How dangerous are ultralights?

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West_Hotel_7673@reddit

I’m wondering this too. I’m a loooong way off from being able to afford my own plane, but seems like you can scoop an ultralight for a couple grand and two-stroke engines are super simple to maintain 🤔

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fhecrewdavid@reddit

I bought my Quad City Challenger II for 10k and can log my hours in it as it is registered.

It is honestly a cheat code. My operating costs currently are about 20-30 dollars per hour including monthly hangar rent and an engine rebuild ever 350 hours (Rotax 503).

The biggest issue facing many Ultralights are the runaway costs of new engines and a diminishing supply of Rotax two-stroke parts as they ceased manufacturing. There are some good engines coming out of China but with the current US posture they remain hard to get at competitive prices. The Gaokin two-stroke aircraft engine is very exciting.

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Designer_Buy_1650@reddit

I owned one and it was a blast to fly. Had I not sold it, I’d probably be dead right now. You can takeoff from your backyard and never get above a hundred feet. Flying ten feet above tree tops and blah, blah, blah. Unfortunately the temptation to do things you would never do in an airplane is nearly overwhelming.

With a rocket deployed safety parachute, you almost feel bulletproof. Then, I had an emergency. A fuel line split and spewed fuel everywhere and I couldn’t get the engine to stop even with the start switch in off. The vibration and fuel everywhere scared the crap out of me.

It’s not built to FAA standards. Stay away.

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CardinalDoctor@reddit

Watched a YouTube Short of a guy flying an ultralight landing on a grass strip in between lines of trees. Said the best way to descend was to cut the engine and glide in…

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Galactic_Rigby@reddit

Haven’t died flying them yet, even after the prop’s drive belt snapped on me and caused an off airport landing. (my fault as I didn’t secure the tube that heated the cockpit and it got sucked into the prop… not my proudest moment but it was a beautiful landing actually)

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14Three8@reddit

As safe as the builder and PIC are.

A well constructed ultralight, flown responsibly; can be on par with GA’s safety numbers.

Unfortunately, some people see “no license required” and don’t bother to read the rest of the terms and conditions. Ultralights, similar to all other aircraft, require judgement, skill, and restraint to fly. Usually when someone doesn’t care to get any flight instruction, they won’t have that level of restraint

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