Safety First

Ok, so I have been doing a lot of reading and thinking. I have decided on what path to take....I'm going to build a powered flying machine.

When I thought about the glider, I really got excited about the ease of construction and the ability to tow and launch just about anywhere. (Give me an open field or a hill and I could launch). Then as I looked in more detail at the contruction of a glider, I realized it poses the same problems as building a powered plane. So, to be safe, it would take just as much $$ and energy.

With a glider, I also worried about the temptation to just jump in it and think I could fly without any training or lessons. (You don't need a license to fly gliders <250 pounds) I could just see myself feeling invincible one day, taking the glider to 100 feet, just to have it nose dive and kill me.

So, the plan is to start building the Affordaplane. This plane is well designed and has been built and flown by many people. It will probably take me close to 600 hours to complete everything. This give me plenty of time to get some training on taildragger ultralights at the Mulino airport. If nothing else I can train in a Cessna 152 and get my private pilot license. This would allow me to fly just about any plane, without many restrictions. (This usually runs $3000-$6000)

The other option is the Sports Pilot license. (This is the one I am leaning towards). It is geared towards people who will only fly during the day, under 10,000 feet and will use small light aircraft.

The restrictions placed on a Pilot exercising the privileges of a Sport pilot certificate are:

- No more than one passenger
- Daytime flight only (civil twilight is used to define day/night)
- No flight above 10,000 feet (3,000 m) MSL

The best part is that I get to take a passenger! Everything is better when you get to share it with someone. So, who is first to sign up for a free flight with pilot Kim?

In the next posting I think I will talk some more about the Sport Pilot license, as well as AN standards (aircraft contruction standards - you can't just use any old bolt or screw from Home Depot to build a plane!)