Aviation Forum / General / Ultralight / November 2009

You don't say what country your in, so my comments may be of little
value to you. In the U.S., ultralight accidents don't get reported
like certificated airplanes, so there's really no official tracking
of accidents for these type of vehicles.

As far as the letter of the law on the ultralight rules, you should
realize that if your vehicle doesn't fit the rules of Part 103, then
it is not an ultralight (again, this is in the U.S.) and as such
can't be flown under that exemption.

For example, if you choose to carry more than 5 gallons of fuel, then
it is no longer an ultralight and must be flown under other rules,
like Experimental, LSA, etc. with all the rules and regulations
that come with that.

Best Regards,

thats easy to answer.

stop looking at the accident records because you dont know how
skilled the pilot was, and look for designs that had a full structural
analysis done on the design.
only among those designs enquire of the owners whether they are nice
to fly.

if the aircraft doesnt have a structural design exercise behind it but
it still looks interesting, look only at the designs which have lots
of active examples out there flying (ie proven by lots of active
flying in all sorts of environments).

chuck's CGS Hawk ultralight was the first ultralight to have a
structural analysis done as part of it's design work.
if it predates the CGS Hawk pass it by.
btw I'm told by the local owners that the CGS Hawk is a nice
ultralight to fly.

this change in approach will hone in on your answer fairly quickly
because if there hasnt been a structural analysis done, or it isnt a
time honoured design, how are you going to know that all the parts are
strong enough?

thats how I'd do it.
Stealth Pilot

Try party baloons attached to a chair

  You will FAIL .   Safety is NOT something you are tutored in .

   You must imagine engineering , then image safety ,

   then you will build a safe plane .

   You cant get anything from a book , nor others .

    Maybe from a few pictures , but certainly not by

   reading text .
-----------------------

      I build airplanes  .

  I will use 5052-H38 in some structural places .
  Power freaks/democrats/liberals  will  scream
   murder .

  Alum will fail at any small  loads if stress cycles are repeated
 enough times .
    But that limit is in the 1000 millions , if you are a good
  engineer .  I am .

  I imagine a pusher , wings fold fwd .  Stabilizers fold rear .

  Engine / fuel / heavy stuff is over the wheels   ala DC3.

    Wing tips articulate up/down  .   These control
      roll and reduce tip vortices . like  bird wings .

   Anyone here excited about building , rather than reading
  about airplanes ?