What is the cheapest way to get into air? (no jokes please)

I want to get airborne with as little building involvement as possible.
The cheapest way. And with little maintenance as possible.
What are the possibilities?

I mean building a gerobee could take years and lots of money and this
rotax motors are 'spensive.

Building a wooden woodhopper could be fun and take lots of hours or
maybe years and lots of scrap wood.

There is also a storage concern, takeoff space, transportation of the
aircraft.

Maybe powered paragliding is the easiest way to get closer to the
skies?

Any hopes and/or ideas?

K.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I want to get airborne with as little building involvement as possible.
The cheapest way. And with little maintenance as possible.
What are the possibilities?


You just described buying a used sailplane. Lots of flying hours, lots of
fun and little money or maintenance. If you absolutely need to go from A to
B then this won't be the best choice, but if just fun flying is your goal,
soaring is far more fun for far less money. Go see www.ssa.org.

Bill Daniels

wrote in message
oups.com...
I want to get airborne with as little building involvement as possible.
The cheapest way. And with little maintenance as possible.
What are the possibilities?

I mean building a gerobee could take years and lots of money and this
rotax motors are 'spensive.

Building a wooden woodhopper could be fun and take lots of hours or
maybe years and lots of scrap wood.

There is also a storage concern, takeoff space, transportation of the
aircraft.

Maybe powered paragliding is the easiest way to get closer to the
skies?

Any hopes and/or ideas?

K.


Powered Paragliding (paramotor) is great. I'm a Paraglider and Powered
Paraglider Pilot and I own a plane as well. For me the biggest buzz is
unpowered paragliding. You take your aircraft out of a back pack and set it
up, run off a nice mountain and catch some thermals to cloud base. As your
skills progress, you can fly for several hours at a time and cover many
miles without an engine (just like the birds do). For no hassles go
anywhere fast flying, my plane is best and I love flying it almost as much
as my paraglider. Paramotoring is fun but once you have grasped the basics,
there is not much of a challenge. I recently sold my paramotor as it was
not getting any use after purchasing my plane. I would give paragliding a
go for absolute adrenalin rush and bird like flying.

Regards,

Bob...

Bob O'Rilley wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

I want to get airborne with as little building involvement as possible.
The cheapest way. And with little maintenance as possible.
What are the possibilities?

I mean building a gerobee could take years and lots of money and this
rotax motors are 'spensive.

Building a wooden woodhopper could be fun and take lots of hours or
maybe years and lots of scrap wood.

There is also a storage concern, takeoff space, transportation of the
aircraft.

Maybe powered paragliding is the easiest way to get closer to the
skies?

Any hopes and/or ideas?

K.



Powered Paragliding (paramotor) is great. I'm a Paraglider and Powered
Paraglider Pilot and I own a plane as well. For me the biggest buzz is
unpowered paragliding. You take your aircraft out of a back pack and set it
up, run off a nice mountain and catch some thermals to cloud base. As your
skills progress, you can fly for several hours at a time and cover many
miles without an engine (just like the birds do). For no hassles go
anywhere fast flying, my plane is best and I love flying it almost as much
as my paraglider. Paramotoring is fun but once you have grasped the basics,
there is not much of a challenge. I recently sold my paramotor as it was
not getting any use after purchasing my plane. I would give paragliding a
go for absolute adrenalin rush and bird like flying.

Regards,

Bob...


I guess I've gotten jaded in my old age.
An adrenaline rush is the absolute LAST thing I want from flying!


Richard

I'm a Powered Paraglider pilot. We have no mountains to run off of so
the PPG is the way to go for me. I can unpack my equipment from the
back of my car and be in the air in under 10 minutes. I'll motor for a
while and then catch a few thermals with motor off. I can restart the
motor any time which means I am NOT at the mercy of the winds.

There are many cheap second hand units on the market but DO NOT BUY
unless you can get it checked out be an instructor. Go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppgbiglist and join the forum. It's free.
There you can ask as many question as you like and some one will reply.
In fact, many folk will answer you.

Some folk have built their own PPG units and been very sucsessfull.
Again, ask at the http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppgbiglist

Hope this helps. Please feel free to email me if you have any
questions.

Phil Clark.

Bill Daniels wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
I want to get airborne with as little building involvement as possible.
The cheapest way. And with little maintenance as possible.
What are the possibilities?


You just described buying a used sailplane.

Hmm, it seems to me he just described joining a gliding club.

No building, no buying, no maintenance and probably discounted
lessons as well.

--

FF

Indeed. I haven't ever tried it myself, but looking around at some
local clubs the prices look very reasonable. Cheaper than renting a
powered plane for sure. I think I'm definately going to look at adding
the glider rating after finishing up my PPL (which I should be done
with in another 2 months. Of course, I said that two months ago, but
the weather has been horrid around here ).

Ditto. Powered paraglider. No need for a hill or a thermal. It packs up
better than any other aircraft. Initial investment is fairly low, and
so are training and maint. costs. And its an expanding sector of the
aviation market. Its kinda like the dark side of "the force" for me,
since I'm already committed to HG's and my pioneer-era machines. But it
definately meets the set of requirements you posted.

You might also be interested in taking a look at:
www.ushga.org

Harry

So does a trampoline

"wright1902glider" wrote in message
ups.com...

But it definately meets the set of requirements you posted.

My approach was to find a 1983 vintage Quicksilver ultralight and rebuild
it. The motor was fine, as were the sails, but several tubes were
damaged/missing.

Including lessons, I imagine I was in the air - in a powered aircraft, for
about $3K. - Afterward, I sold it for $3K - so the flying was free - sort
of!