Microlighters

Hi,

I know very little at the moment about Microlights, I am looking at perhaps taking up microlighting as a hobby. I saw a Max CDL microlight for R25000, would that be a fair buy?

MAC CDL was one of the very early fixed wing microlights and basically is a fixed wing 2 axis microlight - it had no ailerons. They are very draggy so very slow. A better buy would perhaps be one of the +- R30k weight shift microlights on offer.

Agree with Stephan.

I know the Mac had it's fans but in todays terms they are not lekker. There are a couple of good bargain trikes out there at the moment. Do yourself a favour though and take someone experienced with you when looking at an aircraft otherwise it could end up costing you bucks.

Cheers,

AndyG wrote:Agree with Stephan.

I know the Mac had it's fans but in todays terms they are not lekker. There are a couple of good bargain trikes out there at the moment. Do yourself a favour though and take someone experienced with you when looking at an aircraft otherwise it could end up costing you bucks.

Cheers,

I must echo AndyGs sentiments. Be careful.

Good Luck.

Hi Kudu2
The same thing caught my eye when I started to fly .... fortunately I got some good advice when
I asked an instructor if he'd be prepared to train on such an aircraft.
His words were "not if I can help it" .... even though the aircraft was on his license.
I agree with the other chaps , rather buy a popular model trike ... instruction won't be a problem and
they are much better & safer aircraft.
Cheers

Good advise. I bought a KRII for excellent price. SPent 5 years getting it flyable and then almost as long trying to find someone to teach me to fly it. I sold it last year......

I would suggest you line up instructor and get him to go for a flip in the proposed aerie. May cost you some bucks, but well worth it...

Whatever you decide on, take the airoplane to the agents or an AP that has konwledge of the airoplane and have him do a desent pre perchase inspection and give you a report. You might find that the bargain is not that big a bargain anymore.

You get what you pay for. Tread softly. VERY softly. Good buy? NO!

Not to bad for arrond R10 000- R15 000 though.

R10-15k`s worth of trouble yes.

The very best person to advise you is you yourself > that may seem strange but there is a precondition and that is > get a licence first > Do not think of buying a plane until you have worked out what you want to fly > if anything > see www.misasa.co.za > Learn to fly microlights.

Have fun and fly safe

My take on this whole thing is that the MAC CDL was good enough when there was nothing else around. Now we are spoilt rotten with all the choices around us.

First question; What do you want to do with it?

I have a complete (bar prop and elevator sail) Weedhopper stached in my garage. It takes about 3 to 4 hours to build (putting the pipes together) and could be set up in about 30 minutes if you took down the wings for transporting it. Will I ever fly it? Who knows. Is it safe to fly? Sure is, but not many people out there likes it, and hence a bit of negative feelings toward it. In the good US of A they have a whole hord of these flying - even today. It is cheap and simple to fly, does not cost you a small farm and a beach house to get airborne.

If you intent flying the aircraft "om die dam" then I'd suggest that you get yourself properly trained in a more "Conventional" aircraft, do the convex to the type and fly the thing aound the plot. If your intention is to go on cross country trips with the guys, then go for the trike option - you will fly at similar speeds as you would with the MAC, but you will be sure to have the know-how around, and also maintenance becomes a lot easier.

Always ask yourself what you want to do with the aircraft before you go and buy something that just will not do for what you finally want. Start with the training, fly with others, and then decide what you would like to do.