(Mark James Boyd) wrote in message news:3fd82ec7$1@darkstar...

The same guy recently got me up in his ultralight. Incredible
view, super low stall speed, VERY few restrictions in part
103. We flew right over the beach and waved at people.
The engine was started with a tug of a rope.
To be legal to carry passengers, one must become
an ultralight "basic flight instructor," which
involves no $90 written test and no $350 FAA flight test.
The "test" is given by someone who is already a BFI, and
has also been doing it more than 6 months and also has a
8-hour seminar.

As I get older, the flight reviews, medicals, six approaches,
3 landings at night in a multi-engine taildragger, etc. seem
more and more of a hassle. As I glance at the glider PTS and notice
dozens of references including thousands of pages of detail,
it occurs to me that being able to explain the "mixing ratio"
may be required by my examiner, but certainly falls into
the category that I would consider "obscure." In essence
it is intimidating, even though it will be my 11th FAA
checkride.

Mark, your attitude scares me a bit. Sorry, but flying should be a
bit intimidating - it's just not safe otherwise. There is usually a
pretty damn good reason (read - people got killed) for most of the
requirements, if you look at them carefully enough.

The whole ultralight scene totally scares me. Not that the majority
of ultralight pilots don't fly relatively safely, but the attitude
that "I can just jump into it and fly around, just like an ATV with
wings" leads to some really scary flying - and some sad, stupid,
unnecessary deaths, like we just had out at our glider field a few
weeks ago.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not in favor of useless regulation - what I
believe is needed (in all flying activities) is a lot of good training
and knowledge about what can kill you. Thats what all the check rides
are about - and without them anyone is just playing russian roulette
with wings.

Hassle factor? Name one really worthwhile activity that doesn't
require lots of time, dedication, money, sweat, studying, etc. That's
what makes it worthwhile! Who do you think gets more out of a glider
flight, the guy who shows up at 9 am, rigs his ship, washes every bit
of it (even a 1-26!), takes the lowest tow possible, flies regardless
of the conditions (as long as it's safe) as long as he can, then puts
his ship away and hangs around BS-ing with the locals watching the sun
set - or the guy who only comes out to the field on a perfect day,
reserves a plane from a commercial operator, takes a high tow, flies
exactly 1.0 locally, lands, pays his bill, then leaves? When flight
currency requirements start becoming hard to maintain, it's a good
sign to stop pretending to be current in that activity and stick to
something simpler. Think about it - a lot of times the instructor
giving the checkride has less time and experience than the pilot
getting the check - so teach him a thing or two!

Bah Humbug (It's that season again - havn't flown in a couple of
weeks)

Kirk
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