Ultralight Flight Training - READ ME FIRST

[Badland-F5 Pilot]

Now that I'm situated in Florida, it's time to start my flight training with ground school. This'll be a series and include ground school as well as my actual flying in a Cessna 150 or 152, possibly a 182 (with video). I will also include (time permitting) video capture of practice in my Microsoft Flight Simulator.

So what will the ground school be of? We all know there isn't any ground school specific to ultralights. The closest thing we can get is recreational or light sport training, but in my opinion, this contains training we don't necessarily need. Others may disagree.

This will be mostly for EAA members. EAA members have access to Sporty's Learn to Fly Series on the EAA website free of charge (https://www.eaa.org/videos/learning-to- ... fly-series). There's a lot more than just this series, but it'll be the one I cover here. I'll be using these as well as the Sporty's Online Training (https://courses.sportys.com/training/portal/home/learn). Sporty's does provide educational material for both Recreational and Light Sport, those may contain information we don't need. Sporty's has another section (Get Current - it's below most other sections and easy to find) that looks pretty good to me (at least so far). It'll be up to you to decide if paying for a full Recreational or Light Sport course is worth the money over the Get Current lessons. Note that the Get Current lessons will eventually total up to more than what a full recreational or LSA course will cost if all videos are purchased. Both have their advantages or dis-advantages.

I wrote to I think it was 7 different online ground schools asking if they had anything they could recommend for ultralight ground school. I received three responses. Two pretty much said they had nothing for ultralights. Funny, I thought weather, radio use, landing and departure patterns, air space...etc, well, there are five things all pilots should know about, right? I never said “specific” to ultralights in my request for information. The really fun one is the third one, actually told me that I would need a recreational pilot's license at minimum to fly an ultralight in the US. These responses pretty much told me what we all know, we ultralight pilots are on our own. Sad, because all these schools/courses have everything required for ultralight pilots. I wasn't even asking them to have specific courses. They could easily put together a list of what would be good for ultralight pilots and offer the package, with doing nothing more than pointing to courses they already have and maintain.

Because of the lack of any of the schools helping in any way, I figured I'd put my own recommendations together, and that's what this will be. Just a quick note here:

I IN NO WAY AM A CFI OR QUALIFIED TO INSTRUCT IN FLIGHT OF ANY KIND. THE INFORMATION PROVIDED WILL BE SPECIFICALLY FOR ME AND IS ONLY HERE AS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT I USED TO BRING MYSELF UP TO SPEED OR AS SPORTY'S SAYS "Get Current". USE THE INFORMATION PROVIDED COMPLETELY AT YOUR OWN RISK.

So in short, the following will be posted -

1) Actual flight video (this is pending my CFI's approval) of training in a Cessna or other aircraft.
2) Flight in my simulator of my real flight sessions (practicing what I learned) as well as other flights (just for fun).
3) EAA/Sporty's Learn to Fly Series. This will be video clips and comments that I can make available. For the full sessions, you'll need your EAA membership and to watch the Sporty's video's yourself. I would violate copyright if I were to try to post the entire videos from Sporty's.
4) Sporty's Get Current videos, same as above, video clips and comments as I go through the lessons.

Each session will be open to comments and input. If we're lucky, maybe the EAA will put together something online for ultralight pilots to learn. Jim Pfarr is the chairman for the EAA Ultralight & LSA council. He and the other council members have created a syllabus for CFI's to follow for ultralight pilots. Possibly, with a little luck, we can get a self-training syllabus posted on the EAA website as well.

I will be posting these here in the Badland Library for future reference. Please remember, feedback needs to be constructive. We're here to build, not tear down. We already have enough going against us as the red-headed stepchildren of aviation! Stay tuned for more in the near future.

[Mountain Cat]

I would advise against the 182 for a new pilot wanting ultralight training at least starting out. It is a by the numbers airplane and CS prop which adds to a tough workload. Otherwise your plan sounds good. Weather, regs, airspace is all needed for even a UL pilot, possibly more needed. We all really need more learning on weather. I am an old school pilot who learned with a map, compass and a watch so learn that way and then the new electro gadgets are icing on the cake. In busy airspace they can save your bacon. You can find UL training usually in a light sport bird since dual in a UL is now illegal. Even a T-Craft, Champ or Cub will train you to fly the Badlands. A guy in N. Fla trains in a Challenger and does many UL pilots since they fly close to the same way. His name is William Whitley and he is usually on challenger facebook. Driving a couple hours is well worth it to learn correctly.

[Badland-F5 Pilot]

I would advise against the 182 for a new pilot wanting ultralight training at least starting out. It is a by the numbers airplane and CS prop which adds to a tough workload.

Good point on the 182 (or any other aircraft I train in). At least to make a note on. I learned in a 150 (manual flaps), then to a 152 (electric flaps) which another student (flying solo) wrapped around a tree in Lake Tahoe, where he should not have been. Then I went to a 182 (fixed prop) nearing completion of my training. I flew it solo and cross country most of the time. The 150 to 152 was nice, but the jump to the 182 was much bigger (and much nicer).

Otherwise your plan sounds good. Weather, regs, airspace is all needed for even a UL pilot, possibly more needed. We all really need more learning on weather. I am an old school pilot who learned with a map, compass and a watch so learn that way and then the new electro gadgets are icing on the cake. In busy airspace they can save your bacon.

Thanks, and weather is one of my weak points. I'll most likely cover it as best I can above the other lessons just because I've struggled with it in the past.

You can find UL training usually in a light sport bird since dual in a UL is now illegal. Even a T-Craft, Champ or Cub will train you to fly the Badlands.

The outfit I'm getting my training from has a Cub. They no longer do tail wheel training. I'm hoping I can talk them into a few hours in the Cub just for the similarity to my Badland.

A guy in N. Fla trains in a Challenger and does many UL pilots since they fly close to the same way. His name is William Whitley and he is usually on challenger facebook. Driving a couple hours is well worth it to learn correctly.

I think the CFI referenced Whitley, and I'll include that training or any other that I get, letting others know what was or wasn't beneficial to me.

I'm also depending on all of you that have/had GA, LSA, or Recreational licenses for suggestions and corrections to my conclusions or assumptions with the information I'll be posting.

Thanks,
Todd

[LA F2 Flyer]

Wow, it sounds like those first two flights schools couldn't sell a heat lamp in Alaska. Talk about not jumping on a very easy opportunity!

I am definitely looking forward to following your progress! And I definitely second the notion that a 182 won't be of much help in terms of training to fly a Badland. The 150 or 152 is probably your best bet in terms of tricycle gear craft.

Funny, weather (and airspace) are my weak points as well. Since the weather here hasn't been conducive to working on the trailer, I have been back to poring over my Jeppeson training manuals from 1989. haha

[Mountain Cat]

Weather for a UL pilot isn't as complicated as it is for GA pilots who do a lot of X-country. But it is maybe a tad more important. Biggest issue for UL pilots is winds and turbulence. Which either one can put a UL down on the ground. Any basic ground school covers this to some degree. I hear stories weekly of light aircraft flying in 25 mph winds. Here 25 mph wind takes down trees and small buildings so I raise an eyebrow when I hear them. In Texas, Fla and the flat states, you can see storms coming for miles. Here in the mountains, storms hide over the next ridge unseen and winds are everywhere. And can't be predicted with any precision. New pilots start out with 2 buckets, a full bucket of luck and an empty bucket of experience. Hopefully the experience bucket gets full before the luck bucket gets empty. And remember, tomorrow will be a better day if you are still around.