that look in the eyes of an eagle.

Once I spotted a long line of mountain climbers trudging resolutely up a trail well above treeline on Colorado's Mount Antero.  Indulging in a bit of mischief, I approached silently planning my glide so the sailplane's shadow would come up from their rear,  freaking them out one-by-one.

As I lined up my 'attack', I noticed motion to my left.  A Golden Eagle was pulling into formation with me.  Apparently, in a moment of inter-species body language communication, the raptor had interpreted my maneuvering as preparation for an attack on those "ground creatures" below.  The eagle seemed to be thinking, "This, I gotta see."

The hikers, a thousand feet below, froze as my shadow passed looking up at a silent white sailplane with an eagle flying in formation.  I would have given a great deal to hear what they were saying.

Another time a young student pilot and I were flying over the Pawnee National Grasslands of NE Colorado.  We had been cruising for almost an hour following a convergence line of weak but steady lift.  My young friend called out, "Bird, opposite direction, level".  I looked around him to see the head-on silhouette of a large soaring bird.  Since they spend most of their time looking down for prey and not clearing airspace ahead of them, I suspected it hadn't seen us.  "Lets drop down 50 feet and let it go over us", I suggested.

As the bird approached, I saw mottled feathers indicating it was a juvenile Golden Eagle - the avian equivalent of a teenager.  It probably had not seen a sailplane before.  As we passed into it's field of view, it went to a full startle posture with wings cupping the air and talons extended as if to say, "Woah!  What the heck is THAT?!"  It turned to get a better look at us and we turned with it, circling each other several times before parting on our respective paths.  It seemed to have learned sailplanes are just big, harmless things which are fun to play with.

Some encounters are a tiny bit less friendly.  I was returning to land with a passenger enjoying his first glider ride when I spotted a Golden gliding purposely, intently looking down at something near the hangar.  It was focused on our "apprentice hangar cat" - an orange tabby.  I really liked the kitten and thought it an inappropriate lunch for an eagle so I decided a mild intervention was in order.

I nosed the glider toward the eagle slowly overtaking it.  The eagle was so intent on the kitten that it didn't see or hear me until the nose of the glider gently nudged its pinion feathers.  That got its undivided attention and I was rewarded with a steely glare.  Then, with powerful wing beats it was gone.  The kitten was never bothered again - it had big friends.  The passenger had a story of a lifetime.