Microlighting? What the is that?

[Bennie Vorster]

Microlighting? What the is that?
Many people ask questions when they discover I fly. I've tried to put the more frequently asked questions into a little list for your perusal and edification. remember, I'm new to this sport so if you, gentle reader, think I've got any of this wrong, please drop me an email to say so!

What is a Microlight?
How do you control a Flex-wing Microlight?
How safe is a Microlight?
Can you make money with a Microlight?
Where do you keep your plane?

What is a Microlight?
Well, there is an official definition, stated in terms of weight, fuel capacity and passenger capacity, but it wouldn't interest you!

Putting the answer in terms of what I fly, it's a hang-glider wing with a tricycle (aka Trike) bolted underneath it. Up to two people sit in the Trike, and a small engine mounted behind them drives a 2, 3 or 4 blade propeller.

This variant is called a Flex-wing or Weight-shift. The other type looks like a mini 'proper' aeroplane, and is called a 3-Axis machine, but I'm not interested in those.

How do you control a Flex-wing Microlight?
NB For a proper technical discussion of how a Microlight works, visit this great site. It's got excellent explanations in a clear, easy to read style. As against my waffling below.

In the previous question, I referred to the machines I fly as 'Weight-shift'. This is because that is how you control Flex-wing machines. There is a control bar mounted below the wing in such a way that it forms a solid unit with the wing. Move the control bar and the wing moves too.

Or does it?

What actually happens is that when (say) you push the control bar to the left, the wing initially stays still (it moves a tiny bit, but not enough to matter). The bar, you see, has stayed still. What has actually happened is that the Trike (with you and possibly your passenger in it) has swung out to the right. This moves the Centre of Gravity to the right and the wing responds by banking to the right. This of course means you have to centre the bar up again, or you'll keep banking further and further!

OK - that's dealt with side-to-side movement, but how about up and down?

Well, push the bar forward and you go up and pull it backwards and you go down, but only a tiny, tiny bit! Adjusting the angle of the wing in this way (changing the pitch) actually affects your speed. So push the bar away to slow down and pull it towards you to speed up.

What about up and down then? Easy, that's what the engine's for! So when you speed up the engine, it makes you climb, and when you slow it down, you descend.

If you lived in New Zealand, you could fly one now (no licence necessary there you see)

How safe is a Microlight?
That all depends on you point of view.

Are you safer flying several thousand feet above a very unyielding landscape, in a place where gravity is a constant, or at home, sitting in your favourite armchair? (The answer is left as an exercise for the student).

So just how dangerous is it?

Well, let's look at what can go wrong:

You can hit (or be hit by) another aircraft
The aircraft can fall to bits in some way
The engine can pack up.
Let's take these one at a time.

1. You can hit (or be hit by) another aircraft.
You are dead. Probably. The thing is, not definitely - there was a reported incident of a Cessna light aircraft flying into the back of a microlight wing. The Cessna pilot was killed on impact with the ground, but the Microlight pilot lived! Not exactly a big sample to base a conclusion on! Bottom line, yes if you are in a mid-air collision, the odds are overwhelming that you will die. Consider how big the sky is, and how few planes are in it. Odds dropping now, aren't they? Now consider that pilots are trained to keep a good lookout. Feeling safer yet?

2. The aircraft can fall to bits in some way
Yes it can, and there are many bits which, if they broke in flight, would result in an uncontrollable descent, with death a very real possibility. This is why the Civil Aviation Authority in the UK insists Microlight Aircraft are built and maintained to a given standard, with regular, mandatory inspections. Secondly, pilots are trained to do a pre-flight inspection of the aircraft before every flight. It would be most unusual if a part failed without some prior visual indication that all was not well (a frayed wire, for instance).

The really crucial bits have back up systems. The 'hang-bolt' which attaches the Trike to the Wing for instance. The odds of this breaking are millions to one against, but there is a back-up strap which will hold the plane together long enough to land if the bolt does break.

