Ultralight aircraft often mean ultralight gas consumption! With ever-increasing gas prices fuel consumption is in future likely to become an important part of deciding what to buy or build...
For this reason alone the ultralight aircraft component of experimental LTA (lighter-than-air) aircraft will probably receive much more attention in years to come.
That's of course in addition to the usual benefits of homebuilt ultralight aircraft, such as generally lower cost factors; fast building times; not being subjected to the rules and regulations of the FAA (his means no FAA pilot training and testing is required, no airworthiness certification is necessary, and no fees are payable).
Which airplanes fall into the ultralight aircraft category? FAA regulations define a powered ultralight as a single seat "vehicle" weighing less than 254 pounds. In addition it may not carry more than 5 gallons of fuel, and must be capable of flying as slow as 24 knots whilst restricted to a maximum speed of 55 knots.
While the FAA refer to ultralight aircraft as "vehicles", they are of course real, small airplanes. And often they are very sophisticated in construction and capabilities.
The decron fabric covering the wings of many ultralight aircraft was designed to withstand the specific air load stresses these planes are likely to encounter.
Some ultralight aircraft wings are even designed to NASA specification, and many of these "vehicles" can carry more than their own weight - which you will be hard-pressed to find in established traditional aircraft!
Ultralight aircraft come in many shapes and sizes, from trikes to fixed wing aircraft, from helicopters and gyrocopters to vintage ultralights. Many can be built from plans, others from factory-supplied kits, and yet others can be purchased fully assembled and ready-to-fly.
An example of a popular fixed wing ultralight aircraft is the single seat BeaverSS (pictured here). This aircraft illustrates many of the outstanding characteristics of ultralight flight.
The BeaverSS has an extremely useful load capacity - more than 300 pounds - which nears its own weight of 340 pounds. It is often hailed as one of the nicest and easiest ultralights to fly - very polite and forgiving in handling, with extremely short take-off and landing runs.
With pre-cut and pre-drilled components, and an easy glue-and-shrink covering method the plane is one of the quickest ultralight sportplanes to finish.
Finally, whether you opt for the BeaverSS or one of the many other ultralight aircraft to choose from, an important consideration will of course be to look at product support. You don't want to be stuck halfway through the building process and find the factory unhelpful or closed down!