3. The engine can pack up
Yes, engines can break down with little or no warning, but remember that you are flying a jumped-up glider! A significant part of the training is learning to do emergency (i.e. unpowered) landings. Add to this the fact that most instructors teach 'glide' approaches (which means landing normally, without using the engine) and you'll see that when the big fan stops, it's not the end of the world. A good pilot will be constantly assessing potential landing sites during a flight, so if the engine does quit, there should be no panic.

Can you make money with a Microlight?
The favourite comment is "You'll be able to make loads of money by selling arial pictures of peoples' houses, or by charging for joy rides.

No, you won't.

There are only two ways money can be involved:

Become an instructor, and charge people to teach them to fly.
Take a passenger who is allowed to contribute to the fuel costs - i.e. pay half of what you use.
Smuggle drugs
OK, that's three ways, but the last one isn't serious. Well, it is serious, but not in that way. Oh, you know what I mean.

Where do you keep your plane?
The wing folds up, so you can keep a Microlight on a trailer in a normal sized garage. It takes about 30-60 minutes to put the plane together or take it apart, with the exact time depending on your experience and the make and model.

A lot of people couldn't be bothered with that, and pay to use hangerage space at an airfield. Personally, I'd prefer it to be in my garage, but that may change when I've rigged and derigged it a few times!

[Aerosan]

Bl!ksem Bennie jy het baie tyd swaer dankie virrie skrywe dis altyd interesant

[Morph]

The most common question I get is "What is a microlight"? If they do know something they generally think it is just Trikes that are microlights. It seems to be too difficult to understand that they could be fixed wing as well.

When they are in my garage and look at the BB being built they are immediately concerned about the material covering the body or the birch ply ribs in the wings.

The common statement is "You'll never catch me dead in that thing" Well I sure as hell hope not.


I usually blow their mind when I tell them that this 4.5m long X 10m wide aircraft is in fact as heavy as my motorbike. The human brain sees the size and cannot compute that it is infact made up of lots of empty space. What looks solid is in fact a fabric as light as silk. At this stage I usually lift the one wing with one hand

Most people eventually say they would love to try it sometime but whenever I invite them they have excuses. We are so used to it that we don't realise how exciting or frightening that first flight is to a lot of people.

[DieselFan]

To be honest, I've only flown in a boeing twice, 1st was 727 back when I was 12, 2nd 737 recently and I'd MUCH rather be in my trike thanks. Seeing the wing shake doesn't do well for me. Also I feel so "out of control" - Not being pilot or back pax to be pilot if something happens to pilot...

Boeings scare me. Too big and although the wings shake by design so do my nerves. Give me a small aerie anyday. Only being in 3 axis once so far and I felt more in control.

Ironically when going over vics in 3 axis the other tourists were cracking jokes about not having life insurance. Yet ALL of them enjoyed it over the helicopter ride - view was main reason.

Ofcourse at the end of the day I'd rather die in an aircraft then on the ground!

[Biggles]

"Isn't that dangerous?" Thats from someone that rides dirt bikes, two broken wrists and a broken leg in 2 years.

"Will never go up in one of those..." Curently in ICU with two seriopusly broken ankles after super bike accident (3rd serious accident)

Microlight pilots have a minum of 25hours instruction with a heavy emphasis on safety. People would rather hurtle along on a highway with numerous cars weighting several tons bearly mtres away going at 120km/h piloted by someone that we are lucky if they have had any instruction, who may be drunk... I feel far safer flying than I do on a busy road...

[Bennie Vorster]

I still think they sould not have increased the speed on these things.

The automobile as we know it was not invented in a single day by a single inventor. The history of the automobile reflects an evolution that took place worldwide. It is estimated that over 100,000 patents created the modern automobile. However, we can point to the many firsts that occurred along the way. Starting with the first theoretical plans for a motor vehicle that had been drawn up by both Leonardo da Vinci and Isaac Newton.

In 1769, the very first self-propelled road vehicle was a military tractor invented by French engineer and mechanic, Nicolas Joseph Cugnot (1725 - 1804). Cugnot used a steam engine to power his vehicle, built under his instructions at the Paris Arsenal by mechanic Brezin. It was used by the French Army to haul artillery at a whopping speed of 2 1/2 mph on only three wheels. The vehicle had to stop every ten to fifteen minutes to build up steam power. The steam engine and boiler were separate from the rest of the vehicle and placed in the front (see engraving above). The following year (1770), Cugnot built a steam-powered tricycle that carried four passengers.

In 1771, Cugnot drove one of his road vehicles into a stone wall, making Cugnot the first person to get into a motor vehicle accident. This was the beginning of bad luck for the inventor. After one of Cugnot's patrons died and the other was exiled, the money for Cugnot's road vehicle experiments ended.

Steam engines powered cars by burning fuel that heated water in a boiler, creating steam that expanded and pushed pistons that turned the crankshaft, which then turned the wheels. During the early history of self-propelled vehicles - both road and railroad vehicles were being developed with steam engines. (Cugnot also designed two steam locomotives with engines that never worked well.) Steam engines added so much weight to a vehicle that they proved a poor design for road vehicles; however, steam engines were very successfully used in locomotives. Historians, who accept that early steam-powered road vehicles were automobiles, feel that Nicolas Cugnot was the inventor of the first automobile.

[Bennie Vorster]

Now compare:

Aviation

As early as 400 B.C. Archytas, a Greek scholar, built a wooden pigeon that moved through the air. It is unknown exactly how this was done, bu most believe that the Greek coected it to a steam powered arm that made it go in circles. About 300 B.C, the Chinese developed kites, which are a form of gliders, which much later in history allowed humans to fly in them.

During Greek times a great mathematician, Archimedes discovered the principle of buoyancy in about 200 BC. He discovered how and why some objects float in liquids This fact helped in the progress of true flight. When the great libraries in Alexandria, Egypt were destroyed in 500 A.D. the discoveries of Archimedes and many others were lost for a thousand years. 2000 years later men used Archimedes' principle to help them with the hot-air-balloon. Later in 1290 A.D Roger Bacon thoerized that air, like water, has something solid around it, and something built correctly could be supported by the air.
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First Attempts

Early attempts to defy gravity involved the invention of ingenuous machines, such as ornithopters. These were based upon designs written in 1500 by Leonardo da Vinci. This type of flying machine utilizes the flapping of the wings in order to achieve flight. Needless, is to say that all attempts to fly using this type of machine failed. n 1680, Giovanni Borelli stated that people's muscles are too weak to flap the large surfaces needed to obtain flight. Later, aditional reasons were found. Since the remarkable physiological capabilities of birds can never be matched by human beings. In other words our heart beat rate must have to go up to 800 heart beats per minute in order to be able to achieve flight.
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2nd Attempts at Flight

The first free flight in a artifical device was done by two Frenchmen, Jean F. Pilatre de Rozier, and Marquis d'Arlandes. They achieved this with large linen ballon, and floated for more than five miles over Paris, France.

The idea of filling a closed container with a substance that normally rises through the atmosphere was as early as the thirteen century. Over a five hundred year span, different substances came to be known as being lighter-than-air. Between 1650 and 1900 this approach was used to flight. The most common gases proposed was water vapor, helium and hydrogen. The first successful attempts at achieving flight using his type of crafts were made by the Montgolfier brothers in France. Their most successful attempt was in 1783 when in a public demonstration, they achieved 6000 ft in a balloon with a diameter of more than 100 ft. As time went by, it was soon recognized that balloons although able to achieve flight, were basically handicapped by a total lack of directional control. This problem was solved with the introduction of power plants or engines in elongated-like balloons. This elongated shape helped reduce drag in order to decrease the power size. The most successful builder of this type of lighter-than-air craft was Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, whose name is synonymous with large rigid dirigibles. The term "dirigible" really means controllable. In the early 1930's the German Graf Zeppelin machine was able to make a Trans-Atlantic flight to the United States. They flew 18 mph and had a rigid metal frame that kept it in flight even if gas or power was lost. The Zeppelin design was copied and improved by others throughout the world. One such airship was 3 times larger than a Boeing 747 and cruised at 68 mph. It made regular flights from Europe to South America in which 24 people had their own suites and dined from menus prepared by famous chefs.The large Hindenburg was equally successful until it was destroyed by fire while attempting a landing in 1937 in Lakehurst, New Jersey. The Hindenburg marked the end of large scale Zeppelin travel. Nowadays, the blimp has become ubiquitous, appearing over the skies of ballgames and large ouTDoor events.
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Glider Flight

In 1804, a British inventor, George Cayley, built the first successful glider. His original craft was a small model. A later full-sized glider carried his coachman, going unwillingly, across a valley. He founded the study of aerodynamics, and was the first to suggest a fixed wing aircraft with a propeller.

Otto Lilienthal, a German, developed the first gliders in which the glider could be piloted. His work (1891-1896) inspired other inventors to take up the work of gliders. They included: Percy Pilcher of Great Britian, and Octave Chanute of the United States. These early gliders were hard to control, but could carry the pilot hundreds of feet into the air.
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Powered Flight

In 1843, William S. Henderson, patented plans for the first plane with a engine, fixed wings, and propellers. After one unsucessful try the inventor gave up. Then in 1848, John Stringfellow built a small model which worked, but could only stay up a short period of time.

In 1890, a French engineer by the name of Clement Ader attemped flight in his steam powered plane. His plane failed, he could not control, or keep the plane in the air. A another steam powered plane, built by Sir Hiram Maxim, lifted off briefly, but did not fly. It was a gigantic steam powered machinw with two wings, two engines, and two propellers.

In the 1890's a American by the name of Samuel P. Langley, a scientist, attemped piloted flight. His early experiments involved a small steam powered plane called the aerodrome. In 1896 it flew half a mile in ninety seconds. Later he created a full-sized aerodrome with a gas engine which was designed for piloted flight. Two attempts were made, on October 7, 1903, and December 8, 1903, and both failed.

[Bacardi]

[Arnulf]

Is jy verveeld Bennie?

[Bennie Vorster]

Bennie

http://www.kiss400.com/Basicfaq.asp

This site is owned by Steve Elsbury - all content is copyrighted unless otherwise stated.

Cheez I keep been in trouble this week. OK so I never sugjested that I wrote all of this but I'll just post the referances to the links from now on.

NS // All the glory to all the guys I'm copying and pasting from.

[Dre'man]

Bennie if you don't post this stuff I will probably never get to read it. Just don't sell it and give reference to the source.

Thanks for the info.

And don't worry about being in trouble. I have learned you will always be in trouble for one thing or another. If you don't purposfully make trouble you will be blindsided anyway. You just won't be able to prepare

[Bennie Vorster]

And I thought you wrote this all today Bennie

Eeeeeesh!!!

It is nothing to write it all, but to spell it all.

[Aerosan]

keep it comming Bennie doesnt matter where you get it its like Dre`man said -if you dont post it well most probly never get to read it

San

[DieselFan]

Interesting with the powered balloons making trips from Europe to South America. What about the weather? They didn't have sat or met. How would one of these fair in a CB? At 18mph they aren't going around a storm in a hurry.

Do you think we, us modern folk, are just to risk averse? There was a link on Avcom re a "study" carried out that suggested this.

[Arnulf]

Do you think we, us modern folk, are just to risk averse?

Affirmative, we all became sussies.

Just look at the "offroad scene". Similar scenario.
Thirty and forty years ago, we would take an old Landy, or Kombi, and go touring, one vehicle, no GPS, no SAT phone, no Cell phone, mostly on tracks. Nowadays, these very same routes which have developed into graded gravel roads, are now marketed as adventure routes, where it is highly recommended to have a 4x4 with all the latest gizmos, offroad trailer, backup vehicles, etc etc, and before you set off, make sure you attended an "Offroad driving course" and insured your rig in case that something happend.

Arnulf